Animals are members of a group of biological organisms classified in taxonomy as the kingdom Animalia, based on certain shared characteristics. The word “animal” refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, worms, insects, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals (including humans).In everyday non-scientific usage, the word animal is often used to refer only to non-human members of the kingdom Animalia.
Several Bacteria (like Escherichia Coli) exhibit a form of sexual reproduction called Bacterial Conjugation. It is the transfer of genetic material between bacterial cells by direct cell-to-cell contact or by a bridge-like connection between two cells. It was discovered by Nobel Prize winners, Joshua Lederberg and Edward L. Tatum in 1946.
Continue reading Bacterial Conjugation – A Primitive form of Sexual Reproduction.
The Kingdom Protista includes diverse kinds of predominantly water-dwelling unicellular eukaryotic microorganism. Protists, like Monerans, have an immense reproductive potential. In an optimal environment, they may reproduce several times a day. This is mainly by asexual reproduction, using the process of mitosis. However, they also reproduce sexually. Continue reading Sexual Reproduction – An Important Innovation of the Early Protists.
There are over 100,000 species of fungi. Some of them are one-celled like the yeasts; others are complex like mushrooms and some of them are called imperfect fungi. Fungi are the major decomposers (besides bacteria) and some parasitic forms of fungi may also cause diseases in plants and animals. Continue reading Why are some fungi grouped under “fungi imperfecti”?
Blue Green Algae also called as Cyanobacteria are one of the most successful organisms on this planet. They are gram-negative (do not take up gram stain) and photosynthetic microorganism. They have successfully survived for over 3 billion years on our planet earth. Initially, they were classified Plantae due to their ability to photosynthesis, but later they were moved to the Monera Kingdom. Continue reading Why Blue Green Algae are not included in Plantae Kingdom?
Euglena is a large Genus of unicellular Protists, which belongs to phylum, Euglenaceae. Thousands of species of Euglena are present in ponds, lakes, streams and also in the waterlogged area such as marshes. Continue reading Euglena – A Protist with Flexible Lifestyle
We can easily distinguish a living animal from a living plant in our surroundings. We do not find any difficulty in identifying an animal as long as we see it moving, eating and alive. When it comes to plants, we have an image of a structure having spread out appearance with green parts like leaves in our mind. So, to keep it as simple as it was, Carolus Linnaeus classified all the organisms of the world into two Kingdoms i.e. Plantae and Animalia. Continue reading Why is the Two-Kingdom Classification System Inadequate?
Hirudo medicinalis (a European medicinal leech) was earlier used in Leech Therapy ( classified as Blood Letting). Leech Therapy was used for the removal of blood from a patient body. The first description of Leech Therapy was found in the text of Sushruta Samhita, written by Sushruta in 800 B.C. who was also considered “the father of plastic surgery”. Diseases, where leech therapy was indicated, were skin diseases, sciatica, and musculoskeletal pains. Continue reading Hirudo medicinalis – An Old Medicine is New.
In Industrial Microbiology, microbes are used to synthesise a number of products valuable to human beings. This Industry has provided products that have profoundly changed our lives and life spans. These products include beverages, food additives, products for human and animal health, and biofuels. Continue reading 11 Industrial Products that are derived from Microbes.
