If bacteria can act as multicellular organisms, why are they classified as prokaryotes?
1 Answer
Prokaryotes are the organisms which lack compartmentalization in the cell. It is not that if they can act as multicellular they are eukaryotes.
Explanation:
Firstly definition of Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes.
Prokaryotes are single-celled organisms which lack cellular compartmentalization, all the molecules within the organism are contained within the cell membrane.
Figure 1 Showing a Prokaryotic bacterial cell.
Eukaryotes are organisms which have specialized compartments (called cell organelles) in the cell to do specialized work. For example, Mitochondria in the Eukaryotic cells is responsible for power production. Similarly, other cell organelles are specialized in various aspects.
Figure 2 Showing a Eukaryotic paramecium cell.
Your question is if bacteria can act as multicellular organism why they are classified as prokaryotes? The answer is as bacteria completely lack any cellular compartments thus they are prokaryotes, even though they do the same functions as multicellular organisms.
