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Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. The term "bacteria" has variously applied to all prokaryotes or to a major group of them, otherwise called the eubacteria, depending on ideas about their relationships. Here, bacteria is used specifically to refer to the eubacteria. Another major group of bacteria (used in the broadest, non-taxonomic sense) are the Archaea. The study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a subfield of microbiology.

Bacteria are the most abundant of all organisms. They are ubiquitous in soil, water, and as symbionts of other organisms. Many pathogens are bacteria. Most are minute, usually only 0.5-5.0 μm in their longest dimension, although giant bacteria like Thiomargarita namibiensis and Epulopiscium fishelsoni may grow past 0.5 mm in size. They generally have cell walls, like plant and fungal cells, but bacterial cell walls are normally made out of peptidoglycan instead of cellulose (as in plants) or chitin (as in fungi), and are not homologous with eukaryotic cell walls. Many move around using flagella, which are different in structure from the flagella of other groups.

History


The first bacteria were observed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek in 1674 using a single-lens microscope of his own design. The name bacterium was introduced much later, by Ehrenberg in 1828, derived from the Greek word βακτηριον meaning "small stick". Because of the difficulty in describing individual bacteria and the importance of their discovery to fields such as medicine, biochemistry, and geochemistry, the history of bacteriology is generally described as the history of microbiology.

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RT @TransAlchemy: Japanese Create Fluorescent Mario from Genetically Engineered Bacteria | Popular Science http://bit.ly/4FG4VY
DJScallywag (DJ Scallywag) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:13:32 -0000
RT @TransAlchemy: Japanese Create Fluorescent Mario from Genetically Engineered Bacteria | Popular Science http://bit.ly/4FG4VY
Finding it amusing that Japanese scientists created an image of "Mario" using bacteria http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/microbe-art/7
YasserManiram (Yasser U. Maniram) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:08:52 -0000
Finding it amusing that Japanese scientists created an image of "Mario" using bacteria http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/microbe-art/7
'more than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a french kiss' - nasty. (via @Cupcakefarms)
youngestblood (elizabeth youngblood) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:05:02 -0000
'more than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a french kiss' - nasty. (via @Cupcakefarms)
Science is cold? Scientifically, we, the animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria and archaea on Earth are all cousins.
TCorp (Tanin Ehrami) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:02:19 -0000
Science is cold? Scientifically, we, the animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria and archaea on Earth are all cousins.
Even Bacteria Get Lonely http://tinyurl.com/yc2rvpg
gthug (Genna) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:01:34 -0000
Even Bacteria Get Lonely http://tinyurl.com/yc2rvpg
Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.
wwwprofits (Almin Cehajic) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:59:57 -0000
Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.

 
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Braunstein Lab - Mycobacterial Genetics and Pathogenesis - Research focuses on understanding the role protein secretion plays in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Includes research data, publications, and online tools.
Meta Description: [ Genetics and pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis - UNC Chapel Hill ]

CyanoBase - Features map images and gene category lists for cyanobacteria including Synechocystis and Anabaena .

Genetic Recombination in Bacteria - Essay describing the three mechanisms that bacteria have to accomplish genetic recombination.

Genetics of Mycobacteria Group - Features research, goals, staff details, publications, skills, and related links. University Zaragoza, Spain .

Legionella Genome Project - Ongoing project to obtain the complete sequence of the Legionella pneumophila genome and to determine the function of the bacteria's genes - from the Columbia Genome Center.

Porphyromonas Gingivalis Genome Project - Organism most strongly associated with human periodontal disease. Comprehensive resource with information on pathogenesis, genetic tools, cloned genes, photographs, and related links.

PyloriGene - Database of the genome of Helicobacter pylori. Features a complete dataset of DNA and protein sequences linked to the relevant annotations and functional assignments.
Meta Description: [ Welcome to the PyloriGene World-Wide Web Server, a database on Helicobacter pylori 26695, Helicobacter pylori J99 genetics. ]

Salmonella.org - Provides information on research at the University of Illinois. Includes genome sequences and related links.
Meta Description: [ Salmonella information and resources for researchers, the press, and the public. Data from Salmonella genome projects. ]

TubercuList - Database on Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetics. Provides a complete dataset of DNA and protein sequences linked to the relevant annotations and functional assignments.
Meta Description: [ Welcome to the TubercuList World-Wide Web Server, a database on Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv genetics. ]

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