Single-celled organisms ruled, and there wasn’t much to them. They were what we now call prokaryotic cells, which include modern-day bacteria and archaea, essentially sacks of loose molecular parts.

Eukaryotic cell DNA in a nucleus, plasmids are found in a few simple eukaryotic organisms. Prokaryotic cell DNA is a single molecule, found free in the cytoplasm; additional DNA is found on one or ...

Vast numbers of different prokaryotic microorganisms shape the biosphere, with diverse metabolic capabilities. Determination of genome sequences for a wide range of bacteria and archaea now requires ...