BIOLOGY 1A03 Chapter 13: Biology 1A03; Textbook Notes (Theme 4, Modules 1&2)(Copy)

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIOLOGY 1A03
• Professor: Alastair Tracey Rosa Da Silva

Document Summary

The majority of prokaryotic cells, namely bacteria and archaeons, divide by binary fission. In this form of cell division, a cell replicates its dna, increases in size, and divides into two daughter cells. Each daughter cell receives one copy of the replicated parental dna. The molecular mechanisms that drive binary fission have been studied most extensively in bacteria. The process of binary fission is similar in archaeons, as well as in chloroplasts and mitochondria, organelles within plant, fungal, and animal cells that evolved from free-living prokaryotic cells. Let"s consider the process of binary fission in the intestinal bacterium escherichia coli. The circular genome of e. coli is attached by proteins to the inside of the plasma membrane. Dna replication is initiated at a specific location on the circular dna molecule, called the origin of replication, and proceeds in opposite directions around the circle.