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The bacterial cell wall differs from that of all other organisms by the presence of peptidoglycan which is located immediately outside of the cell membrane. Peptidoglycan is made up of a polysaccharide backbone consisting of alternating N-Acetylmuramic acid (NAM) and N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) residues in equal amounts.
Historically, bacteria were considered a part of the Plantae, the plant kingdom, and were called "Schizomycetes" (fission-fungi). [171] For this reason, collective bacteria and other microorganisms in a host are often called "flora". [172] The term "bacteria" was traditionally applied to all microscopic, single-cell prokaryotes.
Like archaea, bacteria are prokaryotic – unicellular, and having no cell nucleus or other membrane-bound organelle. Bacteria are microscopic, with a few extremely rare exceptions, such as Thiomargarita namibiensis. [53] Bacteria function and reproduce as individual cells, but they can often aggregate in multicellular colonies. [54]
It was only sometime between 600 million and 1.5 billion years ago that those microscopic, free-floating packets of life came together into algae and plants and trees and fish and dinosaurs and ...
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
Microbiology (from Ancient Greek μῑκρος (mīkros) 'small' βίος (bíos) 'life' and -λογία 'study of') is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular (single-celled), multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or acellular (lacking cells).
Microbial cytology: the study of microscopic and submicroscopic details of microorganisms; Microbial physiology: the study of how the microbial cell functions biochemically. Includes the study of microbial growth, microbial metabolism and microbial cell structure; Microbial pathogenesis: the study of pathogens which happen to be microbes
Spiral bacteria are another major bacterial cell morphology. [2] [30] [31] [32] Spiral bacteria can be sub-classified as spirilla, spirochetes, or vibrios based on the number of twists per cell, cell thickness, cell flexibility, and motility. [33] Bacteria are known to evolve specific traits to survive in their ideal environment. [34]