• BIO 180
  • UNIT 1. INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • UNIT 2. INTERMOLECULAR FORCES, WATER, AND ACIDS AND BASES
  • UNIT 3. CARBOHYDRATES
  • UNIT 4. LIPIDS, NUCLEIC ACIDS, AND PROTEINS
  • UNIT 5. CELL MEMBRANES-STRUCTURE AND CELL FUNCTION
  • UNIT 6. PROKARYOTES AND VIRUSES
  • UNIT 7. ENERGY BALANCE
  • UNIT 8. GLYCOLYSIS AND CITRIC ACID CYCLE
  • UNIT 9. ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN
  • UNIT 10. PHOTOSYSNTHESIS
  • UNIT 11. CELLULAR TRANSPORT AND CELLULAR SIGNALING
  • UNIT 12. CELL DIVISION AND CANCER
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  • Translations
  • 12.2.1

    Binary Fission

    Prokaryote cell division is asexual meaning that the DNA does not have maternal and paternal contributions. In fact, binary fission does not involve chromosomes, but the DNA is still replicated so that when the cell is pulled apart the original and the replicated DNA are separated. This means that the new cells are genetically identical unless errors during replication are made. This process is very fast, allowing prokaryote growth to double each division causing it to have a logarithmic growth cycle. For example, E. coli bacteria cells double every 20 minutes referred to as the doubling time. Doubling times varying between different prokaryotes and are dependent upon the availability of nutrients, space, temperature, etc.

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