Question

Do bacteria have vacuoles?

Answer 1

Vacuoles:

1. These are membrane-bound organelles present in both animal and plant cells.
2. Plant vacuoles are bigger in size, can have variable shapes and their main function is to maintain water balance inside the cell.
3. Animal vacuoles are comparatively smaller and are used to transport materials and collect metabolic byproducts for removal.

Bacteria

1. These are simple unicellular organisms that lack a well-defined nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
2. Bacteria and archaea belong to prokaryotes.
3. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, staphylococcus, Lactobacillus, etc are some examples of bacteria.
4. Bacterial cells have large vacuoles such as in plants.
5. These are primarily used for the storage of water, ions, organic and inorganic materials and to maintain a water balance inside the cytoplasm of the cell.
6. It has a variable shape depending upon the requirement of the cell but usually takes up a large volume of the cytoplasm pushing other components towards the periphery.