Micro world

Prokaryotes

Prokaryotes are the single-celled organisms, such as bacteria, about one micrometer in diameter. Unlike Eukoryotes, prokaryotes do not have a nucleus that houses its genetic material. Rather, the genetic material of a prokaryote cell consists of a large DNA molecule compacted in an area of cytoplasm called the nucleiod region. The nucleoid region is protected and encased by the cell wall, or cell membrane, the outer layering of the cell finally, a flagellum, a rudder-like device, makes it possible to move.



Archea


Archaea are groups of an organism who lacks a nucleolus and has a single chromosome. All are strict anaerobes, that is, they are killed by oxygen. archaea was tought to be just like bacteria, but thy are a much deifferent and simpler form of life. (it may also be the oldest). They are found in undersea vents, hot springs, the Dead Sea, and salt pans.

• Halophiles Halophiles are aerobic microorganisms that live and grow in high saline/salty environments. The saline content in halophilic environments is usually 10 times the saline/salt content of normal ocean water. Normal ocean water has a saline/salt level of 30 percent. Some environments that halophiles live in are the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Owens Lake in California, the Dead Sea, and saltines (crackers).Halophiles are coated with a special protein covering, which is used to allow only certain levels of saline/salt into the cell. This covering helps to seal in water with the right level of saline.

Eubacteria

Eubacteria is a group of bacteria thought to have evolved more recently than the archaebacteria. Biologists separate the bacteria into two groups that differ in the composition of their cell walls and cell membranes and in the structure of some of their proteins. Because the differences between these two groups are so great, it is likely that they diverged early in the history of life. One group is the eubacteria, or "true bacteria" the most common bacteria today. Most living bacteria, including those that cause disease and decay, are eubacteria. Some Eubacteria can cause health problems like strep throat and food poisoning. Bacteria such as E.coli and Salmonella are sometimes found in undercooked meat and eggs and can make people sick. Other bacteria are good to eat, such as those in yogurt.

• Stromatolites

Stromalites are one of the oldest fossils, most of which are 3.5 billion years old. Their structure are formed by huge colonies of cyanobacteria, known as bluegreen algae. Stromatolites are formed by prokaryotic cyanobacteria, which have cells lacking a distinct nucleus. These bacteria thrive in extreme environments due to their relative lack of complexity. Stamotolites are called “living rocks,” these rocks may seems as huge boulders scattered , but they’re actually algae accomponied by a collection of particals creating layers, living up to thousands of years. Because stromatolites take so long to develop, a reasonably sized specimen can represent thousands of years of growth.

• Cyanobacteria
  

Cyanobacteria also known as blue green algae are photosynthetic bacteria that contains chlorophyll.For many years they have been classified under the kingdom of algae, but discoveries showed the possibilities of a new biomedical techniques showing that they’re more closely related to bacteria than plants. So they are now placed in the kingdom Monera. Depending the type of species, is what determines the color, like being red, which is sid to have given the Red sea its name.Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria need only nitrogen and carbon dioxide to live. they can occur as planktonic cells or form phototrophic biofilms in fresh water and marine environments, they occur in damp soil, or even temporarily moistened rocks in deserts.


Eukaryote


A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures inside the membranes. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear envelope, within which the genetic material is carried The presence of a nucleus gives eukaryotes their name.

• Protozoans

Is a subkingdom of microorganisms that are generally classified as unicellular eukaryotes. Protozoans play a key role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.Protozoa are almost as widely distributed as bacteria. Free-living types occur in soil, wet sand, and in fresh, brackish, and salt waters. Protozoa of the soil and sand live in films of moisture on the particles. Habitats of endoparasites vary. Some are intracellular, such as malarial parasites in vertebrates, which are typical Coccidia in most of the cycle. Other parasites, such as Entamoeba histolytica, invade tissues but not individual cells. Most trypanosomes live in the blood plasma of vertebrate hosts. Many other parasites live in the lumen of the digestive tract or sometimes in coelomic cavities of invertebrates, as do certain gregarines. Protozoa range in size from 1 to 106 micrometers. Colonies are known in flagellates, ciliates, and Sarcodina. Although marked differentiation of the reproductive and somatic zooids characterizes certain colonies, such as Volvox, Protozoa have not developed tissues and organs.

• Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas (22 countries), Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in sub-Saharan Africa. The primary causal organism, Plasmodium falciparum, requires both the Anopheles mosquito and humans to complete its life cycle: sexual reproduction of the protozoan occurs in the mosquito; an immature form is then transmitted to the human by the bite of the mosquito. In a person the parasite goes to the liver, replicates, and moves into the bloodstream, where it attacks red blood cells for their hemoglobin. Some of the plasmodia become sexually mature and are transmitted back to another biting mosquito. Three other Plasmodium species also infect humans.

• Forams

Forams are single-celled amoeboid protists. The principal characteristics are threadlike bearing granules that reveal constant bidirectional streaming of the cytoplasm, life history characterized by an alteration of sexual and asexual generations with meiosis associated with the asexual and the presence of a shell or test. The Some foraminifera have lost the test; the existence of a naked foraminiferal progenitor has not yet been identified Forams are abundant all over the ocean. They live either on the sea bottom or a float in the upper waters, planktonic. There’s an estimate of 4000 species living, 40 are planktonic. Their size ranges from 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm, although some may be larger

• Paramecium

Parameciums are unicellular organisms of the genus Paramecium, paramecia was previously considered a one celled animal and now is customairly paced in the kingdom Protista. parameciums have a stiff outer covering that gives it a permanent slipper shape.The paramecium has an external oral groove lined with cilia and leading to a mouth pore and gullet,food, such as bacteria is digested in food vacuoles. There are also an anal pore, two contractile vacuoles that regulate the water content of the cell, and two nuclei. The larger nucleus, or macronucleus, is thought to regulate most cell functions, while the smaller nucleus, or micronucleus, is involved in reproduction. Paramecia usually reproduce asexually by cell division but can also exchange genetic information by a process called conjugation, in which two individuals unite at the oral grooves and exchange micronuclei that serve as little packages of DNA, after which the cells divide, yielding daughter cells with DNA from each of the parents.

• Algae

Algae is a large, diverse group of plant like organisms. Aside from plants they lacktrue roots, stems, leaves and flowers. Algae have chlorophyll and can manufacture their own food through the process of photosynthesis. They are distributed worldwide in the sea, in freshwater, and in moist situations on land. Nearly all seaweeds are marine algae. Algae that thrive in polluted water, some of which are toxic, can overmultiply, resulting in an algal bloom and seriously unbalancing their ecosystem. they are the fastest growing photosynthesizing organisms, with growth cycles that reach completion in a few days. They rapidly fix atmospheric CO₂ into biomass, reaching up to double their biomass every 24 hours.

• Giant Kelp

Giant Kelps grow three to five inches a day, held up by gas filled bladdersat the base of leaf , kelp fronds grow straight up. Giant kelp often grows in turbulent water, which brings renewed supplies of nutrients. Giant Kelp is Algae. It forms entire underwater forests, where each plant can grow to over 100 feet. Kelp has "blades" that look like large leaves. The blades do photosynthesis just like leaves. The ones near the top of the water get the most sunlight, and send nutrients down to the rest of the plant.

• Red Tide

are a large group of flagellate protists. Most are marine plankton, but they are common in fresh water habitats as well.These algae, more specifically phytoplankton, are single-celled protists, plant-like organisms that can form dense, visible patches near the water's surface. Certain species of phytoplankton contain photosynthetic pigments that vary in colour from green to brown to red. When the algae are present in high concentrations, the water appears to be discoloured or murky, varying in colour from purple to almost pink, normally being red or green. Their populations are distributed depending on temperature, salinity, or depth. About half of all dinoflagellates are photosynthetic, and these make up the largest group of eukaryotic algae aside from the diatoms. Being primary producers makes them an important part of the aquatic food chain. Some species, called zooxanthellae, are endosymbionts of marine animals and protozoa, and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs. Other dinoflagellates are colorless predators on other protozoa, and a few forms are parasitic

• Diatoms

Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotes that are microscopic in appearance. Fossil evidence suggests that they originated during, or before, the early Jurassic Period. Diatoms can form small colonies, and filaments have been seen to measure over two feet. All diatoms are enclosed by a frustule that is made up of two valves fitted together by a connective zone called a girdle. Growth occurs by ordinary mitotic cell division as well as through the formation of an auxospore by sexual reproduction.Diatoms are producers within the food chain.

• Euglena

Euglenas are unicellular organisms, commonly identified by having two flagella and a photoreceptor called and eyespot. Most have chloroplasts, but not all. Euglena's plasma membrane is surrounded by a flexible layer known as the pelicle which can flex to allow for movement.Currently, over 1,000 species of Euglena have been described. They can survive in fresh and salt water. In low moisture conditions, a they forms a protective wall around itself and lies dormant as a spore until environmental conditions improve. They can also survive in the dark by storing paramylon granules in pyernoid bodies within the chloroplast.

• Cellular slime mold

Cellular slime molds are a weird class of creatures, neither animal nor plant, which spend most of their life as separate cells, roaming through the soils and leaf-litter of forests. When their food grows scarce, they agglomerate into a single "colonial'' organism, rather resembling an amoeba, which feeds for a while before fixing itself in place and growing a stalk, with so-called "fruiting bodies", from which spores are released, the only phase of the life-cycle in which there is any specialization of cell. There are two groups of cellular slime molds, the Dictyostelida and the Acrasida, which may not be closely related to each other.