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What Are Microorganisms

Microorganisms are microscopic organisms that include bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists. They are studied in microbiology and are generally classified as either prokaryotes or eukaryotes. Viruses and prions are generally not considered living due to their inability to reproduce without a host cell. The classification of microorganisms is an ongoing discussion as new discoveries are made through genome analysis and research into deep sea vent microorganisms.

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209 views

What Are Microorganisms

Microorganisms are microscopic organisms that include bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists. They are studied in microbiology and are generally classified as either prokaryotes or eukaryotes. Viruses and prions are generally not considered living due to their inability to reproduce without a host cell. The classification of microorganisms is an ongoing discussion as new discoveries are made through genome analysis and research into deep sea vent microorganisms.

Uploaded by

Aristeo Ebio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What are microorganisms?

Main content
Technically a microorganism or microbe is an organism that is
microscopic. The study of microorganisms is called microbiology.
Microorganisms can be bacteria, fungi, archaea or protists. The term
microorganisms does not include viruses and prions, which are
generally classified as non-living.

There is currently a great deal of discussion about the organisation and


classification of life, particularly in the study of microorganisms. The basic
distinction divides living organisms into two groups: prokaryotes (cells
without internal membrane bound organelles - the monera, including most
microorganisms) and eukaryotes (cells containing membrane bound
organelles - protists, fungi, plants and animals).

Before the advent of the microscope, living organisms were conveniently


divided into two kingdoms: plant or animal. This division was unsatisfactory,
however - what about fungi? Today kingdom taxonomists have defined
systems based on five or six kingdoms (Archaea - the sixth, Monera,
Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia), neither of which include viruses
(or prions). Viruses are considered to be on the line between living and non-
living.

It has been argued extensively whether viruses are living organisms. Most
virologists consider them non-living, as they do not meet all the criteria of
the generally accepted definition of life. For instance, most viruses do not
respond to changes in the environment, which is a definitive trait for living
organisms. In addition, viruses can replicate themselves only by infecting a
host cell. They therefore cannot reproduce on their own.

Prions are a recently discovered infectious agent. They are proteins that are
folded abnormally (folding is a property of proteins enabling them to take on
a shape that is critical for their function), and which can convert normally
folded proteins to abnormally folded ones.

The advent of genome analysis has both simplified and complicated the
question. DNA sequence analysis led Dr. Carl Woese in the 70s to propose a
three domain division: bacteria, archaea and eukaryota. The grounds for this
division can be seen in the tree of life he produced from the sequence data.
This tree of life clearly shows that microorganisms account by far for the
majority of life on earth. Scientists estimate that 99% of the microorganisms
on earth have not yet been identified!

Research into deep sea hydrothermal vent microorganisms may help to


clarify some of these classification issues.

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