BACTERIA:

The bacteria singular: bacterium) are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a
few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods
and spirals. Bacteria are ubiquitous in every habitat on Earth, growing in soil, acidic hot springs,
radioactive waste, water, and deep in the Earth's crust, as well as in organic matter and the live
bodies of plants and animals.
Bacteria are vital in recycling nutrients, with many steps in nutrient cycles depending on these
organisms, such as the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere and putrefaction. However, most
bacteria have not been characterized, and only about half of the phyla of bacteria have species
that can be grown in the laboratory. The study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of
microbiology.

History of Bacteriology:

Bacteria were first observed by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1676, using a single-lens
microscope of his own design. He called them "animalcules" and published his observations in a
series of letters to the Royal Society. The name bacterium was introduced much later, by
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1838.

Louis Pasteur demonstrated in 1859 that the fermentation process is caused by the growth of
microorganisms, and that this growth is not due to spontaneous generation. (Yeasts and molds,
commonly associated with fermentation, are not bacteria, but rather fungi.) Along with his
contemporary, Robert Koch, Pasteur was an early advocate of the germ theory of disease. Robert
Koch was a pioneer in medical microbiology and worked on cholera, anthrax and tuberculosis. In
his research into tuberculosis, Koch finally proved the germ theory, for which he was awarded a
Nobel Prize in 1905. In Koch's postulates, he set out criteria to test if an organism is the cause of
a disease; these postulates are still used today.

BACTERIA IN GENETICS:

Bacteria may also contain plasmids, which are small extra-chromosomal DNAs that may contain
genes for antibiotic resistance or virulence factors.

Bacteria, as asexual organisms, inherit identical copies of their parent's genes (i.e., they are
clonal). However, all bacteria can evolve by selection on changes to their genetic material DNA
caused by genetic recombination or mutations. Mutations come from errors made during the
replication of DNA or from exposure to mutagens. Mutation rates vary widely among different
species of bacteria and even among different clones of a single species of bacteria.[109] Genetic
changes in bacterial genomes come from either random mutation during replication or "stress-
directed mutation", where genes involved in a particular growth-limiting process have an
increased mutation rate.

Some bacteria also transfer genetic material between cells. This can occur in three main ways.
Firstly, bacteria can take up exogenous DNA from their environment, in a process called
transformation. Genes can also be transferred by the process of transduction, when the
integration of a bacteriophage introduces foreign DNA into the chromosome. The third method
of gene transfer is bacterial conjugation, where DNA is transferred through direct cell contact.
This gene acquisition from other bacteria or the environment is called horizontal gene transfer
and may be common under natural conditions. Gene transfer is particularly important in
antibiotic resistance as it allows the rapid transfer of resistance genes between different
pathogens.
 CLASSIFICATION OF BACTERIA ACCORDING TO SHAPE:

SPHERICAL BACTERIA are called “COCCI”,

ROD-SHAPED BACTERIA are called “BACILLI”, and
SPIRAL BACTERIA are called “SPIRILLA”.

GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION:

Unlike multicellular organisms, increases in the size of bacteria (cell growth) and their
reproduction by cell division are tightly linked in unicellular organisms. Bacteria grow to a fixed
size and then reproduce through binary fission, a form of asexual reproduction. Under optimal
conditions, bacteria can grow and divide extremely rapidly, and bacterial populations can double
as quickly as every 9.8 minutes. In cell division, two identical clone daughter cells are produced.
Some bacteria, while still reproducing asexually, form more complex reproductive structures that
help disperse the newly formed daughter cells.
Examples include fruiting body formation by Myxobacteria and aerial hyphae formation by
Streptomyces, or budding. Budding involves a cell forming a protrusion that breaks away and
produces a daughter cell.

HOW THE BODY FIGHTS BACTERIAL DISEASE:

Our immune system is designed to protect us against harmful bacteria. It works to keep
our normal microflora in check and also to eliminate invaders from outside the body. Some
immune-system defenses are built in: The skin acts as a barrier to bacterial invaders, and
antimicrobial substances in body secretions such as saliva and mucus can kill or stop the growth
of some disease-causing bacteria. We acquire another immune-system defense through exposure
to disease-causing bacteria.
After recovering from many bacterial infections, people have the ability to resist a second attack
by the same bacteria. They can do so because their immune system forms disease-fighting
proteins called antibodies designed to recognize specific bacteria. When next exposed to those
bacteria, the antibodies bind to the surface of the bacteria and either kill them, prevent them from
multiplying, or neutralize their toxin. Vaccines also can stimulate the immune system to form
disease-fighting antibodies. Some vaccines contain strains of the bacterium that lack the ability
to cause infection; others contain only parts of bacterial cells.
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF BACTERIAL DISEASE:

Antibiotics

In many cases the immune system can wipe out a bacterial infection on its own. But
sometimes people become so sick from a bacterial disease that they require medical treatment.
Antibiotics and other antibacterial drugs are the major weapons against disease-causing bacteria.
Antibiotics act in a number of ways to kill bacteria or suppress their activity. Over time,
however, bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics. As a result bacterial diseases have become
more and more difficult to cure. In an effort to control antibiotic resistance, physicians have tried
to limit the use of antibiotics. In addition, they have advocated more vigorous efforts to improve
the antibiotics we now have and to find new agents active against bacteria.

Vaccines

Immunization through vaccines is important in the prevention of infectious diseases caused

by bacteria. Vaccines expose a human being or other animal to a disease-causing bacterium or its
toxins without causing the disease. As a result of this exposure, the body forms antibodies to the
specific bacterium. These antibodies remain ready to attack if they meet the bacteria in the
future. Some immunizations last a lifetime, whereas others must be renewed with a booster shot.
 Tetanus provides a good example of a successful vaccine. The bacterium Clostridium tetani,
found in soil and ordinary dirt, produces one of the most lethal toxins known. The toxin affects
nerves, resulting in muscle rigidity and death. Tetanus infection has become very rare in
developed countries such as the United States where nearly everyone is immunized against the
toxin. The vaccine immunizes the body by means of toxins that have been chemically treated so
they are no longer toxic. Health officials recommend getting a tetanus shot every ten years. In
less developed countries where vaccination is not so common, tetanus is a major cause of death,
especially of babies.

Bioremediation

Bioremediation refers to the use of microorganisms, especially bacteria, to return the elements in
toxic chemicals to their natural cycles in nature. It may provide an inexpensive and effective
method of environmental cleanup, which is one of the major challenges facing human society
today.

Bioremediation has helped in cleaning up oil spills, pesticides, and other toxic materials. For
example, accidents involving huge oil tankers regularly result in large spills that pollute
coastlines and harm wildlife. Bacteria and other microorganisms can convert the toxic materials
in crude oil to harmless products such as CO2. Adding fertilizers that contain nitrogen,
phosphorus, and oxygen to the polluted areas promotes the multiplication of bacteria already
present in the environment and speeds the cleanup process.

BACTERIOPHAGES

A bacteriophage (from 'bacteria' and Greek phagein "to eat") is any one of a number of
viruses that infect bacteria. Bacteriophages are among the most common organisms on Earth.
The term is commonly used in its shortened form, phage.
Phages are estimated to be the most widely distributed and diverse entities in the
biosphere. Phages are ubiquitous and can be found in all reservoirs populated by bacterial hosts,
such as soil or the intestines of animals. One of the densest natural sources for phages and other
viruses is sea water, where up to 9×108 virions per milliliter have been found in microbial mats
at the surface, and up to 70% of marine bacteria may be infected by phages.