Summary:
Bacteria consist of only a single cell, but don't let their small size and seeming simplicity fool you.
They're an amazingly complex and fascinating group of creatures. Bacteria have been found that can live in temperatures above the boiling point and in cold that would freeze your blood. They "eat" everything from sugar and starch to sunlight, sulfur and iron. There's even a species of bacteria--Deinococcus radiodurans--that can withstand blasts of radiation 1,000 times greater than would kill a human being.
Bacteria fall into a category of life called the Prokaryotes (pro-carry-oats). Prokaryotes' genetic material, or DNA, is not enclosed in a cellular compartment called the nucleus. Bacteria do a lot of things. Bacteria aren't always bad. The definition of bacteria is any of the unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms of the class Schizomycetes. These are some characteristics of bacteria. Bacteria don't have a recognizable nucleus. Some bacteria have chlorophyll and are producers. Bacteria break down waste for energy. Those are some characteristics of bacteria.
These are the shapes of bacteria. One of the shapes is spheres which are called cocci. Another one of the shapes is rods which are called bacilli. One of the shapes is spirals which are called spirilla. Bacteria have been around for about 3.5 billion years. Like all cells, bacteria contain DNA, but the DNA in bacteria is different then other organisms, it's arranged in a single circular chromosome while most cells have several rod shaped chromosomes. Some bacteria also have flagella. This makes the bacteria move by beating in a propeller- motion. Bacteria can be classified in many different ways.
Bacteria can be found almost anywhere on the globe, even in the most remote places, bacteria can be found. Bacteria belong to the oldest group of organisms. A 3.5 billion-year-old fossil contains ancient bacteria (Johnson 339). The tiniest organisms can be filled with bacteria. You cannot see bacteria with out microscope. People can grow bacteria to find out different things. More bacteria will grow yogurt that has more milk fat.
There are three common shapes of bacteria: spiral, rod-shaped, and spherical. The spherical shaped bacteria are usually formed in long chains. Rod-shaped bacteria looks like abstract art and spiral bacteria looks like DNA strands (Johnson 339). Even though they may look interesting, they can have an awful effect. One type of spiral shaped bacteria sometimes causes kidney and liver damage. This spiral-shaped bacterium is called Leptospira. Staphylococcus aureus is a spherical bacteria that can cause skin infections (Johnson 339).Although there are three major shapes of bacteria, there is a certain general structure to all bacterial cells. There is no nucleus in a bacterium. All of the genes of the bacterium are located on one molecule of DNA in the middle of the bacterium.
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