A research team brings back three samples: water from a salt lake in Ladakh, water from the hot…
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A research team brings back three samples: water from a salt lake in Ladakh, water from the hot spring at Manikaran, and slurry from the tank of a village biogas plant. Which kind of archaebacteria would you expect in each? What do the bacteria in the biogas tank make? Why can archaebacteria live in such places?
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
Bacteria are the sole members of kingdom Monera. A bacterial cell has no nuclear membrane and no membrane-bound organelles, and its wall is not of cellulose. By shape bacteria are coccus (round), bacillus (rod), vibrio (comma) or spirillum (spiral). They divide mostly by binary fission, so after divisions one cell becomes . Archaebacteria (halophiles, thermoacidophiles, methanogens) live in extreme places because of a different cell wall.
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. The salt lake. Halophiles, which live in very salty places.
Step 2. The hot spring. Thermoacidophiles, which live in hot, acidic places.
Step 3. The biogas tank. Methanogens. They live without oxygen in marshy places and in the gut of cattle, and they make methane from dung.
Step 4. Why they survive. Archaebacteria have a different cell wall structure, which lets them live in harsh conditions.
Answer: halophiles, thermoacidophiles and methanogens; the methanogens make methane (biogas); their special cell wall lets them survive.
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