Bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are microscopic creatures that can vary in shape and sizes. The most common are spiral, spherical or rod shaped bacteria. All bacteria are one celled and are prokaryotic cells which means they don't have a membrane bound nucleus. Most bacteria don't have complex organelles.

 

They were the first life on Earth and are the most abundant lifeforms since there is 5 nonillion of them. 5 nonillion is a 5 followed by 30 zeros. Bacteria can live in food, water, air and even our bodies. Bacteria in your digestive track break down molecules our bodies can't break down by itself. Speaking of food, bacteria can either obtain food by photosynthesis which is what plants use or by hunting other microorganisms. Bacteria can also be evil. They are responsible for strep throat, food poisoning and a lot of other diseases. Luckily drugs called antibiotics can be taken to kill the bacteria.

 

Some can't move but others move by using tiny hairs called cilia or whip-like hair called flagella. Most bacteria reproduce asexually in a process called fission. Fission produces two cells with the same genetic material as the parent cell. Some bacteria exchange genetic material in a process that is closer to sexual reproduction. Some bacteria can reproduce very quickly. Sometimes as fast as once every 20 minutes.

Fission

There is no way life would exist without bacteria. They are among the oldest lifeforms on the planet. No one knows the exact order of events but it is thought that they evolved roughly 3.5 billion years ago, roughly the same time as other microorganisms called archeabacteria. for several billion years they were the only life on Earth. Back then there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere but bacteria changed that. Through photosynthesis they slowly filled our atmosphere with the oxygen we breathe. After all these years life on Earth's parents are still around. You can find archea in the most extreme places on the planet like hot springs, salt lakes and deep ocean vents with no sunlight.

Links

 bacteria pic 1

bacteria pic 2 

Fission gif