Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
- Olympiad · NSEJS
A prokaryotic cell has no true nucleus wrapped in a membrane, while a eukaryotic cell keeps its genetic material inside a nucleus with a membrane.
In a prokaryotic cell, the genetic material lies in the cell without a membrane around it. The area where it sits is called the nucleoid. These cells are small and simple. They also lack organelles with membranes, such as mitochondria.
A eukaryotic cell has a proper nucleus with a nuclear membrane. The chromosomes sit inside it. It also has organelles with membranes, like mitochondria and, in plants, chloroplasts.
- Prokaryotes: bacteria and blue-green algae.
- Eukaryotes: fungi such as yeast, plants, animals and humans.
A small example
Sort these cells: a bacterium, a cell from the inside of your cheek, a yeast cell and an onion peel cell.
- Bacterium: no nuclear membrane, so prokaryotic.
- Cheek cell: has a nucleus with a membrane, so eukaryotic.
- Yeast cell: a fungus with a true nucleus, so eukaryotic.
- Onion peel cell: a plant cell with a nucleus, so eukaryotic.
The test is the nucleus, not size or shape. Yeast is a single cell, just like a bacterium. But it is eukaryotic because its genetic material sits inside a nuclear membrane.
Where it fits
This goes beyond the Class 10 board syllabus. HBCSE's Junior Science syllabus lists it under the cell as the basic unit of life. That syllabus is for NSEJS, which the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) conducts.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
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