Bacteria Frontiers

Plants need nitrogen
and they can only get it
through bacteria, not through the air.
Bacteria recycle dead plants
on the ground by decomposing them.

Bacteria are prokaryotes -
single celled organisms that don’t
have nuclei.
They reproduce by
binary fission
it’s how the cell divides
into two.
And when times are tough
some bacteria grow into
endospores,
which can survive for
many years before
they grow once more!

Plants need nitrogen
and they can only get it
through bacteria, not through the air.
Bacteria recycle dead plants
on the ground by decomposing them.
Genetically engineered bacteria
can make helpful medicine.
Bacteria recycle dead plants
on the ground by decomposing them.

A microscopic particle
that invades a cell
and destroys it, is a virus.
Well, it may
be quite hard to say
whether viruses are alive ‘cos they
have nucleic acids
and reproduce
but they need their host
to survive. And also
they don’t grow, breathe,
or do many other things
that living organisms do to be living!

Plants need nitrogen
and they can only get it
through bacteria, not through the air.
Bacteria recycle dead plants
on the ground by decomposing them.
Genetically engineered bacteria
can make helpful medicine.
Bacteria recycle dead plantson
on the ground by decomposing them.

Lyrics and music by Bram Barker