Bacteria 01
Bacteria 01 : Medicine. (Bact; Abb: bact) Microscopic (0. 025 to 40 microns) single-celled organisms living in soil, water, organic matter, or plants and animals. See: Germ; Microbe. Note: Parasitic bacteria often cause diseases; saprophytic bacteria live on dead plant and animal tis-sues, causing them to decay and break down into their chemical constituents. Bacteria are classified according to shape: spheres (coccus forms), rods (bacillus forms), and spirals (spirilla forms). Species that can subsist only on organic matter are called heterotrophic; those on inorganic matter are autotrophic, that is, they can build up carbohydrates and proteins out of carbon dioxide and inorganic salts. Bacteria that require free oxygen for existence are obligatory aerobes, those that cannot survive in the presence of free oxygen are obligatory anaerobes, and those that are indifferent to oxygen are facultative anaerobes. Bacteria are destroyed by ultraviolet light and high temperatures. Singular: bacterium
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