Prokaryotic Family TreeWe want you to know that prokaryotes are diverse and we've got the data to back it up. A great way to demonstrate diversity is by graphing a phylogenetic tree. A phylogenetic...

Enter the Sci-lebritiesThere are a few people we need to celebrate for the fact that we know about prokaryotes at all. Nowadays we know that many things in the world—both good and bad—are depen...

In 1890, Koch developed and published a set of rules, called Koch’s Postulates, that serve as a guideline for investigating the origins of infectious disease.There are four postulates in all. Weâ...

Prokaryotes have small genomes. The most studied prokaryote, Escherichia coli has a genome about 600 or 700 times smaller than a human genome.It makes sense, though, when we think about how many di...

Have you heard of symbiosis? It's a long-term interaction between different species where at least one of them benefits. We talk about it in another guide, but we just need to know the basics today...

In this section we’re going to take you on a miraculous journey from the sewers of London to suburban Connecticut as we explore how pathogenic bacteria spread and how they do what they do. It’s...

Some strains of bacteria are just born to be pathogens. An infectious dose of Salmonella, one cause of food poisoning, is less than 20 cells of bacteria. However, our skin, teeth, and guts are cove...

In this section, we’re going to give a refresher on cloning and point out just how much of it depends upon bacteria. We’re going to make a little cloning list to point out all the ways this is...

Diversity & Classification Exercises1. How many domains of life are there? What are they?2. How do archaea differ from bacteria?3. Match the outermost layer with the organism:Organism:Gram-posi...