Bacteria Divide and Multiply
Bacteria are all around us. Given good growing conditions, a bacterium
grows slightly in size or length, new cell wall grows through the center, and
the "bug" splits into two daughter cells, each with same genetic material. If
the environment is optimum, the two daughter cells may split into four in 20
minutes. Oh my! 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64... Then why isn't the earth covered
with bacteria?
The primary reason may be that conditions are rarely optimum. Scientists
who study bacteria try to create the optimum environment in the lab: culture
medium with the necessary energy source, nutrients, pH, and temperature, in
which bacteria grow predictably.
Download this time-lapse movie to see how two Streptococcus pneumoniae , given a suitble environment for growth, divide and form a colony of hundreds of bacteria in just a few hours.
Click here to view the video.