Marine Phyla Pages -- Coastal Carolina University
MARINE BACTERIA
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Bacteria are prokaryotes and are classified into one of two groups: the Archaea and the Eubacteria. Under some classification schemes, only the Eubacteria are truly considered "bacteria." The Archaea and Eubacteria comprise two of the three "domains" in to which all life is classified (the third and most familiar group is the Eucarya). Bacteria are also often classified according to their nutritional groups (heterotrophic/autotrophic) and thus, their role in the environment.
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http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/archaea/archaeamm.html
General Overview1
The archaea and eubacteria differ fundamentally in their cell structure from eukaryotes, which always contain a nucleus, chromosomes, and other membranous organelles. Archaea and eubacteria are unicellular organisms that do not develop or differentiate into multicellular forms. Some bacteria grow in filaments or masses of cells, but each cell in the colony is identical and capable of independent existence. The cells may be adjacent to one another because they did not separate after cell division or because they remained enclosed in a common sheath or slime secreted by the cells, but typically there is no continuity or communication between the cells.
http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact303/Bacteriology
Morphology1
Bacterial cells take one of three forms: rod (bacillus), sphere (coccus), or spiral (spirilla and spirochetes).
Size and fundamental shapes revealed by three genera of Bacteria (l to r): Staphylococcus(spheres), Lactobacillus(rods), and Aquaspirillum(spirals).
http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact303/Bacteriology
Nutritional Types
Habitat2
Many marine bacteria are free-living, occurring within the plankton or benthos (seabed dwellers). Others form symbiotic associations with other living marine organisms such as sponges. Some infect wounded organisms. Many thrive within dead and decaying plant and animal remains. Evidence suggests that the marine bacteria represent one of the most biodiverse groups of organisms in the marine environment. Only a small minority of the many thousands of species that exist have been given names.
Locomotion3
Bacteria exhibit various modes of locomotion, including squirming, gliding and propulsion via flagella. The flagellum of a bacterium is composed of a protein called flagellin, whereas the eukaryotic flagellum is composed of a symmetrically arranged series of microtubules that beats with a wavelike motion. The bacterial flagellum rotates to propel through the substrate.
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/monera.html
Links
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/monera.html