Top 40 Difference between Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes

“Prokaryote” is the term used to denote a group of unicellular organisms which lacks a membrane-bound nucleus, mitochondria, or any other membrane-bound cell organelles.

Sometimes it is seen that some unicellular prokaryotes aggregate together and work as a Multicellular organism or to work more efficiently and called as Multicellular prokaryotes but usually the prokaryotes are Unicellular.

The term prokaryotes derived from the Greek word πρό (pro) meaning “before” and the κάρυον (karyon) meaning “nut or kernel”. Prokaryotes are mainly divided into Archaea and Bacteria.

Prokaryotic organisms reproduce without the fusion of gametes via budding or Binary fission etc. Moreover, the first living organisms on this planet are thought to have been prokaryotes.

In contrast, the organisms having a membrane-bound nucleus and cell organelles like mitochondria etc. are placed in Eukaryota.

Eukaryotic organism belongs to the domain Eukaryota or Eukarya (the 3 domain classification).

Their name comes from the Greek word εὖ (Eu) meaning “well” or “true” and the κάρυον (karyon) meaning “nut” or “kernel”.

Check out the 21 Difference Between red blood cells and white blood cells

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RED BLOOD CELLS AND WHITE BLOOD CELLS (RBCs VS. WBCs)

The Eukaryotic cells also contain other membrane-bound organelles such as the Golgi apparatus, and in addition to this, some of the Plant cells and algae contain chloroplasts (where photosynthesis occurs).

Eukaryotes are usually multicellular organisms and include the organisms consisting of many cell types forming various kinds of tissue which performs different functions.

The most common example of Eukaryotes includes Humans, Animals, and Plants.

Below is the List of Top 40 Differences between Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes:

S.No.	Characteristics	Prokaryotes	Eukaryotes
1.)	Definition	Unicellular or Multicellular Organisms made up of cell(s) that lack membrane-bound nucleus or cell organelles like mitochondria & Golgi apparatus etc.	Multicellular Organisms made up of cells that have membrane-bound nucleus and various cell organelles like mitochondria, Golgi apparatus etc.
2.)	Origin	Around 3.5 billion years ago.	Around 2 billion years ago.
3.)	Major groups	Bacteria, Archae, and Blue-green algae	Algae, fungi, protozoa, plants, animals
4.)	Size	0.5-3.0 μm (Approximately)	>5 μm (Approximately)
5.)	Cell Type	Usually unicellular (some Cyanobacteria may be Multicellular)	Usually Multicellular
6.)	Cellular Organization	Simple	Complex
7.)	Nucleus Location	Free in the cytoplasm, attached to Mesosomes	Contained in membrane bound structure
8.)	Nuclear membrane	Absent	Present
9.)	Nucleolus	Absent	Present
10.)	Chromosome number	One	More than One

S.No.	Characteristics	Prokaryotes	Eukaryotes
11.)	Chromosome shape	Circular	Linear
12.)	Genes	Expressed in groups called Operons.	Expressed individually
13.)	Genome	DNA haploid genome	DNA diploid genome
14.)	DNA wrapping on proteins	Multiple proteins act together to fold and condense prokaryotic DNA. Folded DNA is then organized into a variety of conformations that are super coiled and wound around tetramers of the HU protein.	Eukaryotes wrap their DNA around proteins called histones.
15.)	Genome nature	Efficient and compact with little repetitive DNA.	With large amounts of non-coding repetitive DNA.
16.)	DNA base ratio (G+C %)	28-73	About 40
17.)	Membrane-bound organelles	Absent	Present
18.)	Ribosomes [sedimentation coefficient (S) ]	70S (50S + 30S). Smaller.	80S (60S + 40S). Larger.
19.)	Ribosome’s location	Free in cytoplasm or bound to cell membrane	Attached to rough endoplasmic reticulum
20.)	Generation time	Shorter	Comparatively longer

Check out the Major Difference between Serum & Plasma

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SERUM AND PLASMA

S.No.	Characteristics	Prokaryotes	Eukaryotes
21.)	Mitochondria	Absent	Present
22.)	Golgi bodies	Absent	Present
23.)	Endoplasmic reticulum	Absent	Present
24.)	Lysosomes	Absent	Present
25.)	Peroxisomes	Absent	Present
26.)	Centrosome	Absent	Present except in flowering plants.
27.)	Microtubules	Absent or rare	Absent
28.)	Mesosomes	Present.	Absent
29.)	Chloroplasts	Absent but chlorophyll scattered in the cytoplasm	Present (In Plants Only)
30.)	Fimbriae	Prokaryotes may have pili and fimbriae (appendage that can be found on many Gram-negative and some Gram-positive bacteria).	Absent

S.No.	Characteristics	Prokaryotes	Eukaryotes
31.)	Glycocalyx	Present	Only in some
32.)	Cytoplasmic streaming	Absent	Present
33.)	Muramic acid	Present	Absent
34.)	Cell wall	Complex structure containing protein, lipids, and peptidoglycans	Present for plant cells and fungi; otherwise absent
35.)	Movement	Simple flagellum, if present	Complex flagellum, if present
36.)	Cytoplasmic membrane	Does not contain sterols (except Mycoplasma)	Contains sterols
37.)	Respiration	via Cytoplasmic Membrane	Via Mitochondria
38.)	Metabolic rate	Higher due to larger surface area to volume ratio	Comparatively slow
39.)	DNA replication	Occurs in cytoplasm.	Occurs in the nucleus.
40.)	Reproduction	Asexual (binary fission)	Sexual and Asexual/ Mitotic division

That’s all about the 40 difference between Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes.

Further Reading:

Diffen.com
Bioexplorer.com
Microbiologynotes.com
Microbenotes.com