Describe The Growth And Reproduction In Bacteria?

The process of reproduction in bacteria is by cell division. All bacteria are single celled and they divide very frequently - given the right conditions with plenty of nutrients and plenty of space, they can divide every 20 minutes. So, the entire population of bacteria will double in that time. This rapid phase of growth is called exponential growth.

One bacterial cell duplicates the genetic material that it has, copying its DNA, which is present as a single large chromosome not enclosed within a nucleus. One copy goes to one end of the cell, and the other copy to the other end and then the cytoplasm is divided equally as the cell membrane comes together and pinches off to give two daughter cells.

This type of reproduction is non-sexual - bacteria don't reproduce sexually but they do have a sort of sex - they form long conjugation tubes and swap bits of DNA - the cells don't divide but they do get new genetic information. This is how bacteria get genes for antibiotic resistance and one of the reasons why this is such a problem for modern medicine.

The increase in the number of bacterial cells is known as bacterial growth. Bacteria increase in number by an asexual method of reproduction. Bacteria reproduce asexually by binary fission.

In binary fission parent cell enlarges, its chromosome duplicates, and plasma membrane pinches inward at the center of the cell. When nuclear material has been equally distributed, the cell wall grows inward to divide cell into two. This process is repeated at intervals by each new daughter cell, which in turn increases the population of cells. Once the division is complete, bacteria grow and develop their unique features. The interval of time until the completion of next division is called generation time.

The traditional sexual reproduction and mitosis is absent in bacteria. However, some bacteria transfer genetic material from a donor bacterium to a recipient during a process called conjugation. Some conjugating bacteria use specialized sex pili to transfer genetic material. Conjugation produces new genetic combinations that may allow the resulting bacteria survive under great variety of conditions. Genetic recombination also results from transduction and transformation.

Reproduction in bacteria

The method by which bacteria reproduce