Jeevina Roche

Bacteria & Virus Bacteria

Bacteria are living things that are neither plants nor animals, but belong to a group all by themselves. They are very small--individually not more than one single cell--however there are normally millions of them together, for they can multiply really fast.

Bacteria are the most ancient life forms Most bacteria are so small that under a light microscope you can only see them as little dots. Some groups however grow to larger sizes and have spectacular shapes. There are thousands of kinds of bacteria. Most of them are harmless to humans. There are about two thousand species of bacteria identified, and even more where that came from. It is possible for bacteria to reproduce as often as every twenty minutes. If all the newly formed bacteria survived, there would be about 500,000 new bacteria cells every six hours. That is a lot! Thankfully, this does not happen. Bacteria are the oldest, the simplest, and the most numerous forms of life. Bacteria were here 3.5 billion years ago. A bacterium's structure is quite simple. From the outside in, there is the capsule, the cell wall, and then the cell membrane. Inside is the cytoplasm, which holds the hereditary material, and at times the endospore. There are no intracellular organelles.

Jeevina Roche

Virus

Viruses are too small to be seen by the naked eye. They can't multiply on their own, so they have to invade a 'host' cell and take over its machinery in order to be able to make more virus particles. Viruses consist of genetic materials (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protective coat of protein. They are capable of latching onto cells and getting inside them. The cells of the mucous membranes, such as those lining the respiratory passages that we breathe through, are particularly open to virus attacks because they are not covered by protective skin. Scientists have long sought to uncover the structure and function of viruses. Viruses are unique in that they have been classified as both living and nonliving at various points in the history of biology. Viruses: Structure A virus particle, also known as a virion, is essentially a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) enclosed in a protein shell or coat. Viruses are extremely small, approximately 15 - 25 nanometers in diameter. Viruses: Genetic Material Viruses may have double-stranded DNA, double-stranded RNA, single-stranded DNA or single-stranded RNA. The type of genetic material found in a particular virus depends on the nature and function of the specific virus. The genetic material is not typically exposed but covered by a protein coat. The viral genome can consist of a very small number of genes or up to hundreds of genes depending on the type of virus. Note that the genome is typically organized as a long molecule that is usually straight or circular.