BACTERIA REPRODUCTION NOTES Name______________________________ Blk ___ Date___________
Binary Fission – 1 bacterium splits into 2 identical
bacteria; similar to mitosis. Binary means 2, fission means
split. Use the graph below to chart the growth of bacteria
after 8 HOURS. The x-axis should be numbered with the
time. The y-axis will be the bacteria growth – you will
need to number the x-axis by 6,000 for the growth.
1. Why do you need to use such large
Time
# of
(hrs) bacteria numbers on the y-axis?
0
1 __________________________
0.5
2 __________________________
1
4 __________________________
1.5
8 2. What would the number be after 10
2
16 hours?
2.5
32 __________________________
3
64 3. Why would it be important to begin
3.5
128 antibiotics sooner, than later?
4
256 __________________________
4.5
512 __________________________
__________________________
5
1024
__________________________
5.5
2048
4. How would changing the speed of
6
4096
the binary splitting affect the
6.5
8192
disease?
7
16384
__________________________
7.5
32768
__________________________
8
65536 __________________________
Above is Unlimited Growth: After every 30 minutes the population doubles. There is nothing stopping or
slowing the reproduction of the bacteria. Growth starts slowly then explodes. This is called exponential
growth and all bacteria exhibit this.
Tuberculosis Bacteria Population with Immune Response
over Time
20000
18000
16000
14000
Time (days)
TB Bacteria with Immune Response:
The TB bacteria show exponential growth
until the 8th day when the body’s immune
response kicks in and fights back. The
response gradually decreases the
bacteria’s population.
5. If patient fails to give the body enough
rest, fluids, and food what would happen
to the graph?
___________________________________
___________________________________
6. Would your immune system always
begin fighting an infection at the same
time? Why/Why not?
___________________________________
12000
10000
IMMUNE
RESPONSE
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
# of bacteria
12.0
14.0
16.0
Tuberculosis Bacteria Population with Immune Response &
Antibiotics over Time
20000
18000
IMMUNE RESPONSE &
ANTIBIOTICS
16000
Time (days)
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
# of bacteria
12.0
14.0
16.0
TB Bacteria with Immune Response
& Antibiotics:
Antibiotics are medicines that kill
bacteria only. At first the TB bacteria
show exponential growth. On the 8th
day antibiotics are started and the
immune response also kicks in. This
results in a sharp decrease in the TB
bacteria population until they are
finally wiped out on the 15th day.
7. When in this series do you hypothesis
the patient would begin to “feel well”?
_________________________________
8. How would taking more medicine
impact this process?
_________________________________
# of bacteria
Tuberculosis Bacteria Population with Immune Response &
TB Bacteria with Immune Response &
Misuse of Antibiotics over Time
Misuse of Antibiotics:
At first the TB bacteria show exponential
20000
IMMUNE RESPONSE &
growth. On the 8th day antibiotics are
18000
ANTIBIOTICS
started, joining the immune system’s
16000
response in the fight against the bacteria.
14000
This results in a sharp decrease in the
12000
bacteria population. One the 11th day
10000
antibiotics are stopped by the patient
8000
because they were feeling better – this is
6000
premature – the prescription was not
IMMUNE RESPONSE
4000
finished. This results in a gradual
2000
decrease in the bacteria population
because only the immune response is
0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
killing the bacteria. This can also result in
Tim e (days)
the bacteria that lived through the
antibiotics adapting to those antibiotics and evolving into being immune from the antibiotics. The bacteria
could also regain strength and further impact the patient’s health.
9. What are bacteria called that learn and evolve tactics for surviving antibacterial prescriptions?
____________________________________________________________________________________________