Biology – Module 2

Kingdom Monera As we know, there are

different types of organisms living on this planet

Our first exploration of the 5 Kingdoms will be with Kingdom Monera

Monerans are quite enormous in number and highly diversified in their character

Kingdom Monera When you think of Bacteria –

what comes to mind? Can you tell me what a Pathogen

is? Pathogen = an organism that

causes disease Pathogenic bacterium is a

bacterium that causes disease Are all bacteria bad? What about cheese, beer, wine?

Oldest and most abundant organisms

Prokaryotic “before a nucleus”

Unicellular & Microscopic Undergo asexual

reproduction Prokaryotes are single-celled

organisms. They are the smallest, simplest organisms

There are two subkingdoms of Kingdom Monera:

Archaebacteria-can live in the most extreme of environments.

Is also called the true bacteria

Not classified according to shape but according to chemical composition of their cell walls and reaction to Gram stain

These bacteria live in very hot, acid habitats of 60-80 and pH 2-4, like the photo of a "Hot springs" below, the red stain on the rocks are the prokaryotic cells.

Eubacteria are more modern bacteria.

Inhabit nearly every known habitat

Consumers, producers, and decomposers

Some cause disease but most are harmless

They are found in nearly every habitat studied, including some that no other organism is able to withstand.

Bacteria have a cell wall, a cell membrane surrounds the cell but no membrane-bound organelles such as a nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts, Golgi apparatus, or ER. Some are covered by a layer of “slime” called a capsule. Some have flagella for locomotion.

1. Cocci – spherical (coccus)

2. Bacilli – rod-shaped (bacillus)

3. Spirilla – spiral (spirillum)

Next week – we will be looking for these underthe microscope in

Experiment 2.2

Most are heterotrophs although some are autotrophs.

The autotrophic bacteria either use chemicals as a source of energy or are photosynthetic

Some are parasites which live off a living host

Leucothrix mucor

Some are saprobes, feeding off dead organisms and waste

(i.e., decomposers).

Prokaryotes have a single circular chromosome attached to the inside of the plasma membrane

Prokaryotes reproduce by simply splitting in two The DNA is copied and the cell divides into two

identical cells.