Bacteria

From Galactic Patrol Wiki

Bacteria

Bacteria are unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, individual bacteria have a wide-range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods to spirals. Bacteria are ubiquitous in many habitats in the Galaxy, growing in soil, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, seawater, and deep in the crust of planets and moons. Bacteria are vital in recycling nutrients, and many important steps in nutrient cycles depend on bacteria, such as the fixation of various gasses from the atmosphere. However, most of these bacteria have not been characterised, and only about half of the phyla of bacteria have species that can be cultured in the laboratory. The study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of microbiology.