Reproduction of Bacteria

In general, bacteria reproduce asexually (not through the mating process) that is by dividing. The process of division of cells in bacteria is a process of binary division (each cell will divide into two equal parts).

Let's take a closer look at the reproduction of bacteria through the explanation below.

Asexual Reproduction of Bacteria
1. Growth of shoots

• Shoots will appear at one end of the bacterial cell.
• This shoot will then replicate the parent genome and grow into a large to form a child's seed.
• Once cooked, the seedling cells will separate themselves from their parent cells and become new individuals.

2. Fragmentation

• Fragmentation generally occurs when environmental conditions do not allow for the occurrence of cell division, such as lack of food sources where the bacteria live.
• In the process of fragmentation, bacterial protoplasm will experience separation to form gonidia.
• If environmental conditions are favorable for bacteria, then any gonidia will grow into new bacteria.
• They also replicate the parent genome on each fragment formed.

3. Binary Fission

• Almost all bacteria multiply by binary division.
• Cell division in bacteria takes place very quickly. This is because the division of bacterial cells does not pass through specific stages such as in animal cells or plants.
• In bacterial cell division, the bacteria will double their DNA to form the exact same replicating DNA as the parent. After that, the bacteria will divide the body into two equal cells.
  
• Both cells are identical in terms of size, shape and genetic.
• In a certain time interval (usually 20 - 30 minutes), the new cell can divide again splitting to form another new bacterial individual. In this way, bacteria can multiply into millions of new bacterial cells in a short time.
• Of course, binary fission in bacteria only occurs in favorable environmental conditions.

4. Endospores

• With this technique, the bacteria will double their DNA, then wrap it in a very strong wall called the endospores.
• Endospores will remain in their stem cells.
• Only a few bacteria can reproduce by forming endospores.
• When environmental conditions are bad, the parent bacteria containing endospores will die so that the endospore is ruptured.
• If the environment again supports, the endospores will hatch and form new bacterial cells.

Sexual Reproduction of Bacteria
Sexual reproduction in bacteria is a reproduction in which there is a combination of two bacterial genes. Sexual reproduction will increase the diversity of bacterial species because any combination of genes that occur will form a new type of bacteria.

Sexual reproduction in bacteria takes a long time. However, newly formed bacteria have properties that are more different from the parent. For example, new bacterial bacteria from sexual reproduction will be more resistant to antibiotics.

Here are some ways of sexual reproduction done by bacteria.
1. Transformation
With this method, the bacteria will take another bacterial DNA fragment, then reconstruct it with its DNA. The newly formed bacteria will then reproduce asexually to produce more species of similar bacteria.

2. Transduction
This technique uses the bacteriophage virus as an intermediary. The bacteriophage is a virus that borrows the body of bacteria to multiply.

When the bacteriophage virus infects one bacterium, the DNA of the virus will join with the bacterial DNA. This process will form a new virus whose DNA is a composite of the parent DNA with bacterial DNA.

When this new virus infects other bacteria, there will be a combination of DNA from two different bacteria. These two bacterial DNA fragments will then form new recombinant bacteria.

3. Conjugation

• Conjugation involves two bacterial cells that will directly transfer the genetic material.
• The exchange of genetic material will be through a bridge made by one of the bacteria. This bridge will penetrate the body of other bacteria.
• Bacteria in charge of donating genetic material will double the plasmid to be transferred to the receiving bacteria.
• The recipient bacteria will then mutate to form new bacteria. These new bacteria will multiply by asexual reproduction.

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