0 a type of organism that has only one cell and does not have a nucleus (= central part), for example a bacterium:
The term prokaryote is Greek for "preliminary cell".
Some scientists suggest that the procaryote is a degenerate eukaryote, one that has lost its unique features.
Consider first a single-cell organism, a prokaryote.
But it is impossible to explain how prokaryotes cells evolved into eukaryotic cells (without creating intermediary organisms out of thin air).
The molecule is ubiquitous - it occurs in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and also in the genomes of mitochondria and chloroplasts.
Interestingly, high amino acid homologies were observed only to genes isolated from prokaryotes.
Cyclophilins have been isolated from a wide variety of eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
Consistent with this prediction is the fact that at present no senescing prokaryote species are known.
