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Bacteria are tiny, one-cell creatures that get nutrients from their environments in order to live. In some cases that environment is a human body. Bacteria can reproduce outside of the body or within the body as they cause infections. Some infections bacteria cause include sore throats (tonsillitis or strep throat), ear infections, cavities, and pneumonia (say: new-mo-nyuh).

But not all bacteria are bad. Some bacteria are good for our bodies they help keep things in balance. Good bacteria live in our intestines and help us use the nutrients in the food we eat and make waste from what's left over. We couldn't make the most of a healthy meal without these important helper germs! Some bacteria are also used by scientists in labs to produce medicines and vaccines

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Tuberculosis Bubonic plague Cholera Tetanus Pneumonia Etc

In general most soaps utilize chemicals that break down fats and oils, bind to dirt and other particles, allowing them all to be rinsed away in a flow of water. Surface bacteria and virii tend to be washed away with the dirt and oils, which does not necessarily mean they are killed.

E. coli is a common type of bacteria that can get into food, like beef and vegetables. E. coli is short for the medical term Escherichia coli. The strange thing about these bacteria and lots of other bacteria is that they're not always harmful to you

E. coli normally lives inside your intestines, where it helps your body break down and digest the food you eat. Unfortunately, certain types (called strains) of E. coli can get from the intestines into the blood. This is a rare illness, but it can cause a very serious infection

Someone who has E. coli infection may have these symptoms: ` bad stomach cramps and belly pain ` vomiting ` diarrhea, sometimes with blood in it

MICROORGANISMS AND FUNGI

He was the first to propose the five-kingdom taxonomic classification of the world's biota into the Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera.

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Microscopic life covers nearly every square centimeter of Earth. There are microorganisms of many different sizes and shapes. The smallest and most common are prokaryotes (unicellular organisms that lack a nucleus) which are also called Bacteria.

All prokaryotes were placed in a single kingdomMonera. However biologists have begun to appreciate that prokaryotes can be divided into two different groups: the eubacteria and the archaebacteria. Each group is now considered a different kingdom.

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It is the larger of the two kingdoms, include a wide range of organims with different lifestyles. Eubacteria live almost everywhere. They live in fresh water, salt water, on land, and on and within the human body.

Eubacteria are usually sorrounded by a cell wall that protects the cell from injury and determines its shape. Inside the cell wall is a cell membrane that sorrounds the cytoplasm. Some eubacteria have a second membrane, outside the cell membrane that makes them especially resistant to damage.

Under a microscope, archaebacteria look very similar to eubacteria but they are chemically different. Many archaebacteria live in extremely harsh environments. One group of achaebacteria is the methanogens, prokaryotes that produce methane gas. Methanoges live in oxygen-free environments such as thick mud and the difestive tracts of animals.

Other archaebacteria live in extremely salty environments, such as Utahs Great Salt Lake, or in hot springs where temepratures approach the boiling point of water.

Tetanus is caused by a type of bacteria called Clostridium tetani that usually live in soil. The bacteria produce a toxin (a chemical or poison that harms the body). This toxin attaches to nerves around a wound area and is carried inside the nerves to the brain or spinal cord. There it interferes with the normal activity of nerves, especially the motor nerves that send direct messages to our muscles. Tetanus is not contagious you can't catch it from someone who has it.

C. Tetani bacteria are rod shaped and look like mini tennis rackets. During their growth process, they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen and are heat-sensitive. As they mature, the bacteria develops ad terminal spore which gives them their characteristic appearance. Their spores are extremely hardy and resistant to heat and most anesthetics. The spores can be found in manure treated soils, human skin, and contaminated heroin.

Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets from the throat and lungs of people with the active respiratory disease. The symptoms of active TB of the lung are coughing, sometimes with sputum or blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Tuberculosis is treatable with a six-month course of antibiotics.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an obligate aerobe. For this reason, in the classic case of tuberculosis, MTB complexes are always found in the well-aerated upper lobes of the lungs. The bacterium is a facultative intracellular parasite, usually of macrophages, and has a slow generation time, 15-20 hours, a physiological characteristic that may contribute to its virulence.

Prokaryotes are identified by characteristics such as shape, the chemical nature of their cell walls, the way they move, and the way they obtain energy.

Bacilli

Cocci

Spirilla

There are two different types of cell walls which can be seen with the Gram Staining method in which a Gram Positive bacteria which has thicker looks violet and a Gram Negative bacteria wich has thinner walls looks pink or light red.

This is the way in which prokaryotes obtain energy. Depending on their source of energy and whether or not they use oxygen for cellular respiration, prokaryotes can be divided into two main groups: heterotrophs and autotrophs.

Most heterotrophic prokaryotes must take in organic molecules for both energy and a supply of carbon. These prokaryotes are called: chemoheterotrophs . (Such as animals and humans)

A smaller group of heterotrophic prokaryotes are called photoheterotrophs. These organisms are photosynthetic, using sunlight for energy, but they also need to take in organic compounds as a carbon source.

Some autotrophs , the photoautotrophs, use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water to carbon compuds and oxygen in a process similar to that used by green plants.

Other prokaryotes can perform chemosynthesis and are called chemoautotrophs. Like photoautotrophs, chemoautotrophs make organic carbon molecules from carbon dioxide. Unlike photoautotrophs, however, they do not require lights as a source of energy. Instead, they use energy directly from chemical reactions involving ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrites, sulfur or iron. Some live deep in the darkness of the ocean.

Like all organisms, bacteria need a constant supply of energy. This energy is released by the processes of cellular respiration or fermentation or both.

Organisms that require a constant supply of oxygen in order to live are called obligate aerobes.

They must live in the alybsence of oxygen, actually they can died n presence of oxygen. Example: Clostridium botilinum: this bacteria can grow in canned food that has not been properly sterilized.
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These do not requiere oxygen, but neither are they killed by its presence. Their ability to switch between the processes of cellular respiration and fermentation means that facultative anaerobes are able to live just about anywhere. E. Coli is a facultative anaerobe which can live anaerobically in the large intestine and aerobically in sewage or contaminated water.

If unlimited space and food were available to a single bacterium and if all of its offspring divided every two minutes, in just 48 hours they would reach a mass approximately 4000 times the mass of Earth! Fortunately , this does not happen. In nature, growth is held in check by the availability of food and the production of waste products.

When a bacterium has grown so that it has nearly doubled in size, it replicates its DNA and divides in half, producing two identical dauhter cells. This binary fission does not involve the exchange or recombination of genetic information.

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Many bacteria are also able to exchange genetic information by a process called conjugation. During conjugation, a hollow bridge forms between two bacterial cells and genes move from one cell to another.

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When growth conditions become unfavorable, many bacteria form struturs called spores. The spore is formed when a bacterium produces a thick internal wall that encloses its DNA and a portion of its cytoplasm. Spores can remain dorman for months or even years while waiting for more favorable growth conditions. When conditions improve, the endospore will germinate and the bacterium will begin to grow again.

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Bioremediation - is defined as any process that uses microorganism to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

A bacterium breaks down the organic fertilizer (decomposed vegetables and animal matter) into material that can be used by plants. Some species of soil bacteria convert nitrogen into nitrites, compounds that are readily absorbed by plants. Different commercial processes also need certain bacteria, like Anaerobic bacteria that ferment certain substances are used in the production of vinegar and some drugs, and in the aging process of cheeses.

Some bacteria also produce waste products that are beneficial to humans, like Lactic acid, it is produced by intestinal bacteria and can promotes digestion in humans. Bacteria are also grown commercially and it is added to certain foods like yogurt and drinks. Bacteria are also being used in modern sewage disposal known as Bioremediation, it is a process by which bacteria are added to water or soil to convert toxic pollutants, such as pesticides and oil, into harmless substances.

Bacteria as a bleach.
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Bacteria to clean up water.

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