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    Microbes Features

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    Mariam Shafique
    This document defines and describes different types of microbes. Microbes are microscopic organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye and make up 60% of the Earth's living matter. The main types discussed are bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists, and archaea. Bacteria are unicellular and prokaryotic, while fungi are either unicellular or multicellular with cell walls made of chitin. Viruses are non-cellular and infect living cells to reproduce. Protists include plant-like and animal-like single-celled organisms. Archaea have a structure like bacteria but a unique cell wall that allows them to survive in extreme conditions. Microbes play important roles in

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    Microbes Features

    Uploaded by

    Mariam Shafique
    22 views5 pages
    This document defines and describes different types of microbes. Microbes are microscopic organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye and make up 60% of the Earth's living matter. The main types discussed are bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists, and archaea. Bacteria are unicellular and prokaryotic, while fungi are either unicellular or multicellular with cell walls made of chitin. Viruses are non-cellular and infect living cells to reproduce. Protists include plant-like and animal-like single-celled organisms. Archaea have a structure like bacteria but a unique cell wall that allows them to survive in extreme conditions. Microbes play important roles in

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    Microbes features basic level

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    Microbes features

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    This document defines and describes different types of microbes. Microbes are microscopic organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye and make up 60% of the Earth's living matter. The main types discussed are bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists, and archaea. Bacteria are unicellular and prokaryotic, while fungi are either unicellular or multicellular with cell walls made of chitin. Viruses are non-cellular and infect living cells to reproduce. Protists include plant-like and animal-like single-celled organisms. Archaea have a structure like bacteria but a unique cell wall that allows them to survive in extreme conditions. Microbes play important roles in

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    22 views5 pages

    Microbes Features

    Uploaded by

    Mariam Shafique
    This document defines and describes different types of microbes. Microbes are microscopic organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye and make up 60% of the Earth's living matter. The main types discussed are bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists, and archaea. Bacteria are unicellular and prokaryotic, while fungi are either unicellular or multicellular with cell walls made of chitin. Viruses are non-cellular and infect living cells to reproduce. Protists include plant-like and animal-like single-celled organisms. Archaea have a structure like bacteria but a unique cell wall that allows them to survive in extreme conditions. Microbes play important roles in

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 5

    Microbes

    Microbes Definition
    “Microbes are single-celled organisms that are invisible to the naked eye.”

    What are Microbes?


    Microbes are minute, unicellular organisms that are invisible to the naked eye. They are also
    known as microorganisms or microscopic organisms as they could only be seen under a
    microscope. They make up almost 60% of the earth’s living matter.
    The term “microbes” is used to describe several different life forms with different size and
    characteristics. few of these microbes include:

    • Bacteria
    • Fungi
    • Protists
    • Viruses
    • Archaea
    Microbes can be useful as well as harmful. Certain microbes cause severe infections and diseases
    and can also spoil food and other materials. While others play an important role in maintaining
    environmental balance.
    Let us have a detailed look at the different types of microorganisms and their importance.

    Types of Microbes
    The different types of microbes are:

    Bacteria
    • Bacteria are unicellular, microscopic, prokaryotic microbes that contain no true nucleus.
    • Their cell wall is made up of peptidoglycan. They have a flagellum that facilitates
    locomotion.
    • Bacteria are of different types depending on their shapes and sizes. For eg., spherical-
    shaped bacteria are known as cocci; rod-shaped bacteria are known as bacilli; spiral-
    shaped, spirilla, etc.
    • They reproduce through binary fission, transfer of genetic material through
    transformation, transduction and conjugation, and through sporulation.
    • Bacteria play an important role in human survival. They breakdown nutrients in the
    digestive system into simpler forms.
    • Few bacteria such as Rhizobium are involved in nitrogen fixation.
    • They are also used in making antibiotics and can also be used in agriculture as pesticides.

    Also Read: Bacterial Genetics

    Fungi

    • These can be unicellular or multicellular with the cell wall made of chitin.
    • These are heterotrophic and cannot synthesise their own food.
    • They comprise membrane-bound organelles.
    • Yeasts, moulds, mushrooms are some of the important fungi.
    • They decompose dead plants and animals, extracting nutrients from them.
    • Few fungi are harmful and cause fungal infections like ringworm. The others are used in
    making antibiotics like penicillin.
    • Fungi such as yeast are used in all baking industries and also in the beer and wine
    industries.
    Also Read: Kingdom Fungi

    Viruses

    • Viruses are a connecting link between living and non-living.


    • They are non-cellular microbes composed of protein, nucleic acids, and lipids.
    • They are measured in nanometers with size ranging from 20 nanometers to 250
    nanometers and could only be seen with an electron microscope.
    • They contain the core of nucleotides surrounded by a protein coat which could invade
    living cells.
    • They are active inside host cells and reproduce inside them by infecting living cells.

    Protists
    • These are unicellular, microscopic organisms that are neither plants nor animals.
    • They may be autotrophic or heterotrophic.
    • They reproduce mainly through binary fission or budding.
    • This group includes plant-like protists such as algae, animal-like protists such as amoeba,
    and fungus-like such as slime moulds.
    • Protists supply us with oxygen and recycle crucial nutrients to make it available to other
    life forms.

    Figure 1Left: Digitally colourised transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of a Plasmodium sporozoite inside a mosquito
    gut cell Right: Light microscope image of Giardia intestinalis

    Archaea
    • These are unicellular organisms and have a structure similar to bacteria.
    • Their cell wall is different from bacteria and contains unique lipids that enable them to
    survive in extreme conditions.
    • They are also found in human gut and skin.
    •
    Also Read: Archaebacteria

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