The first bacterium discovered by
Anthony van Leeuwenhoek in 1674 using a homemade microscope. The term bacterium
was introduced at a later date by Ehrenberg in 1828, taken from the Greek word
βακτηριον which means "small stick".
Bacteria, from the Latin word bacterium (plural,
bacteria), is the largest group of living organisms. They are very small
(microscopic) and mostly unicellular (single celled), with a relatively simple
cell structure with no nucleus / nucleus, cytoskeleton, and organelles such as
mitochondria and chloroplasts. Their cell structure is described further in the
article about prokaryotes, because bacteria are prokaryotes, to distinguish
them from organisms that have more complex cells called eukaryotes. The term "bacteria"
has been applied to all prokaryotes or to a large group of them, depending on
ideas about their relationship.
Bacteria are the most abundant of all organisms. They
are spread (being everywhere) in soil, water, and as symbionts of other
organisms. Many pathogens are bacteria. Most of them are small, usually
measuring only 0.5 to 5 μm, although there are species can reach 0.3 mm in
diameter (Thiomargarita). They generally have cell walls, such as plant and
fungal cells, but with very different composition (peptidoglycans). Many who
move using flagella, which differ in structure from the flagella of other
groups.
Bacteria cell
structure
As prokaryotes (organisms without
nucleus membrane) in general, all bacteria have a relatively simple cell
structure. Structure is the most important bacterial cell wall. Bacteria can be
classified into two groups: Gram positive and Gram negative based on differences
in the structure of the cell dinging. Gram positive bacteria have cell walls
composed of thick layers of peptidoglycan and teichoic acid. While
Gram-negative bacteria have outer layer, lipopolysaccharide - consists of a
membrane and a thin peptidoglycan layer located on periplasma (in between the
outer layer and cytoplasmic membrane).
Many bacteria have structures outside the cell such
as flagella and fimbria that is used to move, stick and conjugation. Some
bacteria also have a capsule or slime layer that helps the bacteria on a
surface attachment and biofilm formation. Bacteria also have a chromosome,
ribosomes, and several other species have granules of food, gas vacuoles and
magnetosom.
Some bacteria can form endospores that enable them to
survive in extreme environments