2.3.2 Distinguish between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells in terms of their structure and ultrastructure.

Key Terms 

Eukaryotic Cell: A cell with a nucleus (that contains genetic material and surrounded by a double membrane (or envelope)) and membrane-bound organelles in its cytoplasm ( organelles surrounded by one or two membranes).

Prokaryotic Cell: A cell that does not (and never did) have a nucleus or membrane bound organelles in its cytoplasm.

Cell Ultrastructure: The structure of cells seen using a microscope with high degree of resolution, usually a transmission electron microscope.

Differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells

feature	prokaryotic cell	eukaryotic cell  animal cell                              plant cell
nucleus w envelope	absent	present	present
membrane-bound organelles	absent	present (e.g. nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, rER)	present
dna found as	a loop (a single chromosome/double strand loose in the cytoplasm forming a circular loop/ nucleoid) no histones	separate strand (double strand linear DNA incorporated with histone proteins in the chromosomes)	separate strand
slime capsule	sometimes present	never present	never present
flagella	simple (no micro tubes) (if present)	complex ( has micro tubes)(if present)	absent
cell wall	present (bacterial) made of murein/ peptidoglycan	absent	preset (plants and algae) (cellulose)
relative size of cell	small	medium	large
ribosomes	70’s/ smaller ribosomes occur free in the cytoplasm.	80’s/ larger ribosomes occur in the cytoplasm or bound to the endoplasmic reticulum to form rER. also present in nuclear envelope
site of aerobic respiration	mesosome (if present)	mitochondria