The Life of Prokaryotic Cells

The Life of Prokaryotic Cells

For the prokaryotes, life arose on earth about four billion years ago; they are the original inhabitants of this planet. For approximately two billion years, they were the only form of life on earth. They have since then continued to adapt and flourish on an evolving earth. They are by far the simplest of cells and were the first to evolve. Out of all organisms, prokaryotes are the smallest and least complex cells. They are too small to be seen except with the aid of a microscope. The prokaryote cell represents the simplest grade of organism of life. About 1,500 distinct species of prokaryotes are recognized. This number is probably less that one percent of all the species in nature.

A prokaryote is single celled organism that is distinguished by the lack of a distinct nucleus, mitochondria, or other membrane bound organelle. It is organized into functional compartments where all of their cell contents are swished around together. Rather than carrying out life processes by themselves, several similar and different cells gather together to carry out specific processes. They rely on many cells working together; therefore, they are dependent on other cells.

Prokaryotes do not develop or differentiate into multi-cellular forms. Some of them grow in filaments or masses of cells; however, each cell in the colony is identical and very capable of existing independently. They may possibly be adjacent to one another due to not separating after cell division or because of being enclosed in a slime secreted by the cells. Typically there is no continuity or communication between prokaryotic cells.

Prokaryotic cells are incredibly tough when it comes to environments. They have been found in all of the outer limits of life on earth. Basically, one could say that they are present in all environments that support life. However, they have also been found in environments that support no other form of life. They thrive off of living in habitats that are too extreme for other forms of life. They hold every record for living in the coldest of cold and hottest of hot environments, not to mention the most acidic, most salty, and most pressurized. They choose some of the most incredible places to live such as miles beneath the earth in bare rock, under glaciers, floating around clouds, and miles down the sea floor that reach temperatures greater than 100 C.