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Earth Science 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 -:- Life Science 1 - 2 - 3 - 3b - 4 - 4b - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 -:- Physical Science 3
Other Chapters' Notes:
Earth Science 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 -:- Life Science 1 - 2 - 3 - 3b - 4 - 4b - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 -:- Physical Science 3
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Life Science Chapter 10: Bacteria and Viruses - Summary Notes
Describing Bacteria:
- Bacteria are prokaryotes, which means they are single-celled organisms without nuclei.
- Bacteria reproduce by binary fission, which divides a cell into two.
- If the environment becomes harsh, bacteria can grow into well-protected endospores.
- Endospores can withstand dry weather and extreme temperatures for millions of years before they break open and start growing again.
- Consumer bacteria don’t make their own food, while producers do. An example is the photosynthetic cyanobacteria.
Why are bacteria useful?
- Plants need nitrogen, and they can only get it through bacteria, not the air.
- Bacteria recycle dead plants on the ground by decomposing them.
- Genetically engineered bacteria can produce helpful treatments like insulin for people with diabetes.
Viruses
- A virus is a microscopic particle that invades a cell and destroys it.
- It is difficult to say whether viruses are alive. They have nucleic acids and reproduce, but they need their hosts to survive. They also don’t grow, breathe, or do many other things that living organisms do.
- A virus injects its genes into its host cell so that the host will replicate them and make more viruses.
- Eventually, lysis occurs, which is when reproduced viruses break out of the cell and kill it, ready to find new cells to invade.