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Bacteria inhabit the air, soil, water, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, and the deep biosphere of Earth's crust. Bacteria play a vital role in many stages of the nutrient cycle by recycling nutrients and the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere.
Microbial ecology (or environmental microbiology) is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life—Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria—as well as viruses. [2] This relationship is often mediated by secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms.
Bacteria. In the microbial food web, bacteria play a crucial role in breaking down organic materials and recycling nutrients. They transform DOC into bacterial biomass so that protists and other higher trophic levels can consume it. Additionally, bacteria take part in the nitrogen and carbon cycles, among other biogeochemical cycles. [4] Algae
Microorganisms play critical roles in Earth's biogeochemical cycles as they are responsible for decomposition and nitrogen fixation. [71] Bacteria use regulatory networks that allow them to adapt to almost every environmental niche on earth.
Quorum sensing induced by small molecules allows bacteria to control cooperative activities and adapts their phenotypes to the biotic environment, resulting, e.g., in cell-cell adhesion or biofilm formation. All animals and plants form associations with microorganisms, including protists, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses.
Bacteria are probably the most significant group of organisms involved in water purification and are ubiquitous in all biological purification environments. Some such as Sphaerotilus natans are typically associated with grossly polluted waters, but even in such environments the bacteria are degrading the organic material present.
Bacteria present in the mother tuber, passing through the stolons and migrating into the plant as well as into the next generation of tubers are shown in blue. [45] The soil is the main reservoir for bacteria that colonize potato tubers; Bacteria are recruited from the soil more or less independent of the potato variety
Pelagibacter ubique, the most abundant bacteria in the ocean, plays a major role in the global carbon cycle. Vibrio vulnificus , a virulent bacterium found in estuaries and along coastal areas Electron micrograph showing a species of the widespread cyanobacteria Synechococcus .