Free Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells MCQs with Answers

• A. no ribosomes
• B. no membrane bound nucleus or organelles
• C. no genetic material
• D. no plasma membrane

Explanation: Prokaryotes keep their DNA in a nucleoid region with no surrounding envelope and have no mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi…

• A. 70S
• B. 80S
• C. 90S
• D. 60S

Explanation: Prokaryotic ribosomes are 70S, made of a 50S and a 30S subunit, while eukaryotic cytoplasmic ribosomes are 80S.

• A. it magnifies the specimen many more times
• B. the wavelength of an electron beam is far shorter, giving much greater resolving power
• C. it can be used on living specimens
• D. it uses ultraviolet light instead of visible light

Explanation: Resolution is limited by wavelength, and the very short wavelength of an electron beam allows two points less than a nanometre apart to be…

• A. cellulose
• B. peptidoglycan
• C. chitin
• D. lignin

Explanation: Fungal walls are built from chitin, the same nitrogen containing polysaccharide found in the exoskeleton of insects, which is one reason…

• A. peptidoglycan
• B. cellulose
• C. chitin
• D. phospholipid

Explanation: Peptidoglycan, also called murein, is a mesh of sugar chains cross linked by short peptides, and it is unique to bacteria, which is why…

• A. is made of the protein flagellin
• B. rotates like a propeller at its base
• C. is shorter and never used for movement
• D. has a 9 plus 2 arrangement of microtubules enclosed by the plasma membrane

Explanation: A eukaryotic flagellum, as in a sperm, is an extension of the cell containing nine outer pairs of microtubules around a central pair, and…

• A. They contain digestive enzymes
• B. They can digest the cell itself when ruptured
• C. They kill bacteria
• D. They produce toxic substances

Explanation: When lysosomes rupture, their hydrolytic enzymes can digest the cell's own components, causing autolysis.

• A. Nucleus
• B. Mitochondria
• C. Golgi apparatus
• D. Peroxisomes

Explanation: Mitochondria (and chloroplasts) have their own circular DNA and 70S ribosomes, supporting the endosymbiotic theory.

• A. Mitochondria
• B. Chloroplast
• C. Ribosome
• D. Nucleus

Explanation: Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll and are the site of photosynthesis in plant cells and algae.

• A. Eukaryotes divide by budding; prokaryotes by mitosis
• B. Eukaryotes use binary fission; prokaryotes by meiosis
• C. Eukaryotes divide by mitosis; prokaryotes by binary fission
• D. Both use mitosis by cell division

Explanation: Mitosis needs a spindle and organised chromosomes, which only eukaryotes possess, while a prokaryote simply replicates its single circular…

• A. 1
• B. 2
• C. 4
• D. 6

Explanation: A typical E. coli cell has one main circular bacterial chromosome, although it may also carry smaller plasmids that are not counted as its…

• A. A cellular, eukaryotic organisms
• B. Non-chlorophylls, multicellular eukaiyotlc organisms
• C. Non-chlorophylls, multicellular,thailophytic organisms
• D. both B and C

Explanation: Fungi are non-chlorophyllous, multicellular, eukaryotic organisms and are traditionally described as thallophytic because their bodies are…

• A. Specific organ
• B. Cell membrane
• C. Cell wall
• D. Nuclear membrane

Explanation: A unicellular organism has no specialised respiratory organ, so gases diffuse directly across its cell membrane.

• A. Cell membrane
• B. Nucleus
• C. Cytoplasm
• D. None of these

Explanation: Prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound, true nucleus; their DNA lies in a nucleoid region of the cytoplasm.

• A. bacteria in the human colon
• B. tapeworm in the cow intestine
• C. bacteria passing through the placenta
• D. protozoans found within termites

Explanation: Bacteria in the colon and protozoans in termites can have mutually beneficial associations, while a tapeworm lives as a parasite in the…

• A. Whittaker
• B. Chatton
• C. Haeckel
• D. Margulis and Schwartz

Explanation: Édouard Chatton introduced the terms prokaryote and eukaryote to distinguish cells without a membrane-bound nucleus from cells with one.

• A. red
• B. green
• C. purple
• D. pink

Explanation: Gram-positive bacteria retain the crystal violet-iodine complex because their thick peptidoglycan wall is not decolorized by alcohol, so…

• A. cells
• B. tissues
• C. organs
• D. organisms

Explanation: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic are the two major types of cells, distinguished mainly by the presence or absence of a membrane-bound nucleus.

• A. prokaryotic
• B. eukaryotic
• C. both
• D. all the above

Explanation: Eukaryotic cells have larger 80S ribosomes, either attached to rough endoplasmic reticulum or free in the cytoplasm.

• A. Purple
• B. Red
• C. Pink
• D. Blue

Explanation: Gram-positive bacteria retain the crystal violet-iodine complex because their thick peptidoglycan wall is not effectively decolorised, so…