All living organisms can be grouped or ‘classified’ using a classification system that consists of five kingdoms. These five kingdoms are:
Animals
Plants
Fungi
Protoctists
Prokaryotes
The prokaryotes are different from the other four kingdoms (which are all eukaryotes) as prokaryotic organisms are always single-celled and do not contain a nucleus
Instead, the nuclear material of prokaryotic cells is found in the cytoplasm
Bacteria are prokaryotic organisms
Bacteria
Bacteria, which have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, all share the following biological characteristics:
They are microscopic single-celled organisms
They have a cell wall (not made of cellulose), cell membrane, cytoplasm and plasmids
They lack a nucleus but contain a circular chromosome of DNA
They lack mitochondria and other membrane-bound organelles found in eukaryotic cells
Examples of bacteria include:
Lactobacillus (a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt from milk)
Pneumococcus (a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing pneumonia)
Bacteria feed in different ways:
Some bacteria can carry out photosynthesis
Most feed on other living or dead organisms (if they feed on dead organic matter then they are known as saprobionts or decomposers)