In eukaryotes where is dna located

In eukaryotic cells, all the chromosomes are contained within the nucleus. In prokaryotic cells, the chromosome is located in a region of the cytoplasm called the nucleoid, which lacks a membrane.

One interesting implication of this difference in the location of eukaryotic and prokaryotic chromosomes is that transcription and translation—the processes of creating an RNA molecule and using that molecule to synthesize a protein—can occur simultaneously in prokaryotes.

This is possible because prokaryotic cells lack a nuclear membrane, so transcription and translation occur in the same region.

As the RNA is being transcribed, ribosomes can begin the translation process of stringing together amino acids. In contrast, in eukaryotic cells, transcription always occurs first, and it takes place within the nucleus. The RNA molecule needs to undergo editing before it leaves the nucleus. Then, translation is conducted by a ribosome in the cytoplasm. In general, eukaryotic cells contain a lot more genetic material than prokaryotic cells.

For example, each human cell has around 2m, or 3 billion base pairs, of DNA that must be compacted to fit within the nucleus. In eukaryotic cells, chromatin consists of all the DNA within the nucleus and its associated proteins, called histones. Mitochondria and chloroplasts likely evolved from engulfed bacteria that once lived as independent organisms.

Figure 5: Typical prokaryotic left and eukaryotic right cells. In prokaryotes, the DNA chromosome is in contact with the cellular cytoplasm and is not in a housed membrane-bound nucleus. Figure 6: The relationship between the radius, surface area, and volume of a cell.

Note that as the radius of a cell increases from 1x to 3x left , the surface area increases from 1x to 9x, and the volume increases from 1x to 27x.

Organelles serve specific functions within eukaryotes, such as energy production, photosynthesis, and membrane construction. Most are membrane-bound structures that are the sites of specific types of biochemical reactions. The nucleus is particularly important among eukaryotic organelles because it is the location of a cell's DNA. Two other critical organelles are mitochondria and chloroplasts, which play important roles in energy conversion and are thought to have their evolutionary origins as simple single-celled organisms.

Cell Biology for Seminars, Unit 1. Topic rooms within Cell Biology Close. No topic rooms are there. Or Browse Visually. Student Voices. Creature Cast. Simply Science. Green Screen.

Green Science. Bio 2. The Success Code. Why Science Matters. The Beyond. Plant ChemCast. Postcards from the Universe. Brain Metrics. Mind Read. Eyes on Environment. Accumulating Glitches. Saltwater Science. Microbe Matters. You have authorized LearnCasting of your reading list in Scitable. Do you want to LearnCast this session? The euchromatin usually contains genes that are transcribed, with DNA packaged around nucleosomes but not further compacted.

Figure 2. These figures illustrate the compaction of the eukaryotic chromosome. Improve this page Learn More. Skip to main content. Search for:. Practice Question Figure 1. Show Answer What advantages might there be to having them occur together?

Mitosis, a process of nuclear division wherein replicated chromosomes are divided and separated using elements of the cytoskeleton, is universally present in eukaryotes. The cytoskeleton contains structural and motility components called actin microfilaments and microtubules. All extant eukaryotes have these cytoskeletal elements. Prokaryotes on the other hand undergo binary fission in a process where the DNA is replicated, then separates to two poles of the cell, and, finally, the cell fully divides.

Because eukaryotes have mitochondria and prokaryotes do not, eukaryotic cells contain mitochondrial DNA in addition to DNA contained in the nucleus and ribosomes.