Driessen lecture 1

Question 1

What are some traits that bacteria have that allow them to be very large despite not having any organelles or supporting structures?

Answer 1

1. It can have many (10.000) copies of its genome distributed in the cytoplasm, preventing diffusional limitation between the genome and the cytoplasm.
2. They can have an enormous vacuole that fills most of the cell. This ensures that the cytoplasm is squeezed tightly to the outer membrane of the cell.

Question 2

Why is rRNA so good for studying the evolutionary history of microbes?

Answer 2

1. Genes encoding rRNAs are present in all cells.
2. They are functionally constant
3. Highly conserved
4. Of adequate length