Bacteria, Viruses and

Protists
 Bacteria
• What bacteria are?
• Are they important?

• One gram of soil can have billions of them

 Characteristics of bacteria
• Prokaryote, unicellular
• Eubacteria and Archaebacteria
• Small in size (microscopic)
• A few can be relatively larger
 Characteristics of bacteria
• Shape
– Bacilli (rod-shaped)
– Cocci (spherical)
– Spirilla (spiral)

• Some bacteria have flagella

Characteristics of bacteria
 Bacterial reproduction
• Binary fission
 Bacterial Endospore
• Endospore?
– Inactive form
– Protective function
– Regeneration

– Found in some bacteria

 Kingdom Eubacteria
• Diversity in shapes, functions and interactions
• Classified by the means of acquiring food
– Producers (make their own food)
– Consumers (eat other organisms)
– Decomposers (feed on dead matter)
 Kingdom Archaebacteria
• Considered to be primitive
• Mostly in extreme conditions
• The major types include
– Thermophiles (living at high temperature)
– Halophiles (living at high salt concentration)
– Methanogens (produce methane)
 Good bacteria
• Nitrogen fixation
 Good bacteria
• Recycling materials
• Cleaning up
 Good bacteria
• Bacteria in foods (yoghurt, cheese etc.)
• You eat bacteria with your food
 Good bacteria
• Making medicines and pharmaceuticals
• Insulin
• Industrial products
• Genetic engineering
 Bad bacteria
• Harmful bacteria
• Pathogenic bacteria (cause diseases)
• Antibiotics and vaccines

• Plants (rot, crown gall, spots etc.)

• Animals and humans (anthrax, tuberculosis,
dysentery)
Protists
 Protists
• Members of kingdom Protista
• Characteristics
– Most are single celled, some could have many cells, others
live in a colony. All are eukaryotes
– Some make their own food, some eat other organisms
– Some can move
– Less complex – do not have specialized tissues
 Protists and their food
• Some are producers (contain chlorophyll) autotrophs
• Others heterotrophs (decomposers or parasites)
– animal like e.g. amoeba, paramecium
– Plant like e.g. euglena, chlamydomonas
– Fungi like e.g. slime mold
 Types of protists
• Amoeba
• Pseudopodia and movement
 Types of protists
• Ciliated (contains cilia)
 Types of protists
• Slime molds (decomposers)