Bacteriology

Michael T Madigan, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA
Deborah O Jung, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA

Published online: January 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000449

Bacteriology is the study of bacteria, small cells that live an independent existence and play key roles in the biosphere. Bacteria include all prokaryotic cells and comprise two major phylogenetic lineages, Bacteria and Archaea. Bacteriology played a major role in the development of molecular genetics, and bacteria have been excellent tools for basic and applied research. In recent years, bacteria have been harnessed to produce valuable commercial products, and the critical contributions of prokaryotes to the functioning of the biosphere have been revealed.

Keywords: bacteriology; microbiology; prokaryotes; Bacteria; Archaea; microbial evolution

Figure 1. Cell structure of (a) prokaryotic and (b) eukaryotic cells. Note the presence of membrane-enclosed organelles (nucleus, mitochondria and chloroplasts) in the eukaryotic cells, as well as the presence of various other membranous structures. For a depiction of the origin of the mitochondrion and the chloroplast, see Figure 3.
Figure 2. The phylogenetic tree of life. This tree depicts the evolutionary relationships of cells based on comparative ribosomal RNA sequencing. The tree clearly reveals the three domains of life, the Bacteria, the Archaea and the Eukarya.
Figure 3. Endosymbiosis. It is hypothesized that the modern organelle-containing eukaryotic cell evolved from ancestral eukaryotic cells that lacked organelles. Note that the mitochondrion and the chloroplast of modern eukaryotic cells emerged from lineages within the domain Bacteria.
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 Further Reading
    book Campbell NA and Reece JB (2005) Biology, 7th edn. San Francisco, California: Benjamin Cummings.
    book Garrity GM, Boone DR and Castenholtz RW (eds). (2001) Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology: The Archaea and the Deeply Branching and Phototrophic Bacteria, vol. 1. New York: Springer. Also in print are vol. 2, part A (2005); vol. 2, part B (2005) and vol. 2, part C (2005).
    book Madigan MT and Martinko JM (2006) Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 11th edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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Article Title: Bacteriology
 
How to Cite close
Madigan, Michael T, and Jung, Deborah O(Jan 2007) Bacteriology. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000449]