Why is the biological species concept useful for Eukarya but not meaningful for Archaea and Bacteria? How are prokaryotic species defined?

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: A species is an interbreeding population of organisms that is isolated from other interbreeding populations, and this definition generally works well in defining eukaryotic species that reproduce sexually. However, prokaryotes undergo asexual reproduction and are subject to horizontal gene transfer in the environment, which complicates the definition of a species in Archaea and Bacteria. Prokaryotic species are defined as a monophyletic group of strains that share important phenotypic traits and have relatively high genomic and SSU rRNA sequence similarity. (Answers could include the accepted values of greater than 70% DNA:DNA hybridization and 97% SSU rRNA sequence similarity but the concept of similarity of a specific level and a monophyletic origin is most important.)

Biology & Microbiology

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Using mathematical reasoning, a triplet genetic code gives a possible ________ different codons, while a doublet genetic code would yield ________ different codons

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During meiosis I in humans, one of the daughter cells receives

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