Are Blue-Green Algae Bacteria?
ARE BLUE-GREEN ALGAE BACTERIA? Russell Nash Blue-Green Algae, or Cyanophyta, are simple organisms that are believed to be the evolutionary link between bacteria and green plants. Fossils that are over three billion years old have been discovered in sediments and are concluded to be one of the first organisms to release oxygen into the atmosphere. Today, Cyanophyta are abundant throughout the world, found in salt marshes, on tree trunks, in fish tanks etc. Besides the typical bluish-green colour, Cyanophyta can vary from a blackish-green to an orange-yellow. As well as providing an evolutionary link, Blue-Green Algae serve an integral part of our lives with its importance in food supplements as well as its ability to cause economic damage via algal blooming. In this essay I aim to show the similarities and differences between Cyanophyta and bacteria using points of comparison, to answer the question whether Blue-Green Algae can be classed as bacteria. Blue-Green algae are prokaryotic, unlike the rest of the algae family, which can also be said for bacteria. Most of bacteria and Cyanophyta can only be seen through a microscope because they have only one cell and are around 1µm in diameter. In both bacteria and Cyanophyta, the cells have rigid walls. Bacteria have external flagella, which aid movement. Cyanophyta never have flagella. The DNA is able to float freely in a
GAS EXCHANGE
Gas Exchange Gas exchange supplies oxygen for cellular respiration and disposes of carbon dioxide: an overview • Gas exchange is the uptake of molecular oxygen (O2) from the environment and the discharge of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the environment. • The source of oxygen, the respiratory medium, is air for terrestrial animals and water for aquatic animals. • The atmosphere is about 21% O2 (by volume). • Dissolved oxygen levels in lakes, oceans, and other bodies of water vary considerably, but they are always much less than an equivalent volume of air. • The part of an animal where gases are exchanged with the environment is the respiratory surface. • Movements of CO2 and O2 across the respiratory surface occurs entirely by diffusion. • The rate of diffusion is proportional to the surface area across which diffusion occurs, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance through which molecules must move. • Therefore, respiratory surfaces tend to be thin and have large areas, maximizing the rate of gas exchange. • In addition, the respiratory surface of terrestrial and aquatic animals are moist to maintain the cell membranes and thus gases must first dissolve in water. • Because the respiratory surface must supply O2 and expel CO2 for the entire body, the structure of a respiratory surface depends mainly on the size of the organism,
The effects of disinfectants and antibacterial soap on bacterial growth
The effects of disinfectants and antibacterial soap on bacterial growth Abstract The effects of various disinfectants and one brand of antibacterial soap on bacterial growth were examined. Different cleaners containing either ethanol, sodium hypochlorite, or triclosan as a primary ingredient were added to culture tubes containing bouillon broth and bacteria taken from the classroom. Bacteria from each tube were regrown on agar plates to determine whether the disinfectant or soap, which had been added to the bacteria's rood source. was effective. Under the conditions of the experiment, all cleaners tested proved satisfactory in killing the bacteria found in the classroom. Introduction. Hospitals are supposed to be clean, right? All bacteria living on countertops and on other surfaces arc supposed to be killed with routine applications of potent cleaners to provide a sanitary environment for patients. But would it be possible for the disinfectants used in hospitals to be less effective than the manufacturing companies claim'? Our doubts were raised by a previous experiment that had been performed on different brands of soap, which had indicated that not all soaps were as effoctive as they claimed [1]. Clearly, our question was a pertinent one. At the very least, the patients and doctors might be concerned if going to the hospital meant being exposed to a whole range of
should cannabis be legal, YES & NO
Should Cannabis be Legalised? Yes... No... Legal Cannabis would promote responsible use and safe supply and would stop many people's futures being needlessly destroyed Legalisation would encourage use of cannabis and other drugs, creating more problems and increasing the profits of drug barons. * There are at least 21/2 million (perhaps 7 million) cannabis users in the UK. * More police are needed, with greater powers to stop this widespread flaunting of the law. * People convicted of drug offences have their future prospects massively hampered. * People who choose to break the law must accept that they will be severely punished for doing so. * Cannabis is often contaminated with inert or toxic components which cause more harm than the cannabis. A legal supply would be pure and therefore safer. * Pure cannabis still has dangers. * Prohibition alienates a huge number of youths. * Most parents disapprove of all drug use - legal or not. * Legalising does not mean glamorising - cannabis use should still be discouraged even if it were legal. * Legalisation could make cannabis socially acceptable, and so encourage use. * Countries which have experimented with decriminalisation have not encountered massive increases in use. * Legalisation could encourage use of cannabis, which in turn could encourage the use of more dangerous drugs such as ecstasy. * Minors can
Research question - Is using dogs for work ethical?
Dog behaviour CDA Introduction There are many ways that animals are connected to our lives. Some of us have them as pets, and even people who don't have a pet still have products (such as medicine) that have been tested on them. According to a website called 'The vegetarian site' very well known companies such as 'Max factor', 'Vaseline' & even 'Kleenex' have products that are animal tested. Some people protest that animal testing is not ethical because of the pain the animals have to endure for our benefit, but others argue that a lot of the medicine we have now wouldn't of existed if it hadn't of been so. A lot of argument has also gone into the concept of conditioning. We condition animals and even people without noticing we are doing it. Dogs are trained to sniff drugs in an airport and even children have a daily bed time that they are used to. So when J.B Watson sprung a debate about ethics when he conditioned Little Albert (who was just a baby at the time) to be afraid of rats and other things that looked similar, he had opened a controversy. Does there have to be pain to gain? Or will we ever find out if a dog thinks it is ethical for itself to be entered into a race? We were studying at school the behaviour and characteristics of animals that are similar to those of human beings alongside the ethics to support the current world debates & trends. This particular
Escherichia coli and antibiotic resistanceIntroduction:Escherichia coli, short E. coli is an important bacteria that are
Escherichia coli and antibiotic resistance Introduction: Escherichia coli, short E. coli is an important bacteria that are found in the lower part of intestines of warm blooded animals, including human. People's feces for a day usually contain about 100 million or 10 trillion individuals of E. coli. E. coli is a major component of a bacterial system that helps to digest food particles. E. coli also has commercial uses. For instance, is used as an organic indicator for the sewage treatment to indicate the level of the concentration of poop pollutions in the water. However, uncontrolled growth of E. coli bacteria or the allocation of E. coli to other parts of the human body can be dangerous or even fatal. E. coli is also used in many laboratory experiments because they are cheap to acquire and easy to culture. When people are referring to bacteria that are resistant against penicillin, for instance penicillin resistant E. coli, these people are referring specifically to the ability of this bacteria population to produce an enzyme called penincillinase. Penincillinase is a general term describing a wide variety of enzymes that are capable of deterring penicillin invasion. A common type of penincillinase is plasmid-mediated extended-spectrum b-lactamases (ESbl) (bacteria can transfer genetic material through replication or plasmid). Plasmid-mediated means that the enzyme is
Taxonomy is the branch of biology that deals with the identification and naming of living organisms
Mr. Miller Biology 401A Biology Essay BEGÜM COGAL A species is a genetically distinct group of organisms, which can interbreed and produce fertile, viable offsprings. External similarity is the common basis for identifying individuals as being members of the same species. Yet a bulldog, a terrier, and a golden retriever are very different in appearance, but they are all dogs because they can interbreed. People can also interbreed with one another, and so can cats, but people cannot interbreed with dogs or cats, nor can these with each other. This shows that individuals of a species are able to interbreed with one another but not with members of other species. Even if they could interbreed with members of other species they would not be able to produce fertile offsprings. For example, when horses and donkeys mate, they produce mules. However, these mules are infertile. They are unable to breed at all and bear offsprings of their own. Taxonomy is the branch of biology that deals with the identification and naming of living organisms. The Swedish biologist, Carolus Linnaeus (1707 - 1778) established a simple system for classifying and naming organisms. He developed a hierarchy, or in other words a ranking system for classifying organisms, that is the basis for modern taxonomy. Linnaeu's classification hierarchy included five levels: kingdom, class, order, genus, and
Biology Recycling
Recycling is a way to decrease the amount of rubbish being filling up the landfill, it also helps the environment and is a sustainable development. The aim of this investigation is to find out some aspects about domestic recycling. Of particular interest is:- * What people widely recycle * How much of different things people recycle * Why people do/don't want to recycle So I created a basic questionnaire to find out what people would want to say about recycling and what changes they would want in the environment in the future. . Do you recycle? Yes No If No Thank you for your cooperation 2. Do you think that recycling is beneficial for the environment? Yes No Not sure Why do you think recycling is beneficial or harmful for the environment? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What resources do you recycle? Plastic Glass Paper Metal Clothes Garden Waste 4. How often are your recycling bins collected? Twice a Week Weekly Fortnightly Once in a Month Other _________________ 5. What would you change about current recycling? No Change 6. Should we increase council tax for better recycling? Yes
The effect of antibiotics on the growth of bacteria.
The effect of antibiotics on the growth of bacteria. The Aim: The aim of this investigation is to find out what effect out of two antibiotics, penicillin and streptomycin has on the growth and multiplication of two different species of bacteria. The two different types of bacteria we will be using are E-coli and micrococcus luteus. The Apparatus: * Four sterilised Agar plates, * Glass spreader, * Masking tape, * Wax pencil, * Lab roll, * A beaker with 70% alcohol, * E- coli (Culture) * Micrococcus luteus (culture), * Penicillin (antibiotics), * Streptomycin (antibiotics). Scientific Knowledge: E-coli: E-coli are a common type of bacteria and are short for the medical term Escherichia coli. This normally lives inside your intestines, where it helps your body break down and digest the food you eat. E. coli bacteria was discovered by a German bacteriologist Theodor Escherich in the 1885.The organism can be found on a small number of cattle farms and can live in the intestines of healthy cattle. But also we need it in our bodies to keep them healthy we pretty much depend on E-Coli in our intestines to provide us with Vitamin K and B complex vitamins which play a vital role in keeping us strong and healthy. Penicillin: Penicillin was the first naturally-occurring antibiotic discovered and was the first one to be used therapeutically Penicillin was discovered by
Biology- enzyme coursework
Biology Coursework: Enzymes By Kerry Douglas Investigate the Effect of Temperature on the Action of the Enzyme Amylase This expirment was set up to find the effect of different tempetures on the enzyme: Amylase. We had two different variables: Independent and Dependent. Independent Variable: The factor to be changed in the investigation. In the this practical it was the temperature. Using water baths we had a range of six temperatures - 25°C to 50°C with 5°C intervals between each. Dependent Variable: The factor to be measured during the investigation. In this practical it was the time taken for starch to break down. We did this using a stop-clock and we were able to calculate the rate of reaction. Rate of reaction= 1/time taken (s-1) Controlled Variables: These are the factors which must be kept constant to create a fair test. In our investigation we used the: . Same enzymes 2. Same substrate 3. Same volume of enzyme and substrate 4. Same time intverals for measurment 5. Same volume of Iodine 6. Same concentration of Amylase Hypothesis : In this invesigation I predict that as the temperature increases, the rate of reaction will increase, but this will only occur up to a certain point and temperature or the enzyme will become denatured- causing the rate to decrease drastically. I believe this because most chemical reaction happens faster when the
