The eubacteria kingdom is one of the six kingdoms of the living world. Find out the characteristics, facts and some of the examples of these living creatures, in the article given below.
Eubacteria are the most commonly found organisms in the world. They are also known as true bacteria, and are present on almost all surfaces. They are prokaryotic cells, and hence do not have a nucleus. The eubacteria kingdom is one of the six kingdoms in which the entire living world is classified.
This kingdom consists of nearly 5000 species that have been discovered till date, and this number might increase in the near future as many researches are being conducted regularly. This class of microorganism was discovered in 1982. They are present in both living as well as non living things. In this article, we will discuss the characteristics, shapes and classification of this kingdom.
Classification
Eubacteria were previously under the kingdom ‘Monera’ which also included Archaebacteria. But later, due to the differences between these two taxonomies and large number of eubacteria, they were separated and a new kingdom was created with the name Eubacteria. These bacteria can be classified into three main phyla and the characteristic features of each species can be differentiated on the bases of these categories. They are as follows.
- Cyanobacteria Phyla: This category has those bacteria which contain chlorophyll pigment. They can make their own food and are found in both land and ocean. They lack flagella.
- Spirochetes Phyla: This category consists of bacteria which move in a twisting motion. They have flagella which help them move. Some of these eubacteria may cause dangerous diseases.
- Proteotic Bacteria Phyla: This phylum consists of bacteria which can move either with the help of their flagella or by gliding. Most of the eubacteria are anaerobic under this category. Some are helpful while some can cause serious diseases.
Shape and Structure
Eubacteria are unicellular organisms. They can also be classified according to their shape and are found in three different shapes. Following are the shapes and examples of some of the eubacteria.
- Round or Spherical or Oval Shaped: Micrococcus, Streptococcus and Sarcina.
- Rod Shaped: Lactobacillus, Bacillus and Pseudomonas.
- Spiral or Comma Shaped: Vibrio, Camphilovextor and Triponema.
Structure of these bacteria depend upon their shape and type. The general structure of an eubacteria consists of a rigid cell wall which holds all the organelles inside it. The wall is made up of amino acids and a sugar chain. Some even have a membrane outside their cell wall. Penicillin resistant eubacteria have a special component in their cell wall, which reacts with this antibiotic and makes it ineffective.
The cell wall is lined with a plasma membrane from the inner side of the wall, and in some eubacteria the flagella is connected with this plasma membrane. The cell is filled with cytoplasm which consists of other cell organelles like single cell chromosome and ribosomes. The most important point which makes them prokaryote is the absence of nucleus. The reproduction in most of the eubacteria is done by binary fission, but some also reproduce by budding.
Eubacteria Kingdom Facts
Eubacteria can be present anywhere and everywhere. They can grow and flourish very fast. Following are some of the facts about eubacteria which help you to understand this living organism more closely.
- They can survive in extreme conditions like in the areas of volcanic activities.
- They are considered as plants because of the presence of chlorophyll.
- Some eubacteria are considered as helpful bacteria. For instance, lactobacillus helps in the formation of curd. This eubacteria is rod shaped and is beneficial for human health. Apart from this, there are many which help in the making cheese and pickles.
- Nitrogen fixing eubacteria helps in the process of nitrogen fixation which helps in maintaining the appropriate nitrogen level in the atmosphere.
- They live in raw meat, raw milk, human intestine, sewage water, etc.
- Eubacteria derive nutrition from three major sources, viz. sunlight, organic and inorganic components.
- Some eubacteria are harmful and can cause meningitis, cholera, typhus, lyme’s, salmonellosis, tetanus, tuberculosis, etc.
- Some of the eubacteria examples are Bacillus anthracis, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium tetani, etc.
With this information, we can say that the eubacteria kingdom is an important part of living organisms. Though there are some species that may cause harm to the human body, this bacteria phylum is definitely an important part of our ecosystem.