Wednesday, June 23, 2010

In what ways are bacteria different from the cells that make up your own body?

There are a multitude of ways that bacteria differ from the cells that compose your body. Here are just a few:





1) Bacteria contain no nucleus; they are prokaryotic cells. Your cells, however, do contain a nucleus; they are eukaryotic cells.





2) Your cells do not have a cell wall that protects your cell membranes. Bacteria do have a cell wall (and some have a second cell wall called the ';outer membrane';).





3) Transcription of genes into mRNA takes place in the nucleus of your body's cells, and translation of that mRNA occurs in the cytoplasm. Since bacteria have no nucleus, both transcription and translation occur in the cytoplasm.





4) You are a multicellular organism. All of your cells need to work together to keep you functioning, and this means that they need to communicate with each other. Your body's cells use a variety of methods for intercellular communication, such as secreting hormones and other extracellular factors. Bacteria, on the other hand, are very limited in the ways that they can communicate with each other. Many do so through a process called ';quorum sensing';, but many other species have no known way of communicating at all.In what ways are bacteria different from the cells that make up your own body?
The cells that make up your body (and other animals, plants, and fungi) are called eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells have many characteristics that make them unique. The biggest difference is that they are compartmentalized - they have membrane-bound organelles (nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, etc.) that house different types of the cell's machinery. The membrane is basically like the membrane on the outside of the cell. They also have what's known as a cytoskeleton - basically tiny filamentous proteins that help to keep everything in the right place.


Bacterial cells are prokaryotic and their cell components are not compartmentalized into organelles. They also lack a cytoskeleton and are much, much smaller than the cells in your body.In what ways are bacteria different from the cells that make up your own body?
Bacteria are prokaryotes. Human cells are Eukaryotes.


Bacteria have no membrane-bound organelles like human cells do.


Cells are generally about 10x larger than bacteria.


Both reproduce differently (mitosis vs. binary fission)


Bacteria can live in more extreme environments (hot, cold, radioactive)


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