Let’s say that you are a family physician, and you have noticed that during the

Question

Let’s say that you are a family physician, and you have noticed that during the last few days many more patients have complained of stomach cramps and intestinal “flu” than you would expect for this time of year. You take samples from these patients and isolate a single celled organism that has DNA, but no visible membrane bound bodies within its cytoplasm. To which biological domain does this organism probably belong? To which biological domains does this organism probably not belong? Explain your reasoning for each domain To treat these patients, will you prescribe drugs effective against prokaryotic or eukaryotic organisms? Defend your decision to your patient.

Please provide a detailed answer.

Thank you.

Explanation / Answer

It is given that a biological agent causes flue in a given set of patients. The causative agent has DNA but no membrane-bound organelles.

So, the causative agent could probably be a prokaryote.

Since it does not contain membrane-bound organelles, it cannot belong to eukaryotes.

Characteristics of prokaryotes: Absence of nuclear membrane and membrane-bound organelles. 70S ribosomes.

Characteristics of eukaryotes: Presence of nuclear membrane and membrane-bound organelles. 80S ribosomes.

To treat these patients, we have to use drugs that are specific to prokaryotes.

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