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A typical animal cell

An eukaryote is an organism with complex cells, or a single cell with complex structures. In these cells the genetic material is organized into chromosomes in the cell nucleus.

Animals, plants, algae and fungi are all eukaryotes. There are also eukaryotes amongst single-celled protists. In contrast, simpler organisms, such as bacteria and archaea, do not have nuclei and other complex cell structures. Such organisms are called prokaryotes.