Final answer:
The first true prokaryote cells were developed from protocells, leading to bacterial and archaean prokaryotic cells. Prokaryotes are characterized by their lack of a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Eukaryotic cells likely evolved from ancestral prokaryotes, gaining organelles like mitochondria through endosymbiosis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first true prokaryote cells are thought to have formed from protocells, which are simple, non-living structures that have some characteristics of living cells. These protocells eventually gave rise to the two main groups of prokaryotes: bacterial and archaean prokaryotic cells. Prokaryotes are characterized by their lack of a nucleus, with their genetic material being contained in a single loop of DNA in the nucleoid area. Unlike eukaryotic cells, they lack membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts. The formation of eukaryotic cells involved the acquisition of organelles through a process called endosymbiosis, in which a host prokaryotic cell engulfed other prokaryotes, forming organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts over time.
It is important to note that chloroplasts and mitochondria, with their prokaryote-like DNA, were likely acquired by ancestral eukaryotic cells through this process of endosymbiosis. Endosymbiosis is also supported by evidence that mitochondria were developed from bacterial cells and that archaean prokaryotic cells may have also contributed to the evolution of eukaryotic cells. Finally, the cell wall, a feature most commonly associated with prokaryotic cells, differentiates them from many eukaryotic cells, which typically have lost this feature during evolution.