Question

Which of the following are distinctly different in archaeal cells as compared to bacterial cells?

a. Archaeal cells have a peptidoglycan cell wall, while bacterial cells have no cell wall.
b. Archaeal cells have a different membrane lipid composition compared to bacterial cells.
c. Archaeal cells lack ribosomes, a feature found in bacterial cells.
d. Archaeal cells reproduce through binary fission, similar to bacterial cells.

Answer 1

Archaeal cells are distinct from bacterial cells due to their membrane lipid composition and the absence of peptidoglycan in most of their cell walls, with some having or other substances instead.

Step-by-step explanation:

The archaeal cells differ from bacterial cells in some key aspects of their cell structure. Answer b is correct - archaeal cells possess a different membrane lipid composition compared to bacterial cells. More specifically, the archaeal cell membrane is composed of ether linkages with branched isoprene chains, unlike the bacterial cell membrane, which has ester linkages with unbranched fatty acids. In addition, while bacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan, most archaeal cell walls do not. Instead, some archaea have cell walls that contain a structurally similar substance referred , while others may have glycoproteins or polysaccharides.