What is Microbiology?
Brittany Bell, Daniel Brandes, Tamar Lieberman, Jacob Mukand, Beatrice Puzikov, Danielle Tibbetts
Where Microbes Live
Microbes live everywhere (in us, in nature, everywhere around has microbes in or on it. A large part of us is actually built up ofViruses, Bacteria, and Fungi.(For example the tongue) If you pick up a fist full of garden soil or dirt, then you’re holding 1000’s of types of microbes in just that fist full!!!!! Microbes can adapt to an environment where nothing else could ever live. Some Microbes live in the hottest places (The water springs at Yellow Stone Park,) but other microbes live in freezing weather and are permanently frozen to the ice in Antarctica. There is a rumor that Microbes might have once lived on Mars.
Microbial Mergers
Algae, the Invisible Partner
Coral polyps are given credit for providing food and shelter for many organisms. However, coral polyps coexist with zooxanthelle, microscopic algae. The zooxanthelle provide important nutrients for the coral through photosynthesis, and the coral gives them a stable environment to live in. Coral polyps are given full credit for sheltering organisms, but most people do not credit the zooxanthelle who keep the coral alive.
Fungi and Bacteria
Some bacteria harvest nitrogen from the air in a process called nitrogen fixation. However, they need lots of carbohydrates to do this, and soil has very little. Some plants, on the other hand, make lots of carbohydrates through photosynthesis, but need the result of nitrogen fixation.So the two combine, and supply the missing ingredient for energy for each other. This symbiotic relationship is common between fungi and bacteria, and plants.
Mitochondria and Chloroplasts
Mitochondria reside in each cell of fungi, protozoa, and animals. When nutrients are absorbed, they are converted into chemical energy by the mitochondria in order to power the cells.
Chloroplasts are similar structures in plants, algae, and some protozoa. They convert hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, using light energy, into glucose which the cell uses for energy. Mitochondria and chloroplasts are essential to life. If all of them were shut down in an organism’s body, it would die. Both are very similar in structure to bacteria. They have their own DNA and reproduce separately from cells, in a process similar to binary fission in bacteria. Scientists think that they were once separate prokaryotes that joined a cell, and took up permanent residence.
Mouthless, Gutless Worms
At the bottom of the ocean there’s, no sunlight. The tubeworms that live there have no eating apparatus. They get energy from billions of bacteria that convert hydrogen sulfide from the vents into nutrients for tubeworm. In return, bacteria get a stable home.
Gardens of Fungi
50 million years ago Ants first took up fungus farming. Today Ants fungus farm in vast underground nests. They cut up stems and leaves to feed the fungi which they can then eat. Gardens keep the crops safe. Ants eat the swellings that the fungi produce. Fungi live well, but need ants to make the fungi gardens.
Lichens Fungi can feed themselves nutrients like algae, but when they are combined, they make lichens. They make a team where the fungi provide shelter and the algae provide food.
Virus or Bacterium? Viruses and Bacteria are two completely different Microbes. Their size differs: The biggest virus is about as large as the smallest bacterium. In structure,bacteria are a more complex microbe compared to a virus. All viruses have a coat made out of proteins and a core of either RNA or DNA. Viruses and Bacteria reproduce differently.
Viral vs. Bacterial Reproduction
Bacteria have DNA, and many tools that aid them in reproducing themselves. Viruses, on the other hand, can’t reproduce themselves because of their limited genetic material and organelles. To reproduce, viruses invade other cells. They insert genetic information, and the cell takes it up. The cell then uses the DNA to make virus parts. Soon, the cell bursts open, releasing new viruses.
Types of Microbes
Bacteria Bacteria can cause diseases. Bacteria have cell walls and thin rubber-like membranes that surround the fluids/cytoplasm in the cell. Bacteria contain extra strands of DNA floating in the cytoplasm-- no nuclei. Some bacteria move by using flagella: thread like strands.
Fungi Fungi have a large range of sizes from yeasts to 3.5 mile mushrooms. Hyphae, structures that absorb and transport food for energy, make up fungi. Fungi is unlike other multicellular organisms because the dividers between fungal cells have opennings that allow protiens, fluids, and nuclei to pass between them. Zoospores have no cell wall, are unflagellated, and can swim for 24 hours on endegenous energy resources.
Protista
They are eukaryotic creatures that don’t fit into Plants, animals, or fungi. Water molds live in wet environments and provide fungi like hyphae. Protozoa maintain the balance of microbial life and are the basis of many food chains. They are found in soil and water. Dinoflagellates have flagella and can glow in the dark. Algae are found in waters and soil unless they join with fungi. They produce oxygen and photosynthesis.
Archaea
Archaea are similar in behavior and structure to bacteria, but constitute a separate group because of different genetic information. Until the creation of an effective method to compare genetic information they were classified as aberrational bacteria. They look like small rods or balls. Many utilize flagella, a whip like appendage to move around, it is used similarly by bacteria. They lack a true nucleus, they generally have one molecule of DNA suspended in the cytoplasm in the cell membrane, most have a thick and durable cell wall. There are three main types of Archaea:crenarchaeota, which can tolerate opposite ends of the spectrums of temperature and acidity. Euyarchaeota which encompasses producers of methane and salt lovers. Korachaeota an enigmatic “catch-all” group. These main groups are separated into sub-groups. They were among the first organisms to appear on the earth.
Viruses Viruses are on or in almost everything. Viruses are just little groups of DNA/RNA in a little protective protein shell. They can be 10,000 times smaller than bacteria. Viruses only exist to multiply. In order to multiply, viruses must get its genetic material in to the host cell. Once inside they make copies of them self using the host cell. There are thousands of types of viruses. Viruses don’t always infect the creature carrying it- sometimes they only infect certain creatures. Viruses don’t always have the same effect on every species.When they infect, they may inadvertently take up a bit of their host’s DNA and pass it down to the offspring.
Brittany Bell, Daniel Brandes, Tamar Lieberman, Jacob Mukand, Beatrice Puzikov, Danielle Tibbetts
Where Microbes Live
Microbes live everywhere (in us, in nature, everywhere around has microbes in or on it. A large part of us is actually built up of Viruses, Bacteria, and Fungi.(For example the tongue) If you pick up a fist full of garden soil or dirt, then you’re holding 1000’s of types of microbes in just that fist full!!!!! Microbes can adapt to an environment where nothing else could ever live. Some Microbes live in the hottest places (The water springs at Yellow Stone Park,) but other microbes live in freezing weather and are permanently frozen to the ice in Antarctica. There is a rumor that Microbes might have once lived on Mars.
Microbial Mergers
Algae, the Invisible Partner
Coral polyps are given credit for providing food and shelter for many organisms. However, coral polyps coexist with zooxanthelle, microscopic algae. The zooxanthelle provide important nutrients for the coral through photosynthesis, and the coral gives them a stable environment to live in. Coral polyps are given full credit for sheltering organisms, but most people do not credit the zooxanthelle who keep the coral alive.
Fungi and Bacteria
Some bacteria harvest nitrogen from the air in a process called nitrogen fixation. However, they need lots of carbohydrates to do this, and soil has very little. Some plants, on the other hand, make lots of carbohydrates through photosynthesis, but need the result of nitrogen fixation. So the two combine, and supply the missing ingredient for energy for each other. This symbiotic relationship is common between fungi and bacteria, and plants.
Mitochondria and Chloroplasts
Mitochondria reside in each cell of fungi, protozoa, and animals. When nutrients are absorbed, they are converted into chemical energy by the mitochondria in order to power the cells.
Chloroplasts are similar structures in plants, algae, and some protozoa. They convert hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, using light energy, into glucose which the cell uses for energy. Mitochondria and chloroplasts are essential to life. If all of them were shut down in an organism’s body, it would die. Both are very similar in structure to bacteria. They have their own DNA and reproduce separately from cells, in a process similar to binary fission in bacteria. Scientists think that they were once separate prokaryotes that joined a cell, and took up permanent residence.
Mouthless, Gutless Worms
At the bottom of the ocean there’s, no sunlight. The tubeworms that live there have no eating apparatus. They get energy from billions of bacteria that convert hydrogen sulfide from the vents into nutrients for tubeworm. In return, bacteria get a stable home.
Gardens of Fungi
50 million years ago Ants first took up fungus farming. Today Ants fungus farm in vast underground nests. They cut up stems and leaves to feed the fungi which they can then eat. Gardens keep the crops safe. Ants eat the swellings that the fungi produce. Fungi live well, but need ants to make the fungi gardens.
Lichens
Fungi can feed themselves nutrients like algae, but when they are combined, they make lichens. They make a team where the fungi provide shelter and the algae provide food.
Virus or Bacterium?
Viruses and Bacteria are two completely different Microbes. Their size differs: The biggest virus is about as large as the smallest bacterium. In structure, bacteria are a more complex microbe compared to a virus. All viruses have a coat made out of proteins and a core of either RNA or DNA. Viruses and Bacteria reproduce differently.
Viral vs. Bacterial Reproduction
Bacteria have DNA, and many tools that aid them in reproducing themselves. Viruses, on the other hand, can’t reproduce themselves because of their limited genetic material and organelles. To reproduce, viruses invade other cells. They insert genetic information, and the cell takes it up. The cell then uses the DNA to make virus parts. Soon, the cell bursts open, releasing new viruses.
Types of Microbes
Bacteria
Bacteria can cause diseases. Bacteria have cell walls and thin rubber-like membranes that surround the fluids/cytoplasm in the cell. Bacteria contain extra strands of DNA floating in the cytoplasm-- no nuclei. Some bacteria move by using flagella: thread like strands.
Fungi
Fungi have a large range of sizes from yeasts to 3.5 mile mushrooms. Hyphae, structures that absorb and transport food for energy, make up fungi. Fungi is unlike other multicellular organisms because the dividers between fungal cells have opennings that allow protiens, fluids, and nuclei to pass between them. Zoospores have no cell wall, are unflagellated, and can swim for 24 hours on endegenous energy resources.
Protista
They are eukaryotic creatures that don’t fit into Plants, animals, or fungi. Water molds live in wet environments and provide fungi like hyphae. Protozoa maintain the balance of microbial life and are the basis of many food chains. They are found in soil and water. Dinoflagellates have flagella and can glow in the dark. Algae are found in waters and soil unless they join with fungi. They produce oxygen and photosynthesis.
Archaea
Archaea are similar in behavior and structure to bacteria, but constitute a separate group because of different genetic information. Until the creation of an effective method to compare genetic information they were classified as aberrational bacteria. They look like small rods or balls. Many utilize flagella, a whip like appendage to move around, it is used similarly by bacteria. They lack a true nucleus, they generally have one molecule of DNA suspended in the cytoplasm in the cell membrane, most have a thick and durable cell wall. There are three main types of Archaea: crenarchaeota, which can tolerate opposite ends of the spectrums of temperature and acidity. Euyarchaeota which encompasses producers of methane and salt lovers. Korachaeota an enigmatic “catch-all” group. These main groups are separated into sub-groups. They were among the first organisms to appear on the earth.
Viruses
Viruses are on or in almost everything. Viruses are just little groups of DNA/RNA in a little protective protein shell. They can be 10,000 times smaller than bacteria. Viruses only exist to multiply. In order to multiply, viruses must get its genetic material in to the host cell. Once inside they make copies of them self using the host cell. There are thousands of types of viruses. Viruses don’t always infect the creature carrying it- sometimes they only infect certain creatures. Viruses don’t always have the same effect on every species.When they infect, they may inadvertently take up a bit of their host’s DNA and pass it down to the offspring.