Bacteria

Bacteria: "A large domain of single celled microorganisms that are prokaryotes.  They have no membrane bound organelles.  They are smaller than eukaryotic organisms and are found in many shapes and sizes." -Wikipedia

Phylum: Proteobacteria is the largest and definitely the most assorted kingdom in the bacteria domain. As a group, these organisms show extreme metabolic diversity and are mostly gram-negative bacteria.  They move either by gliding or moving flagella.

Class: Alphaproteobacteria are the most phototrophic genera.

Species: Rhodospirillium rubrum will grow with or without oxygen.  It can survive many ways, cellular respiration, fermentation, photosynthesis, or photoautotrophic growth.  It is found in marine environments, mud and soil where light is available for photosynthesis. R. rubrum is gram negative and is motile.   As you can see in the pictures below it is spiral shaped.

Species: Azosprillium brasilense are free living bacteria that have the ability to fix nitrogen.  It perfers high pH and temperature with low amounts of oxygen. The cells are gram negative and motile, they move in a corkscrewing or vibratory motion.  A. brasilense lives in soil and is important to the plant world because of its ability to fix nitrogen into amino acids and proteins for the plants nutrition. I found it very interesting that A. brasilense species, has 48 receptors that help aid it in deciding where to move.  This benefits it in its ability to decide where the best conditions for it are, this would be like us always being able to find our way to the pool on a hot day, or to the fireplace when its cold.

Class: The Betaproteobacteria consist of several groups of aerobic bacteria which are often  flexible in their degradation capacities. They are found in waste water and soil.

Species: Nitrosomonas europaea is a gram negative bacillus and  it  derives all of its energy from the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate.  N. europaea is aerobic and has flagella making it motile. It lives in soil, sewage, freshwater, and in polluted areas where nitrogen levels are high.  Cell division can take up to several days because this bacteria needs to consume lots of ammonia before it is converted into energy

Class: The Gammaproteobacteria is a  diverse group that includes important microbial organisms. All organisms in this phylum are unicellular, and most are rods.  The phylum is defined by two major groups one photoautotrophic and the other heterotrophic. 

Species: Thiomagarita namibiensis is gram negative and found in the sediments of the ocean.  I chose this bacterium to research because it is the largest bacteria ever discovered!  It is large enough to see with the naked eye.  T. namibiensis  uses nitrate as an electron acceptor in the electron transport chain.  This bacterium is not motile, is large,  is not easily scattered, thus nutrients are harder to come by, and it could starve, but T. namibiensis avoids starving by storing nitrates in large vacuoles to live.

Class: Deltaproteobacteria are mostly aerobic, but there are some species that are anerobic.

Species: Myxococcus xanthus has self-organized colonies that form in response to the environment. They are gram negative and rod shaped bacterium. Its movement is done through twitching movement. This bacterium lacks flagella.   This bacterium is spore forming, and is an aerobe that can only survive in specific ecological conditions. M. xanthus is found mainly in top soil rich in organic material, and in fresh water, its optimum pH is 5-8.

Nonproteobacteria

Phylum: chlorobi are the green sulfur bacteria found in sulfur rich environments.  These organisms make up a large percentage of the annual productivity in some aquatic environments.

Species: Chlorobium phaeobacteroides is anaerobic .  It is rod shaped and non-motile.  It is a brown colored green sulfur bacteria. C. phaeobacteroids requires B12 for growth, and grows  in the oxygen-devoid layers of Lake Kinneret, Israel, from July through November. This bacterium lacks gas vesicles and grows in freshwater medium.

Phylum: Chloroflexi are green, typically filamentous, and can move about through bacterial gliding.. They are  aeorbic, but do not produce oxygen in the process of photosynthesis.

Species: Chloroflexus aurantiacus is a photosynthetic bacterium isolated from hot springs; it belongs to the green non-sulfur bacteria.  It is thrives in a warm environment and grows at temperatures from 35-70 degrees Celsius, but grows better between 50-60 degrees Celsius.  C. aurantiacus can survive without light if oxygen is present.  It is orange if grown in the dark and green if grown in the  light. It moves through gliding motility, and is gram negative.

Phylum: firmicutes are gram positive and create energy through photosynthesis. They are found in various environments and can survive extreme conditions. Firmicutes play an important role in beer, wine, and cider spoilage.

Species: lactobacillus acidophilus is an acid loving milk bacterium.  This species ferments sugars into lactic acid.  Its most favorable growth temperature is 37 degrees Celsius body temperature.  It grows at lower pH below 5.  I chose this species because it grows naturally in humans and animals. It is found in dairy products that we consume, it is beneficial because it breaks down complex foods, and it keeps a medium between constipation and diarrhea. 

Phylum: Actinobacteria are gram positive bacteria that can be earthly or aquatic. They include some of the most common soil life, freshwater life, and marine life, playing an important role in decomposition of organic materials.

Species: Frankia alni is a nitrogen fixing bacterium that forms nodules on the roots of Alder trees.  They are found in the northern hemisphere.  F. alni improves the fertility of the Alder trees.

Phylum : Planctomycetes are a phylum of aquatic bacteria and are found in samples of marine and fresh water. It is the only bacteria to lack structural strength in cell walls. They reproduce by budding.

Species:  Gemmate obscuriglobus is a fresh water bacterium. They are aerobic chemoheterotrophs. They lack structural strength in their cell walls.  It is a motile,  spherical bacteria.