Some need oxygen, other do not
The word metabolism refers to those biochemical reactions that are vital for life and continuously occur inside the cells of each living being. Some of these reactions can only occur if there is oxygen. Some others, instead, do not need it. Aerobic bacteria are those bacteria that, like animals, “breathe oxygen”. Anaerobic bacteria are those bacteria that can live in an environment without this gas.
Bacterial reproduction is asexual: it occurs by fission and not through the exchange of genetic material between two individuals of a different sex. Each bacterial cell divides itself to originate two identical cells that, in their turn, divide themselves into two other identical cells, and so on. A single cell is able to generate, in a short time, colonies of bacteria that are be made up of millions of cells.
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27 September 2012
Over 7 billion people on Earth
Demographers have estimated that on 31 October 2011 world population...
8 March 2021
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2021
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
8 January 2021
Smart as a crow
Some people call them "monkeys with feathers" because they can do clever things comparable to many of our monkey cousins.…
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27 September 2012
Over 7 billion people on Earth
Demographers have estimated that on 31 October 2011 world population...
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...
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Bacteria as Sherlock Holmes
A drop of blood, a fragment of skin or a hair found on the scene of a crime can supply…
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Who lives well with low oxygen?
<i><span style="font-style: normal; " class="Apple-style-span"><i><em>Aquandriella fermentas</em> </i>lives in stagnant waters and can stand complete anaerobiosis...</span></i>
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13 May 2011
Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
-
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...
-
Bacteria as Sherlock Holmes
A drop of blood, a fragment of skin or a hair found on the scene of a crime can supply…
-
Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
-
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...