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Prokaryotic Cells

Prokaryotic Cells

Prokaryotes are small unicellular organisms that include the domains—Archaea and Bacteria. Bacteria include many common organisms, such as Salmonella and E. coli, while the Archaea include extremophiles that live in harsh environments, such as volcanic springs.
Like eukaryotic cells, all prokaryotic cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane, have genetic material in the form of single, circular DNA, a cytoplasm that fills the interior of the cell, and ribosomes that synthesize proteins.

Prokaryotic Cells

Prokaryotic Cells

Prokaryotes are small unicellular organisms that include the domains — Archaea and Bacteria. Bacteria include many common microorganisms, such as Salmonella and E. coli, while the Archaea include extremophiles that live in harsh environments, such as volcanic springs.
Like eukaryotic cells, all prokaryotic cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane, have genetic material in the form of single, circular DNA, a cytoplasm that fills the interior of the cell, and ribosomes that synthesize proteins.

Bacterial Signaling

Bacterial Signaling

Bacterial signaling can occur within bacteria (intracellular) or between bacteria (intercellular). At times, a group of bacteria behaves like a community. To achieve this, they engage in quorum sensing, the perception of higher cell density that causes changes in gene expression. Quorum sensing involves both extracellular and intracellular signaling. The signaling cascade starts with a molecule called an autoinducer (AI). Individual bacteria produce AIs that move out of the bacterial cell...

Overview of Cell Signaling

Overview of Cell Signaling

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...

Nucleoid

Nucleoid

The nucleoid represents a structurally and functionally distinct region within prokaryotic cells, where the cell's DNA and associated proteins are housed. Unlike eukaryotic cells, prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus, and the nucleoid facilitates the organization and accessibility of the genetic material within this constraint. The DNA in most bacteria and archaea exists as a single, circular, double-stranded molecule that is highly compacted through supercoiling and interactions with...

Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing

Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing

Quorum sensing is a mechanism of bacterial communication that enables coordinated gene expression in response to changes in population density. This facilitates collective behaviors that enhance survival, resource acquisition, and ecological adaptation. This process relies on small signaling molecules called autoinducers that accumulate as bacterial populations grow. When a critical threshold concentration of autoinducers is reached, bacterial cells collectively modify gene expression,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

Membrane Transport Processes Analyzed by a Highly Parallel Nanopore Chip System at Single Protein Resolution

Membrane Transport Processes Analyzed by a Highly Parallel Nanopore Chip System at Single Protein Resolution

Published on: August 16, 2016

Prokaryotic multicellularity: a nanopore array for bacterial cell communication.

Josef Lehner¹, Susanne Berendt, Bastian Dörsam

¹Department of Microbiology/Organismic Interactions, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

|February 28, 2013

Summary

A novel bacterial amidase, AmiC2, creates nanopores in cell walls, enabling communication and forming a new organelle essential for multicellularity in Nostoc punctiforme.

Keywords:

amidase cyanobacteria

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Last Updated: May 13, 2026

Membrane Transport Processes Analyzed by a Highly Parallel Nanopore Chip System at Single Protein Resolution

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Cell Biology
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Multicellularity requires cell communication and differentiation.
Nostoc punctiforme forms filaments with interacting cells.
AmiC2 amidase mutation disrupts cell communication and differentiation.

Purpose of the Study:

To elucidate the function of AmiC2 in cell-joining structures.
To understand the role of AmiC2 in establishing multicellularity.

Main Methods:

Localization studies of AmiC2 protein.
In vivo and in vitro amidase activity assays.
Vancomycin staining for septum morphology.
Electron microscopy of peptidoglycan sacculi.

Main Results:

AmiC2 localizes to the septum and exhibits amidase activity.
AmiC2 forms an array of ~155 nanopores (~20 nm diameter) in cross-walls.
These nanopores facilitate cell-joining protein penetration.
The pore array functions as a novel bacterial organelle.

Conclusions:

AmiC2 is crucial for forming cell-joining structures via nanopore formation.
This novel bacterial organelle is key to prokaryotic multicellularity.
The findings reveal a new mechanism for intercellular communication in filamentous bacteria.