INTRODUCTION TO BACTERIA

 Yeast helps the cake to make it fluffy and get spongy. It is so tiny but helps us so much. There are
several organisms tinier than yeast that help us obtain many useful products. These little creatures are
called MICRO-ORGANISMS. Micro means very small or microscopic structures while Organisms are
living beings.
 Organisms which cannot be observed with naked eyes and require a microscope to be seen are the
MICRO-ORGANISMS.
 These creatures comes in various shapes, forms and structures
 Micro-organisms or Microbes are classified in Four Major Classes:

1. Bacteria – Unicellular prokaryotic organisms. Unicellular are made up of single cell. So the
entire body of the organism consists of just one cell. Prokaryotic comes from the Greek word
“Pro” means “before” referring to primitive form and “Karyon” means “kernel or nut” and
here it refers to a membrane bound nucleus. So Prokaryotic organisms are those which do
not have a proper, well-define nucleus.

As we can see, in these organisns the genetic material is randomly scattered in the cytoplasm.
So when we say that Bacteria are unicellular prokaryotes, it means they have a single cell,
which of a primitive type, without a well-defined nucleus. Bacteria, inspite of their unicellular and
prokaryotic nature, come in diverse forms. They come in various shapes and sizes and are
present almost everywhere around us.
Categories:
a. Shapes – Four major groups:
I. Spherical ones – Cocci
II. Rod Shaped – Bacillus (plural: Bacilli)
III. Comma Shaped – Vibrio (plural: Vibrios)
IV. Spiral-Shaped – Spirillum (plural: Spirilla)

*BACTERIA CAN BE FOUND EVERYWHERE!

**Some of bacteria are present inside your body but don’t worry because the ones inside
you are like friends.
2. Fungi
3. Protozoa
4. Algae
 STRUCTURE OF BACTERIA

At about 3.5 billion years old bacteria, are one of the oldest living organisms on Earth, considering the
evolution of life, there are about as distantly related to humans as possible. They are important to us. They are
responsible for arrange of diseases, including Cholera, Tuberculosis, and the plague amongst others. But,
they aren’t all bad, there are trillions of good bacteria, living in your gut that are essential to your health. in fact,
they are approximately ten times more bacterial cells that human cells in your body. They can keep the
produce vitamins, prevent tumor formation, help the immune system fight pathogens and protects against
Carcinogens amongst other benefits. Bacterial cells are very very small, much smaller than plant and animal
cells, they are found practically everywhere on Earth, and living some of the most unusual and seemingly
inhospitable places. As a result, they come in lots of different shapes and sizes.

Bacteria, are unicellular prokaryotes. Despite being very different shapes and sizes, they contain the same
elements as our prokaryotes, they do not have a membrane bound nucleus. The DNA is in the cytoplasm in
the area known as the nucleoid. Bacteria have a flexible cell wall that protects him from physical damage, and
is exposed to the external surroundings. A flagellum that helps the bacteria to move. Bacteria have two types
of DNA: Plasmid DNA and Chromosomal DNA. The Chromosomal DNA, carries most of the genetic
information. The Plasmid DNA forms small loops and carries extra information, such as resistance to
antibiotics for production of toxins and tolerance to toxic environments. The ribosome is involved in protein
synthesis. The pili, enable the bacteria to attach to host and surfaces, like intestines and rocks. They are
involved in DNA exchange between bacteria.

o As bacteria of prokaryotes, they do not have a true nucleus, but lose DNA in nucleoid.
o They also have loops of plasmid DNA and a flagella, and lots of pili.