Bacteria

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A bacteria is a mobile nucleus without a cell. 

• As mitochondria,  they form a symbiotic relation ship with all animal cells  by providing them with power by breaking apart molecules.
• As chloroplasts,  they form a symbiotic relation ship with all plant cells  by providing them with power by using sunlight to make molecules. 
• As independent cells, they are Nature`s garbage men, recycling dead fungi, animals and plants. That is why there are many types of bacteria with a mixture of features of fungi, animals and plants. 

Some bacteria use sunlight for their energy source, just like plants do, while other bacteria use the organic compounds of fungi, animals and plants, just like animals do.

Bacteria are present in most habitats on Earth, growing in soil, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, water, and deep in the Earth's crust, as well as in organic matter, whether plants or animals, alive or dead. Bacteria often attach to surfaces and form dense aggregations called biofilms or bacterial mats. These films can range from a few micrometers in thickness to up to half a meter in depth, and may contain multiple species of bacteria. 

There are typically 50 billion bacterial cells in a table spoon of soil and 

200,000 in a drop of fresh water. There are approximately ten times as many bacterial cells in the human flora as there are human cells in the body, The weight of all bacteria in the world exceeds the weight of all the plants and animals. 

They are about 10 times smaller than a normal cell, about the same size as a nucleus of a cell and about 10 times larger than a virus. They reproduce by making a copy of their DNA and by stretching and breaking into 2 each with the same DNA. They clone themselves as fast as every 10 minutes indefinitely. They die only when killed by their environment or by viruses. 

They have a wide range of shapes. 

• spherical, called cocci, 
• rod-shaped, called bacilli. 
• curved or comma-shaped called vibrio,  
• spiral-shaped, called spirilla, 
• tightly coiled, called spirochaetes responsible for Lyme disease. 
• A small number have tetrahedral or cuboidal shapes. 

Many bacterial species exist simply as single cells; others group together in characteristic patterns from 

• diploid pairs, 
• chains, 
• grape clusters. 
• branched filaments similar in appearance to fungal mycelia.

Bacteria are vital for recycling nutrients and for providing plants with their nitrogen from the atmosphere. Bacteria are vital for man for forming the flora in his digestive tracts vital for his health. 

A few species of bacteria are pathogenic and cause infectious diseases, including cholera, syphilis, anthrax, leprosy, and bubonic plague. The most common fatal bacterial diseases are respiratory infections, with tuberculosis alone killing about 2 million people a year.

Man has developed antibacterials include antiseptic drugs, antibacterial soaps, and chemical disinfectants to kill or prevent growth of bacteria. Antibiotics have been used since ancient times from bread molds such as penicillin, produced by one microorganism fighting another.

Production of cheese is achieved by bacteria eating milk sugar (lactose) and their excretions (lactic acid) curdling or condensing proteins in milk. Production of yogurt is achieved by bacteria over-populating the milk. Their excretion (lactic acid) gives the yogurt its sour taste. 

Bacteria growth can be increased by warmth and sweat, and large populations of these organisms cause humans to have a sweet sour smell called body odor, or BO for short.

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