Bacteria Definition
Bacteria are microscopic, single-celled organisms that can be found almost everywhere on Earth. They are prokaryotic microorganisms and can have different shapes such as spheres or rods. There are millions of different types of bacteria, some of which can cause infections and diseases in animals and humans.
What Are Bacteria?
Bacteria are microscopic single-celled organisms that can be found almost everywhere on Earth, including in the human body. They come in various shapes such as spheres, rods, or spirals. Bacteria are classified by their scientific name and constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. They were among the first life forms to appear on Earth and are vital to the planet’s ecosystems.
Most types of bacteria are not harmful and some are even beneficial to humans. The human body is estimated to contain 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. Helpful bacteria reside mainly on the skin or in the gut and digestive system.
They keep humans healthy by aiding digestion, producing vitamins, and preventing harmful bacteria from growing.
However, some species of bacteria can cause infections and diseases in animals and humans. These pathogenic bacteria can be harmful to humans when they enter the body through cuts or wounds, contaminated food or water, or through contact with infected animals or people.
Bacteria are small single-celled organisms that come in various shapes. They can be found almost everywhere on Earth including inside the human body where they play an important role in keeping us healthy. While most types of bacteria are harmless or even beneficial, some species can cause infections and diseases in animals and humans.
Evolution of Bacteria
Bacteria have existed on Earth since early Precambrian time, about 3.5 billion years ago. They were widespread on Earth at least since the latter part of the Paleoproterozoic, roughly 1.8 billion years ago when oxygen appeared in the atmosphere as a result of the action of cyanobacteria.
Bacteria have had plenty of time to adapt to their environments and evolve over billions of years.
Bacteria evolve through natural selection; whereby beneficial adaptations are passed onto future generations until the trait becomes common throughout the population.
Bacterial species evolve quickly because their huge populations offer many opportunities for mutations, and they readily exchange genetic material through mechanisms such as conjugation.
Bacterial evolution can occur through mechanisms including natural selection, mutation, gene transfer, and genetic drift.
The evolution of bacteria has led to differing strains that have caused numerous outbreaks such as Vibrio cholerae responsible for a 2022 outbreak in Dhaka.
The rapid evolution of bacteria is also responsible for antibiotic resistance which is becoming increasingly common around the world causing at least 700,000 deaths per year.
Resistance to antimicrobial treatments evolves rapidly often over the course of a single infection either by bacteria exchanging with one another or by an individual bacterium becoming resistant through mutations in its own genes.
Structure Of Bacteria
Bacteria are unicellular organisms that reproduce by binary fission. They are extremely small, with a diameter ranging from 0.2 to 10 micrometers. Bacteria have characteristic shapes, including cocci (round or ellipsoidal cells), rods, long filamentous branched cells, and comma-shaped cells.
The cell wall of bacteria forms a rigid structure of uniform thickness around the cell and is responsible for the characteristic shape of the cell. The cell wall is made up of glycoprotein murein and helps in providing structural support to the bacterial cell.
Bacteria are prokaryotes, lacking well-defined nuclei and membrane-bound organelles. Instead, they have a nucleoid region where their DNA is located. The chromosomes in bacteria are composed of a single closed DNA circle. Bacterial cells also have ribosomes that synthesize proteins and a plasma membrane that encloses the cytoplasm.
In addition to the cell wall, bacteria may have other surface layers such as capsules and loose slime in Gram-positive bacteria and the complex cell envelope in Gram-negative bacteria.
Bacteria may also have mesosomal membrane vesicles that arise from invaginations of the plasma membrane. Some bacteria have flagella or pili that help them move or attach to surfaces respectively.
The primary structure of macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, polysaccharides, phospholipids determine the properties and function of these molecules in bacterial cells. Differences within inherent cellular architecture determine unique properties for pathogens.
Bacteria Characteristics
Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that lack membrane-bound organelles and a true nucleus. They are prokaryotic cells, which are less complex than eukaryotic cells.
Bacteria have a plasma membrane, which is a thin layer of lipids and proteins that surrounds the cell. Their DNA is located in a nucleoid, an irregularly shaped region within the cell. Bacteria can be classified by their shape, including bacilli (rods), cocci (spheres), and spirilli (spirals).
Bacteria are found in every environment on Earth, including soil, water, and deep in the Earth’s crust. Some bacteria are harmful to humans and can cause diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, dysentery, bubonic plague, and tuberculosis. However, most bacteria serve useful purposes. They support many forms of life, both plant and animal.
For example, some bacteria help break down dead organic matter into nutrients that plants can use. Other bacteria live in the gut microbiome of humans and animals where they aid digestion and protect against harmful pathogens.
Bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth. They reproduce through binary fission – a process where one cell divides into two identical daughter cells. This process allows bacteria to multiply rapidly under favourable conditions.
How Do Bacteria Reproduce?
Bacteria reproduce primarily through a process called binary fission, which is an asexual process whereby a single cell divides into two. During binary fission, the chromosome copies itself, forming two genetically identical cells.
To remain viable and competitive, bacteria must divide at the right time and in the right place and must provide each offspring with enough nutrients to survive.
There are groups of bacteria that use unusual forms or patterns of cell division to reproduce. Some bacterial lineages reproduce by budding, while others grow to more than twice their starting cell size and then use multiple divisions to produce multiple offspring cells.
Some Firmicutes such as Epulopiscium spp., Metabacterium polyspora, and Segmented Filamentous Bacteria (SFB) form intracellular offspring production.
Bacteria can also undergo genetic recombination by conjugation, transformation, or transduction. In conjugation, two bacteria come into contact through a pilus and exchange genetic material.
Transformation occurs when a bacterium takes up DNA from its environment or from another bacterium that has shed its DNA. Transduction is the transfer of genetic material from one bacterium to another by a virus.
Bacteria do not have male or female counterparts; therefore, they do not reproduce sexually in the traditional sense. However, some bacterial species can undergo sexual reproduction through conjugation, transformation, or transduction.
Types of Bacteria
Bacteria are prokaryotic, unicellular microorganisms that lack chlorophyll pigments and have a simpler cell structure than other organisms as they do not have a nucleus or membrane-bound organelles.
Due to the presence of a rigid cell wall, bacteria maintain a definite shape, though they vary in shape, size, and structure. When viewed under a light microscope, most bacteria appear in variations of three major shapes: rod-shaped (bacillus), spherical (coccus), and spiral (vibrio).
The coccus shape can appear in several distinct arrangements such as diplococcus and streptococcus. Bacilli can be arranged singly or in pairs. Spiral forms of bacteria include spirillum, spirochete, and vibrio.
The morphology of bacterial cells not only tells their shape but also decides their pathogenicity. Morphological traits of bacterial cells are an important factor in their adaptability and evolution. There are many features like motility and mode of nutrition that are affected by the shape of bacteria.
Examples of Bacteria
There are many different types of bacteria, classified by shape. Spherical bacteria shaped like a ball are called cocci, and a single bacterium is a coccus. Examples include the streptococcus group responsible for “strep throat”.
Bacillus anthracis is an example of rod-shaped bacteria or bacilli that cause anthrax. Spiral-shaped bacteria or spirochetes include Treponema pallidum which causes syphilis.
Bacteria can be harmful or beneficial to humans. Some bacteria are pathogenic and can cause infections such as urinary tract infections caused by Aerococcus urinae and sexually transmitted infection chlamydia caused by Chlamydia trachomatis.
Other harmful examples include Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas maltophilia, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyrogenes, and Clostridium botulinum responsible for botulism food poisoning. However, most bacteria serve a useful purpose. They support many forms of life both plant and animal and they are used in industrial and medicinal processes.
There are millions (if not billions) of different types of bacteria found all over the world including in the human body. They’re on the skin and in airways and mouth. They’re also in the digestive system where they help digest food by absorbing nutrients breaking down food and preventing the growth of harmful bacteria.
How Are Bacteria Beneficial To Health?
Bacteria are essential for human health and survival. Most bacteria are beneficial and do not cause disease. They play a vital role in the environment, animals, and humans.
Bacteria in our bodies help degrade the food we eat, make nutrients available to us, neutralize toxins, and protect colonized surfaces from invading pathogens. The mix of microbes in our gut affects how well we use and store energy from food.
Good bacteria help our bodies digest food, absorb nutrients, produce vitamins in the intestinal tract (including folic acid, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12), act as protectors when they multiply and thrive in our bodies, break down carbohydrates (sugars) and toxins, help us absorb fatty acids which cells need to grow, protect the cells in our intestines from invading pathogens, promote repair of damaged tissue, balance good and bad intestinal bacteria aiding digestion of food, among other benefits.
However, some species of bacteria can result in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity when the normal microbiome is disrupted. Antibiotics can kill helpful bacteria causing an imbalance of bacteria that can lead to diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems.
