In microbiology

Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...

 and genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

, a plasmid is a DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 molecule that is separate from, and can replicate independently of, the chromosomal DNA

GDNA

Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid is chromosomal DNA, in contrast to extrachromosomal DNAs like plasmids. It is often abbreviated as gDNA. The genome of an organism is the biological information of heredity which is passed from one generation of organism to the next...

. They are double-stranded and, in many cases, circular. Plasmids usually occur naturally in bacteria, but are sometimes found in eukaryotic organisms

Eukaryote

A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotes may more formally be referred to as the taxon Eukarya or Eukaryota. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear...

 (e.g., the 2-micrometre ring in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a species of yeast. It is perhaps the most useful yeast, having been instrumental to baking and brewing since ancient times. It is believed that it was originally isolated from the skin of grapes...

).

Plasmid sizes vary from 1 to over 1,000 kbp

Base pair

In molecular biology and genetics, the linking between two nitrogenous bases on opposite complementary DNA or certain types of RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds is called a base pair...

. The number of identical plasmids in a single cell

Cell (biology)

The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....

 can range anywhere from one to even thousands under some circumstances.