Bacteria reproduction-Apologia Biology

bacteria. Wikimedia
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These single-celled creatures (bacteria) are everywhere and have been around for millions of years but how they multiple is interesting.

In short, bacteria get their nutrients directly from the environment they are in, example, the human body.


Once they are in, these bacteria release their poisons, steal nutrients, and can make people really, really sick.  How does this happen?

 Bacteria reproduce extremely fast and without much effort.

Bacteria reproduce in two ways; budding and binary fission.  Both are types of asexual reproduction which means the exact same DNA is passed on.

Budding (reproduction) just means a bud forms out of the side of the microorganism, a nucleus is made specifically for that bud via mitosis, and once the nucleus is given to the bud, it breaks off resulting in another microorganism.  Makes sense, right?

Binary fission (cell division) works when a bacterium copies its own DNA in an effort to make an exact copy before it divides itself into two separate pieces.  This produces a clone because the DNA is the same.  This cloning can produce a billion or more bacterium in less than  24 hours.

https://micro.cornell.edu/research/epulopiscium/
binary-fission-and-other-forms-reproduction-bacteria

You can find a great explanation with interactive images here at Microbiological Concepts.

Amazing website-Science Clarified
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