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Cytoplasm

Is the fluid component inside the plasma membrane. Cytoplasm is about 80% water and contains primarily proteins
(enzymes),carbohydrates,lipids,inorganicionsandmanylowMWcompounds.Majorstructuresinthecytoplasmare
DNA,ribosomesandinclusions.

Nucleararea

Thestrikingdifferencebetweenprokaryoticandeukaryoticsystemsisthewayinwhichtheirgeneticmaterialispackaged.
Prokaryotes lack a membranedelimited nucleus. Contains a single long circular molecule of doublestranded DNA
bacterial chromosomes do not include histones and are not surrounded by a nuclear envelope and located in an
irregularly shaped region callednucleiod . The nuclear area can be spherical, elongated, or dumbbell shaped. It is
attachedtotheplasmamembraneandproteinsofplasmamembranearebelievedtoberesponsibleforreplicationofthe
DNA.IthasbeendiscoveredrecentlythatVibriocholerahasmorethanonechromosome.Electronmicroscopestudies
haveshownthenucleiodincontactwitheitherthemesosomeortheplasmamembraneandhenceevidencethatthe
membranesmaybeinvolvedintheseparationofDNAintodaughtercellsduringdivision.Chemicalanalysisrevealsthat
theynucleoidsarecomposedtoabout60%DNA,30%RNAand10%protein.E.coli,whichisabout2to6umlong,the
closedDNAcirclemeasuresapproximately1400um.Hence,itisevidentthattheDNAisefficientlypackagedtofitwithin
thenucleoidandtheDAisloopedandcoiledextensively(Fig.10).

Manybacteriapossessextrachromosomaldoublestranded,circularDNAmoleculescalledplasmidsinadditiontotheir
chromosome.Theyreplicateindependentlyandareassociatedwithplasmamembraneproteins.Plasmidsusuallycontain
fromfiveto100genes.Plasmidsmaycarrygenesforsuchactivitiesasantibioticresistance,tolerancetotoxicmetals,
productionoftoxins,andsynthesisofenzymes.PlasmidDNAisusedforgenemanipulationinbiotechnology.Because
plasmidsmovebetweendifferentbacteria,drugresistancecanspreadthroughoutapopulation.

Fig.10.BacterialDNAandplasmids

Ribosomes:

Thecytoplasmicmatrixisalsopackagedwithribosomes,theyalsomaybelooselyattachedtotheplasmamembrane.
Theylooklikesmall,featurelessparticlesatlowmagnificationelectronmicroscope.Theyaremadeupofbothproteinand
ribonucleicacid(RNA).Ribosome'sfunctionassitesofproteinsynthesismatrixribosomessynthesizeproteinsdestined
to remain within the cell, whereas the plasma membrane ribosomes make proteins for transport to the outside.The
shapeofeachproteinisdeterminedbyitsaminoacidssequenceandthespecialproteinscalledmolecularchaperonesor
chaperones aid the polypeptide in folding to its proper shape. Prokaryotic ribosomes are smaller than eukaryotic
ribosomes(Fig.11).Ribosomesarecomposedoftwosubunits,eachsubunitbeingcomposedofproteinandatypeof
RNA called ribosomal RNA (rRNA).They are comm. Only 70S: 30S subunit (1 molecule of rRNA) and 50S subunit (2
moleculesofrRNA)andhavedimensionsofabout14to15nm,amolecularweightofapproximately2.7million.TheSin
70SstandsforSvedbergvalueorsedimentationcoefficient.Itisthesedimentationvelocityinacentrifugethefastera
particle travels when centrifuged, the greater is its Svedberg value. The Sedimentation coefficient is a function of a
particle's molecular weight, volume and shape. Several antibiotics, such as streptomycin, neomycin and tetracyclines,
exerttheirantimicrobialeffectsbyinhibitingproteinsynthesisonribosomes.

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Fig.11.Ribosmesinbacteria

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