BacteriaIt’s everywhere!!

What do these two things have in common?

Yogurt Swiss Cheese

What other foods can you think of that might be prepared with the aid of bacteria?

• Buttermilk• Cottage cheese• Sauerkraut• Sour cream

• Not discovered until the late 1600’s.• Anton van Leeuwenhoek found bacteria by

accident– He made microscopes – Looked at scrapings of his teeth

• Bacteria are prokaryotes (genetic material not in a nucleus)

• Are still considered living

Cell Shapes

• Come in three shapes– Spherical– Rodlike– Spiral

Cell Structure

• The cell wall determine the shape of the bacteria and protects the cell

• Cytoplasm: inside the cell where genetic material is located

• Ribosomes: proteins are produced• Genetic material contains the instructions for all

the cell’s functions• Flagellum: whiplike structure that helps the cell

move. (spins in place like a propeller)

2 types of bacteria

• Archaebacteria: live in extreme environment like the Great Salt Lake, mud at bottom of swamps, and sewage. – Bacteria are what cause the bad smells at these

places• Eubacteria: live everywhere else. Most are

useful or harmless

Reproduction of Bacteria

• When conditions are perfect multiply every 20 minutes

• Reproduce by binary fission• Binary Fission: process in which one cell

divides to form two identical cells.• Can also reproduce by conjugation• Conjugation: one bacterium transfers some

genetic material to another and then seperate