Bacteria Research Paper

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Bacterial fossils have been discovered that date back 3.5 billion years ago. There are over 5,000 different species of bacteria known, many of which are harmful or pathogenic (i.e. can cause disease) and some of which are beneficial and can have many uses, for example, the bacterial species Lactobacillus is used in the production of cheese and yoghurt. The bacteria Bifidobacterium adolescentis is used for yoghurt making and Brevibacterium aurantiacum is used for cheese making. Also yeast is used in the production of beers and alcohols like wine and it also plays a role in bread rising. As well as bacteria being used for food production there are also many types of bacteria used in medicine production with nearly a different bacteria used for each different disease contractible in humans, for example the bacteria Moraxella lacunta is used to produce medicine for conjunctivitis and Klebsiellapneumoniae would be used to produce medicine for pneumonia.
For bacteria to be utilised to its full potential and to meet the demands of quantity need for the production of foods and medicines it is key that experts are able to firstly distinguish what type bacteria is need for a certain production and secondly, and very importantly, how to reproduce that bacteria to create enough of it needed for mass production of a certain product.
All living things must reproduce as it is necessary to pass down genes to the offspring to ensure species survival and prevent extention. Natural selection is the main mechanism for evolution of species. It chooses which traits are most favorable adaptations for the environment in which the species is inhabitating and which are unfavorable. The individuals of the species will then eventually be bread out of the sp...

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... of bacterial dna buy viruses. When they invade the bcacterial cell they make use of the bacterial protein machinery to produce virions. During process packaging where genetic material is packed into the newly formed virus, bits of bact dna are also included. The new virions carry bact dna into the next cell they infect

Transformation bacteria are able to take up foreign dna through their cell membranes. This foreign dna most often remains as an extrachromosomal structure called the plasmid. Can integrate intothe bacterial genome.

conjunction or sexual reproduction between bacteria containing an F plasmid (F+) and one lackin the plasmid (F-). A temp structure call the conjugation tube formed between the two interacting bacteria and the exchange of genetic material takes place
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_3_ways_genetic_recombination_occurs_in_meiosis#slide=1

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