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Kingdom Monera
- Bacteria:
- Sole members of Kingdom Monera.
- Most abundant microorganisms on Earth.
- Ubiquitous (found almost everywhere):
- Soil
- Extreme habitats (hot springs, deserts, snow, deep oceans)
- On/in other organisms as parasites
- Bacterial Shapes:
- Coccus (cocci): Spherical
- Bacillus (bacilli): Rod-shaped
- Vibrium (vibrio): Comma-shaped
- Spirillum (spirilla): Spiral
- Characteristics:
- Simple structure, but complex behavior.
- Metabolic diversity:
- Autotrophic: Synthesize their own food from inorganic substrates.
- Photosynthetic autotrophs (use sunlight)
- Chemosynthetic autotrophs (use chemicals)
- Heterotrophic: Majority of bacteria; obtain food from other organisms or dead organic matter.
- Autotrophic: Synthesize their own food from inorganic substrates.
