Microbial mat and Microorganism

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Difference between Microbial mat and Microorganism

Microbial mat vs. Microorganism

A microbial mat is a multi-layered sheet of microorganisms, mainly bacteria and archaea. A microorganism, or microbe, is a microscopic organism, which may exist in its single-celled form or in a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from ancient times, such as in Jain scriptures from 6th century BC India and the 1st century BC book On Agriculture by Marcus Terentius Varro. Microbiology, the scientific study of microorganisms, began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax. Microorganisms include all unicellular organisms and so are extremely diverse. Of the three domains of life identified by Carl Woese, all of the Archaea and Bacteria are microorganisms. These were previously grouped together in the two domain system as Prokaryotes, the other being the eukaryotes. The third domain Eukaryota includes all multicellular organisms and many unicellular protists and protozoans. Some protists are related to animals and some to green plants. Many of the multicellular organisms are microscopic, namely micro-animals, some fungi and some algae, but these are not discussed here. They live in almost every habitat from the poles to the equator, deserts, geysers, rocks and the deep sea. Some are adapted to extremes such as very hot or very cold conditions, others to high pressure and a few such as Deinococcus radiodurans to high radiation environments. Microorganisms also make up the microbiota found in and on all multicellular organisms. A December 2017 report stated that 3.45 billion year old Australian rocks once contained microorganisms, the earliest direct evidence of life on Earth. Microbes are important in human culture and health in many ways, serving to ferment foods, treat sewage, produce fuel, enzymes and other bioactive compounds. They are essential tools in biology as model organisms and have been put to use in biological warfare and bioterrorism. They are a vital component of fertile soils. In the human body microorganisms make up the human microbiota including the essential gut flora. They are the pathogens responsible for many infectious diseases and as such are the target of hygiene measures.

Algae

Algae (singular alga) is an informal term for a large, diverse group of photosynthetic organisms that are not necessarily closely related, and is thus polyphyletic.

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Animal

Animals are multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form the biological kingdom Animalia.

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Archaea

Archaea (or or) constitute a domain of single-celled microorganisms.

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Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.

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Bacteria

Bacteria (common noun bacteria, singular bacterium) is a type of biological cell.

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Carbohydrate

A carbohydrate is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water); in other words, with the empirical formula (where m may be different from n).

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Cell (biology)

The cell (from Latin cella, meaning "small room") is the basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all known living organisms.

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Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria, also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis, and are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes able to produce oxygen.

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Endosymbiont

An endosymbiont or endobiont is any organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism in a symbiotic relationship with the host body or cell, often but not always to mutual benefit.

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Eukaryote

Eukaryotes are organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed within membranes, unlike Prokaryotes (Bacteria and other Archaea).

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Horizontal gene transfer

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring.

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Hot spring

A hot spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater that rises from the Earth's crust.

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Metabolism

Metabolism (from μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of organisms.

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Methanogen

Methanogens are microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in anoxic conditions.

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Microorganism

A microorganism, or microbe, is a microscopic organism, which may exist in its single-celled form or in a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from ancient times, such as in Jain scriptures from 6th century BC India and the 1st century BC book On Agriculture by Marcus Terentius Varro. Microbiology, the scientific study of microorganisms, began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax. Microorganisms include all unicellular organisms and so are extremely diverse. Of the three domains of life identified by Carl Woese, all of the Archaea and Bacteria are microorganisms. These were previously grouped together in the two domain system as Prokaryotes, the other being the eukaryotes. The third domain Eukaryota includes all multicellular organisms and many unicellular protists and protozoans. Some protists are related to animals and some to green plants. Many of the multicellular organisms are microscopic, namely micro-animals, some fungi and some algae, but these are not discussed here. They live in almost every habitat from the poles to the equator, deserts, geysers, rocks and the deep sea. Some are adapted to extremes such as very hot or very cold conditions, others to high pressure and a few such as Deinococcus radiodurans to high radiation environments. Microorganisms also make up the microbiota found in and on all multicellular organisms. A December 2017 report stated that 3.45 billion year old Australian rocks once contained microorganisms, the earliest direct evidence of life on Earth. Microbes are important in human culture and health in many ways, serving to ferment foods, treat sewage, produce fuel, enzymes and other bioactive compounds. They are essential tools in biology as model organisms and have been put to use in biological warfare and bioterrorism. They are a vital component of fertile soils. In the human body microorganisms make up the human microbiota including the essential gut flora. They are the pathogens responsible for many infectious diseases and as such are the target of hygiene measures.

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Multicellular organism

Multicellular organisms are organisms that consist of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organisms.

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Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that can later be released to fuel the organisms' activities (energy transformation).

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Phylogenetic tree

A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or "tree" showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities—their phylogeny—based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics.

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Plant

Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae.

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Protozoa

Protozoa (also protozoan, plural protozoans) is an informal term for single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, which feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris.

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Soil

Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life.

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Sugar

Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food.

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Water

Water is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance that is the main constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms.

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