How do bacteria typically reproduce?

usually bacteria reproduce by means of binary fision. one bacteria cell will divide into two cells and distribute its genetic material to those new cells.

How do bacteria typically reproduce?
They just divide in two. Bacteria are single-celled organisms, so I guess the process of division is pretty similar to cell mitosis in multi-celled organisms.
Reply:Asexual reproduction through mitosis
Reply:Unlike multicellular organisms, increases in the size of bacteria (cell growth) and their reproduction by cell division are tightly linked in unicellular organisms. Bacteria grow to a fixed size and then reproduce through binary fission, a form of asexual reproduction.





Under optimal conditions, bacteria can grow and divide extremely rapidly, and bacterial populations can double as quickly as every 9.8 minutes.[80] In cell division, two identical clone daughter cells are produced. Some bacteria, while still reproducing asexually, form more complex reproductive structures that facilitate the dispersal of the newly-formed daughter cells.





Examples include fruiting body formation by Myxobacteria and arial hyphae formation by Streptomyces, or budding. Budding involves a cell forming a protrusion that breaks away and produces a daughter cell.





RAPIDITY OF MULTIPLICATION.





It is this power of multiplication by di-vision that makes bacteria agents of such significance. Their minute size would make them harmless enough if it were not for an extraordinary power of multiplication. This power of growth and division is almost incredible. Some of the species which have been care-fully watched under the microscope have been found under favourable conditions to grow so rapidly as to divide every half hour, or even less. The number of offspring that would result in the course of twenty-four hours at this rate is of course easily computed. In one day each bacterium would produce over 16,500,000 descendants, and in two days about 281,500,000,000. It has been further calculated that these 281,500,000,000 would form about a solid pint of bacteria and weigh about a pound. At the end of the third day the total descendants would amount to 47,000,000,000,000, and would weigh about 16,000,000 pounds. Of course these numbers have no significance, for they are never actual or even possible numbers. Long before the offspring reach even into the millions their rate of multiplication is checked either by lack of food or by the accumulation of their own excreted products, which are injurious to them. But the figures do have interest since they show faintly what an unlimited power of multiplication these organisms have, and thus show us that in dealing with bacteria we are dealing with forces of al-most infinite extent.





This wonderful power of growth is chiefly due to the fact that bacteria feed upon food which is highly organized and already in condition for ab-sorption. Most plants must manufacture their own foods out of simpler substances, like carbonic dioxide (CO2) and water, but bacteria, as a rule, feed upon complex organic material already pre-pared by the previous life of plants or animals. For this reason they can grow faster than other plants. Not being obliged to make their own foods like most plants, nor to search for it like animals, but living in its midst, their rapidity of growth and multiplication is limited only by their power to seize and assimilate this food. As they grow in such masses of food, they cause certain chemical changes to take place in it, changes doubtless directly connected with their use of the material as food. Recognising that they do cause chemical changes in food material, and remembering this marvellous power of growth, we are prepared to believe them capable of producing changes wherever they get a foothold and begin to grow. Their power of feeding upon complex organic food and producing chemical changes therein, together with their marvellous power of assimilating this material as food, make them agents in Nature of extreme importance.





Binary fission





Most bacteria reproduce by a process of binary transverse fission, in which the cell grows in volume until it divides in half to yield two identical daughter cells. Each daughter cell can continue to grow at the same rate as its parent. For this process to occur, the cell must grow over its entire surface until the time of cell division, when a new hemispherical pole forms…





Endospore formation--


An endospore is a dormant, tough, non-reproductive structure produced by a small number of bacteria from the Firmicute family. The primary function of most endospores is to ensure the survival of a bacterium through periods of environmental stress. They are therefore resistant to ultraviolet and gamma radiation, desiccation, lysozyme, temperature, starvation, and chemical disinfectants. Endospores are commonly found in soil and water, where they may survive for long periods of time. Some bacteria produce exospores or cysts instead.





Sexual Reprduction in Bacteria--


Sexual reproduction involves the joining of two parent cells and the exchanging of genetic materials. In sexual reproduction, the offspring will have a mixture of the parent cells' traits. Conjugation is the proces by which bacteria join and exchange genetic materials. Once genetic materials are exchanged, each bacteria cell will go through binary fission to produce an offspring with a new genetic makeup.





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