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The fungi are ensured a copious food supply and a stable, nurturing environment in which to live. The fungi rely upon the ants for reproduction. Before new queen ants fly off to mate and found their own colonies, they tuck a bit of fungus in their mandibles to start their new gardens. The fungi growing in virtually every leaf-cutter garden are actually clones of the same fungus farmed by ants 25 million years ago. In all habitats, microorganisms make nutrients available for the future growth of other living things by degrading dead organisms. Microbes are also essential in treating the large volume of sewage and wastewater produced by metropolitan areas, recycling it into clean water that can be safely discharged into the environment. Less helpfully (from the view of most humans) termites contain microorganisms in their guts that assist in the digestion of wood, allowing the termites to extract nutrients from what would otherwise be indigestible. Understanding of these systems helps us to manage them responsibly and as we learn more we will become ever more effective stewards. Click on following items to see more information: Agrobacteria, Antibiotic, Antibiotic, Antibacterial, Bacilli, Bacillus subtilis, Bacterium, Bacterial, Bacterial, Bacterium, C. botulinum, C. albicans, Cell suspension, Clostridium, Culture media, E. coli, E. coli, E. coli, E. coli, E. coli broth, Enterobacter, Fermentation, Yeast, Gram negative, Haemophilus, Lactobacilli, Bacterium, Bacterial, Bacterium, Neisseria, Penicillin, Providencia, Pseudomonas, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Salmonella typhimurium, Bacteremia, S. aureus, Staphylococci, Streptococcus, Thermophilic, Xanthomonas Some bacteria (along with archaea) thrive in the most forbidding, uninviting places on Earth, from nearly-boiling hot springs to super-chilled Antarctic lakes buried under sheets of ice. Microbes that dwell in these extreme habitats are aptly called extremophiles. Like dinosaurs, bacteria left behind fossils. The big difference is that it takes a microscope to see them. And they are older. Bacteria and their microbial cousins the archaea were the earliest forms of life on Earth. And may have played a role in shaping our planet into one that could support the larger life forms we know today by developing photosynthesis. Apicomplexans are characterized by the presence of special organelles (tiny organ-like structures) located at the tips (apices) of the cells. These organelles contain enzymes that punch through, slice open and otherwise penetrate host tissues. The best known apicomplexan is Plasmodium, the agent that causes malaria. Plasmodium spends part of its life cycle in mosquitoes and the other part in human hosts where it ultimately infects and ruptures blood cells in large numbers.
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Transgalactic Ltd (manufacturer of Bioscreen C software) |
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Last modified: May 25, 2005
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