Separating The Nucleus & Cytoplasm
- The nucleus is one of the key organelles that distinguishes eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic cells
- It allows many cell processes to take place more efficiently than in prokaryotes
- Gene transcription and translation are two process that occur in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes
- In prokaryotes these processes take place simultaneously which allows for rapid responses to an environmental stimuli
- In eukaryotes these processes occur separately due to the compartmentalisation of the nucleus
- During transcription, mRNA is formed using a template strand of DNA; the mRNA needs some modification before it can be used for translation
- Modification can take place in isolation within the nucleus before it comes into contact with a ribosome (this is where translation occurs) unlike in prokaryotes where the mRNA immediately meets a ribosome
- This step reduces the chance of errors occurring in the mRNA code and therefore in the resulting protein following translation