Bacteria Basics
Bacteria are the most simple of all living organisms and are also the most abundant organisms on Earth. Think of the little gram cubes we used in the Penguin Labs. A gram of soil, equal in volume to one of those cubes, can contain over 2.5 billion bacteria!
Bacteria are unicellular organisms that do not have a nucleus- known as a prokaryote. Although they do not have a nucleus, they are living organisms because they grow, reproduce, contain DNA, are made of cells, respond to stimuli, and use energy.
Bacteria use energy to carry out life functions such as metabolizing food and moving around. There are a couple of structures bacteria may have to give them mobility, but the one in particular you need to know is a flagellum. The word flagellum is a Latin word that means "whip". A flagellum (or flagella if more than one) is a long tail like structure that enables a bacteria to move by spinning in a corkscrew fashion.
Bacteria are unicellular organisms that do not have a nucleus- known as a prokaryote. Although they do not have a nucleus, they are living organisms because they grow, reproduce, contain DNA, are made of cells, respond to stimuli, and use energy.
Bacteria use energy to carry out life functions such as metabolizing food and moving around. There are a couple of structures bacteria may have to give them mobility, but the one in particular you need to know is a flagellum. The word flagellum is a Latin word that means "whip". A flagellum (or flagella if more than one) is a long tail like structure that enables a bacteria to move by spinning in a corkscrew fashion.