Our planet, the Earth, is the third planet from the Sun, and usually is known as the Blue Planet. Its location in the Solar System and the particular characteristic of being the only planet with abundant water, have made possible the development of life here. Thousands of millions of years ago, the first living organisms evolved from a non-living matter, and since then the Earth has been inhabited by many different species. Those, who have dedicated their research to study and classify living organisms, best known as taxonomists, have divided them into categories, taking as a definition pattern the principal features of each species. In this manner, the living organisms can be classified into five Kingdoms: Animal, Plants, Fungi, Bacteria, …show more content…
They are single cellular microscopic organisms that are structured by well-defined elements, which each of them have a specific function, such as the ribosomes, the plasma membrane, and the cell wall. There are defined three type of bacteria based on their shapes. The rod shaped bacteria are called as bacilli, and of example is the Bacillus anthracis, best known by be the cause of anthrax. Another of the classification are the spherical shaped bacteria, they are called cocci, and as the best-known example is the Staphylococcus bacteria. The last from of bacteria is he curved shaped, called as spirilla, and it can be seem in the Spirillum minus, a bacteria associated with the rat-bite fiver. Most of these bacteria develop a type of reproduction based mainly in cell division, known as binary fission. In here each daughter cell contains the same DNA of the parent, as an identical clone. This mechanism of reproduction possessed by the bacteria and their capacity of adaptability to any hostile environment, have made possible they used in important fields on the human life, as in the medicine, to produce antibiotics such as streptomycin and nocardicin; and also are used in the food industry, to put the tang in yogurt and the sour in sourdough bread. But they are some bacteria that can be really harmful, as parasites or pathogens that cause disease in plants and animals, including human beings, for instance …show more content…
Most of them are multicellular organism, with the exception of a few that are single cells called yeasts. In the beginnings of the studies of the living organisms the fungi was related in a closer way with the plants, because of similarities in lifestyle. But with the development of the Mycology, which is the branch that study the fungi, it was found that the fungi, even thought have similar characteristics with the animals and plants, it constituted a unique kingdom itself. One of the most general misunderstanding related with the fungi, is that it’s common to think that, as plant, they use the process of photosynthesis to elaborate their food, but they don’t. Instead, they used a method more similar to the animal digestive process, by using enzymes that break down nutrients into smaller pieces that they can then absorb. Fungi can cause a number of plant and animal diseases: in humans, ringworm, athlete 's foot, and several more serious diseases are caused by fungi. Because fungi are more chemically and genetically similar to animals than other organisms, this makes fungal diseases very difficult to treat. Many studies and researches are destined to investigate how to prevent and control the impact of Fungi in human society. Fungi are tremendously important to the planet we live on. They provide fundamental products including foods, medicines, and enzymes important to
Phenotypic methods of classifying microorganisms describe the diversity of bacterial species by naming and grouping organisms based on similarities. The differences between Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryotes are basic. Bacteria can function and reproduce as single cells but often combine into multicellular colonies. Bacteria are also surrounded by a cell wall. Archaea differ from bacteria in their genetics and biochemistry. Their cell membranes are made with different material than bacteria. Just like bacteria, archaea are also single cell and are surrounded by a cell wall. Eukaryotes, unlike bacteria and archaea, contain a nucleus. And like bacteria and archaea, eukaryotes have a cell wall. The Gram stain is a system used to characterize bacteria based on the structural characteristics of their cell walls. A Gram-positive cell will stain purple if cell walls are thick and a Gram-negative cell wall appears pink. Most bacteria can be classified as belonging to one of four groups (Gram-positive cocci, Gram-positive bacilli, Gram-negative cocci, and Gram-negative bacilli) (Phenotypic analysis. (n.d.).
Audesirk, Teresa, Gerald Audesirk, and Bruce E. Byers. Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011. 268-69. Print.
Threshold 5 tackles the beginning of life on Earth. This is where any living things are characterized by metabolism, homeostasis, and reproduction. Over time, the genetic makeup of any living thing change so later generations being slightly different. This results into diversification and the evolution of certain species that best suit their environment. However, threshold 5 also deals with the idea of dealing with the “natural world.” It may seem that the environment is almost entirely man-made but the “natural world” is still a huge part of the environment. This can be simple as the earth on the ground, the air that people breathe in, or even the sun that provides the heat and light to the planet. However, as human technology progresses the “natural world” becomes less and less apparent in the world today.
“Antibiotics" is the name given to the group of chemicals, particularly in medicine, that stop or inhibit the growth of, microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, and parasites, or that kill the microorganism. They are, however, completely ineffective against viruses. There are two kinds of antibiotics, namely; bactericides, which interfere with the cell wall or contents of the bacteria, thereby killing it, and bacteriostatics, which prevent the bacteria from reproducing. They are used to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals. Bacteria are microorganisms consisting of single cells, and reproduce by mitosis. They usually live in colonies. Some bacteria and other microorganisms produce antibiotics to kill off other species, making more resources available for the organism making the chemicals. Ironically, it was this that led to the discovery of antibiotics in 1928, when Alexander Fleming noticed that the fungus Penicillium notatum, which had contaminated a sample of pathogenic bacteria, had killed the bacterial colonies in a petri dish.
Sordaria fimicola belongs to the kingdom of fungi and is part of the phylum Ascosmycota. This fungus habitat is in the feces of herbivores. As many fungi Sordaria have one life cycles which is haploid/ diploid. It is commonly exits as a haploid organism, but when the mycelium from two individuals meets, the result is a diploid zygote. This diploid zygote which undergoes meiosis forms eight haploid ascospores . The ability of Sordaria to make 8 haploid ascospores is what makes it unique and important for the laboratory exercise done in lab.
In the kingdom of Fungi, is a collection of different organic multicellulary eukaryotic organisms. Fuguses are unique from any other life form. They grow in the wild yet they are not plants. They also breakdown and digest animals and plants alike, but they are not animals. Fungi are made up of chitin, a derivative of glucose that is also found in cephalopods, arthopods and crustaceans alike. Similiar to cellulose which is a what plants' cell walls are comprised of, Chitin is a tough material that gives the Fungi its structure.
Earth is the element of life found here because with the sun, earth nurtures all plants and
Bacterial cells, like plant cells, are surrounded by a cell wall. However, bacterial cell walls are made up of polysaccharide chains linked to amino acids, while plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, which contains no amino acids. Many bacteria secrete a slimy capsule around the outside of the cell wall. The capsule provides additional protection for the cell. Many of the bacteria that cause diseases in animals are surrounded by a capsule. The capsule prevents the white blood cells and antibodies from destroying the invading bacterium. Inside the capsule and the cell wall is the cell membrane. In aerobic bacteria, the reactions of cellular respiration take place on fingerlike infoldings of the cell membrane. Ribosomes are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the DNA is generally found in the center of the cell. Many bacilli and spirilla have flagella, which are used for locomotion in water. A few types of bacteria that lack flagella move by gliding on a surface. However, the mechanism of this gliding motion is unknown. Most bacteria are aerobic, they require free oxygen to carry on cellular respiration. Some bacteria, called facultatibe anaerobes can live in either the presence or absence of free oxygen. They obtain energy either by aerobic respiration when oxygen is present or by fermentation when oxygen is absent. Still other bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. These are called obligate anaerobes. Such bacteria obtain energy only fermentation. Through fermentation, different groups of bacteria produce a wide variety of organic compounds. Besides ethyl alcohol and lactic acid, bacterial fermentation can produce acetic acid, acetone, butyl alcohol, glycol, butyric acid, propionic acid, and methane, the main component of natural gas. Most bacteria are heterotrophic bacteria are either saprophytes or parasites. Saprophytes feed on the remains of dead plants and animals, and ordinarily do not cause disease. They release digestive enzymes onto the organic matter. The enzymes breakdown the large food molecules into smaller molecules, which are absorbed by the bacterial cells. Parasites live on or in living organisms, and may cause disease. A few types of bacteria are Autotrophic, they can synthesize the organic nutrients they require from inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria are either photosynthetic or Chemosynthetic. The photosynthetic bacteria contain chlorophyll that are different from the plant chlorophyll. In bacterial photosynthesis, hydrogen is obtained by the splitting of compounds other than water.
The term taxonomy is used for the classifi-cation of living and once-living organisms. Taxonomy also refers to "scientific classification" or "biological
Magnetic Field: The Earth has a superior magnetic field due to a core consisting of iron and nickel. Currently the rotation of the Earth and its Coriolis effect help to create this pull of the tides from the oceans. The northern lights or lurora Borealis can be seen at various times in a mystifying view of beauty.
Bacteria are single celled microbes. Bacteria reproduce by binary fission. In this process, the bacterium, which is a single cell, divides into two identical daughter cells. Binary
Yeast Yeast are a tiny form of fungi or plant-like microorganism (visible only under a microscope) that exist in or on all living matter i.e. water, soil, plants, air, etc. A common example of a yeast is the bloom we can observe on grapes. As a living organism yeast needs sugars, water and warmth to stay alive. In addition, albumen or nitrogenous material are also necessary for yeast to thrive.
There are many different forms of life. These differences have both advantages and disadvantages to them. These differences vary in
Venus, the second planet closest to the Sun and Earth’s closest neighbor, is known for its many wonders and harsh conditions. Venus is possibly the first planet discovered by humans and is said to have been first discovered in 17 B.C. by Babylonian astronomers. Venus is the first planet to be explored by spacecraft although many of these attempts have proven unsuccessful. Fortunately, more than twenty of the spacecraft explorations been proven successful, and through those we have gained knowledge about this wonder of the night sky.
Our solar system has eight planets, their moons and satellites, and they are all orbiting the Sun. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto used to be the ninth planet but IAU changed the definition of planet and Pluto did not meet the standards so it is now a Dwarf planet.