12 Crucial Difference between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Translation

What is the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic translation?

The translation is a biological process where ribosomes in the endoplasmic reticulum synthesize proteins after transcription of DNA to RNA in the nucleus. The process happens in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes but in a different way.

The core difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic translation is that prokaryotic translation is a continuous process of both transcription and translation in the cytoplasm while eukaryotic translation is a discontinuous process as translation occurs in the cytoplasm and transcription in the nucleus.

Difference between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Translation

What Is Prokaryotic Translation?

The prokaryotic translation is a continuous process where both transcription and translation occur in the cytoplasm. Prokaryotic organisms are unicellular which means that their entire life is based on one cell.

What Is Eukaryotic Translation?

The eukaryotic translation is a discontinuous process where transcription takes place in the nucleus and translation in the cytoplasm. Eukaryote organisms are multicellular which means they are made up of cells performing specialized functions.

Comparison Chart: Prokaryotic Translation Vs Eukaryotic Translation

Basic Terms	Prokaryotic Translation	Eukaryotic Translation
Definition	It is a continuous process where both transcription and translation occur in the cytoplasm	It is a discontinuous process where translation occurs in the cytoplasm and transcription in the nucleus.
mRNA occurrence	Cytoplasm	Nucleus
Cap initiation	Cap-independent	Cap-dependent and Cap-independent
Carried out by	70S ribosomes	80S ribosomes
Stability of mRNA	Unstable	Stable
Ribosomes Number	30S & 50S = 70S	40S & 60S = 80S
Lifespan of mRNA	A few seconds to 2 minutes	A few hours to days
Occurrence	Lack of definite phase	G1 and G2 phase of the cell cycle
Process	Fast	Slow
Release factor	RF1, RF2	eRF
Initiation factor	3	9
Speed of translation	About twenty amino acids per second	Only one amino acid per second
Placement of AUG codon P-site	By shinedalgarno sequence	Scanning of mRNA
mRNA type	Polycystic	Monocistonic
Chain initiating amino acid	N-formyl methionine	methionine
Post translation modification	Take place in the cytoplasm	Take place on the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi bodies, and cytoplasm

Core Difference between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Translation In Point Form

Prokaryotic translation is a continuous process while eukaryotic translation is a discontinuous process.
Prokaryotic translation has ribosome type 70s while eukaryotic translation has type 80s.
The prokaryotic translation mRNA is polycistronic while that of eukaryotic translation mRNA is monocistronic
The first amino acid during prokaryotic translation is N-formyl methionine while that of eukaryotic translation is methionine
The initiation codon of eukaryotic translation is GUG or CUG while that of prokaryotic translation is GUG or UUG
The eukaryotic translation is a slower process while prokaryotic translation is a faster process
The eukaryotic translation requires a set of 9 initiation factors elF while prokaryotic translation requires 3 initiation factors IFI.
The prokaryotic translation has no definite phase while eukaryotic translation has G1 and G2 phase of the cell cycle
The lifespan of mRNA in prokaryotic translation is about few seconds to 2 minutes while that of eukaryotic translation is a few hours to days
The prokaryotic translation has mRNA which is stable while that of eukaryotic translation is unstable
The mRNA of prokaryotic translation is found in the cytoplasm while that of eukaryotic translation in the nucleus
The cap initiation of prokaryotic translation is Cap-independent while that of eukaryotic translation is both Cap-dependent and Cap-independent.

Similarities between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Translation

Both use the mRNA template
Both synthesize mRNA from DNA molecule
Both require ribosomes for the synthesis of protein
Both have similar 20 amino acid groups
Both groups have similar 60 codons
Both protein syntheses take place in the cytoplasm
Both group experience formation of peptide bonds
Both have similar three stop codons

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Comparison Video

Summary

The main difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic translation is that eukaryotic is a discontinuous process while prokaryotic translation is a continuous process. Prokaryotic translation takes place in unicellular organism while eukaryotic translation in multicellular organisms.