Prokaryote

A prokaryote is an organism whose cells lack a membrane-bound nucleus. The group includes Bacteria and Archaea, two distinct domains of life.

Bacteria: One of the two domains of prokaryotic life, comprising organisms with diverse metabolisms and cell structures. Bacteria are one of the two major groups included among prokaryotes.
Binary fission: A form of asexual reproduction in which one cell divides into two daughter cells. Many prokaryotes reproduce by copying their chromosome and splitting into two cells.
Human microbiome: The community of microorganisms and their genes living in and on the human body. Bacterial prokaryotes in the microbiome influence digestion, immunity, and health.
Eukaryote: An organism whose cells contain a membrane-bound nucleus and other membrane-bound compartments. Eukaryotes have nuclei, the defining structure absent from prokaryotic cells.
Archaea: A domain of single-celled organisms distinct from Bacteria and Eukarya, with distinctive molecular machinery and cell membranes. Archaea are prokaryotes, but their molecular features distinguish them from bacteria.
Horizontal gene transfer: The movement of genetic material between organisms other than by parent-to-offspring inheritance. Prokaryotes can acquire genes from unrelated cells, rapidly changing their traits.
Antibiotic resistance: The ability of microbes to survive exposure to drugs that would normally inhibit or kill them. Prokaryotic evolution and gene exchange help spread resistance to antibiotics.
Endosymbiotic theory: The theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts originated from bacteria living inside ancestral eukaryotic cells. It connects prokaryotic ancestors to organelles inside modern eukaryotic cells.
Nucleoid: A region of a prokaryotic cell where its chromosome is concentrated, without a surrounding membrane. The nucleoid holds genetic material where a eukaryotic cell has a nucleus.
Transformation (genetics): The uptake and incorporation of free DNA from a cell's surroundings. Transformation is one route by which prokaryotes gain DNA from the environment.

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