Microbes
Posted on January 18, 2006 Comments (5)
Photo: T4 bacteriophage, middle, is a virus that invades bacterial cells. Courtesy of the MicrobeLibrary.org
The MicrobeWorld web site includes an introduction to microbes – Microbes: what they are and what they do:
They are the oldest form of life on earth. Microbe fossils date back more than 3.5 billion years to a time when the Earth was covered with oceans that regularly reached the boiling point, hundreds of millions of years before dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Microbes types:
These bacteria look-alikes are living fossils that are providing clues to the earliest forms of life on Earth.
Bacteria
Often dismissed as “germs” that cause illness, bacteria help us do an amazing array of useful things, like make vitamins, break down some types of garbage, and maintain our atmosphere.
Fungi
From a single-celled yeast to a 3.5-mile-wide mushroom, fungi do everything from helping to bake bread to recycling to decomposing waste.
Protista
Plant-like algae produce much of the oxygen we breathe; animal-like protozoa (including the famous amoeba) help maintain the balance of microbial life.
Viruses
Unable to do much of anything on their own, viruses go into host cells to reproduce, often wreaking havoc and causing disease. Their ability to move genetic information from one cell to another makes them useful for cloning DNA and could provide a way to deliver gene therapy.
Categories: Life Science, quote, Science, Students
Tags: bacteria, Life Science, microbes, science facts, virus
5 Responses to “Microbes”
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November 18th, 2006 @ 8:55 am
The site includes interesting photos and details on all sorts of extremophiles: Anaerobe (don’t require oxygen) – Endolith (live inside rocks) – Thermophile (enjoy over 40 °C)…
March 13th, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
“Evidence that viruses–which are known to be ten times more abundant than even microbes–serve as gene banks for ecosystems.”
July 22nd, 2008 @ 8:50 am
“Tiny microbes beneath the sea floor, distinct from life on the Earth’s surface, may account for one-tenth of the Earth’s living biomass…”
November 24th, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
Webcast of panel discussion on microbes.
November 26th, 2009 @ 11:08 am
[…] webcast of Bacteriophage T4 – types of microbes – What are Viruses? – Amazing Science: Retroviruses – Using Bacteria to Carry […]