2 min read•june 18, 2024
Tejas Bhartiya
Tejas Bhartiya
One of the major differences between and is that eukaryotes compartmentalize their internal processes in .
In eukaryotic cells, after is made from in the process of , it moves to the to go through the process of . The RNA has to move out of the nucleus to either a free-standing ribosome or to the . In addition, ATP is made from , which has its own internal membrane.
In prokaryotes, RNA is converted to proteins right after being made from DNA, as they do not have a nucleus or endoplasmic reticulum. This will lead to more differences in transcription and translation, which will be discussed in a later unit.
By reducing the amount of competing space and surface area, and also reducing the amount of competing reactions, eukaryotic cells are able to be more efficient than prokaryotic cells.
A key theme for this unit has been increasing . within the cell, such as mitochondria or , make cellular processes easier by minimizing competing interactions and by increasing the surface area to volume ratio. Think of it this way: if you already use the for transporting stuff, there's probably not enough room for . So this ATP synthesis process is done on a separate membrane, within the organelles. This also increases the surface area to volume ratio because it gives more opportunities to fold the membrane.
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