Do You Enjoy The Subject On Bacteria And Fungi Like Me

                                                                                         

Due to the limited knowledge that many people have on living micro-organisms, it is usually easy for us to confuse between bacteria and fungi.Little do we know that there are very clear distinctions between the two that make them to be differentiated easily.To begin with, these two organisms have different cell wall structures that portray a distinctive difference between them.Fungi usually contain nitrogenous substances known as "chitin" on their cell walls same as in the outer shells of crabs and mollusks. Bacteria on the other hand, contain a substance known as peptidoglycan polymers on their outer cell walls which helps provide the bacteria with a proper structural definition.

The other way for you to distinguish the differences between bacteria and fungi is through their size.Fungi are said to be larger in size and are plant like organisms.They lack chlorophyll which makes them absorb food from whatever source they are growing on due to the fact that they are not capable of manufacturing their own food independently.For the case of bacteria,we are able to notice that they are smaller in size and contain all necessary genetic information that they need to reproduce.Unlike fungi, bacteria do not need a host for them to survive.

To help you further differentiate between bacteria and fungi, research has it that bacteria are unicellur micro-organisms which are typically a few micrometres in length and have a very wide range of shapes which range from spheres to rods and even to spirals.On the part of fungi, the same is not true.They are said to be multicellular with the exception of the yeast.These cells make up a proper network of branching tubes well known as "hyphae". They do not have a wide range of shapes as compared to their bacteria counter parts.

Something that is common though between bacteria and fungi,is that both of them a great decomposers.Scientists have proven that, for every gram of soil,about five million bacteria exist in it.As a result of this,when animals die and fall to the ground, these bacteria get to feed on it and usually within a short period of time, one can only see the bones of the dead animal.This is achieved because the bacteria helped in decomposing the animal.Fungi on the other hand being heterotrophy,secrete digestive enzymes and absorb the resulting soluble nutrients from their host. This occurrence helps facilitate the decomposition process as the host will be deprived off its soluble nutrients gradually until it finally decomposes.

Bacteria and fungi can also be said to be differing in cell composition. Bacteria are said to be prokaryotes meaning their cells are different from the cells of other animals.They do not contain a nucleus and rarely harbor membrane-bound organelles.Fungi on the other hand, has its cells much more similar to the other animals who most of the times are the host animals.This factor has led to scientists having a had time developing anti fungal medicine because it is very hard to develop medicine that would kill the fungus's cell and at the same time not being able to harm the host cell.

Be on the look out for these characteristics as you learn more about bacteria and fungi.

Wangeci Kinyanjui is an expert on research and reporting on Health Matters for years.To get more information on bacteria and fungi visit her site at BACTERIA AND FUNGI

About the author:
Wangeci Kinyanjui is an expert writer on matters relating to Health.You can visit her site at www.goshriek.com

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