Binary Fission

• Binary vision is the process by which prokaryotic organisms like bacteria divide and reproduce.
• Binary fission is the process by which one bacterial cell divides into two.
• Binary fission is not the same as mitosis or meiosis, these are processes that happen in eukaryotic cells whereas binary fission is for prokaryotic cells like bacteria.
• A single bacterial cell has a cell wall, a cell membrane, cytoplasm, a large circular strand of DNA that contains all their important genes, and a whole bunch of little plasmids which are also circles of DNA but contain non-essential genes that only sometimes come in handy.
• A bacterial cell has a mean division time of 30 minutes.
• In three hours, a bacterial cell can undergo six rounds of division.
• After three hours, a bacterial cell can produce 64 cells.
• The mean division time of bacteria depends on the species of bacteria and the conditions for optimal growth.
• Bacteria need a warm, moist environment with plenty of nutrients to divide optimally.
• If the conditions are not optimal, bacteria may divide more slowly or not at all.
• A petri dish containing 1,000 bacteria can have 4 million and 96 thousand bacterial cells after four hours, assuming each cell divides once every 20 minutes.
• Some bacteria also have a flagellum which is like a tail that they can use to move around but not all bacteria have one.
• Binary fission is a type of cell division and a type of reproduction because the one organism of the top has to split into two organisms.
• Binary fission is also referred to as asexual reproduction.
• Before a bacterial cell can divide, it needs to grow a bit so that it's big enough to give rise to two new cells and then replicate all this genetic material so that there's enough for each new cell.
• The two large circular strands of DNA move to either sides of the cell so that the offspring cells will end up getting one each.
• The plasmids are arranged pretty randomly so one offspring cell might end up getting more than the other.
• Once the cell is ready to divide, it starts to grow a new cell wall down the middle of the cell which when it's complete allows the two halves to pull apart and voila we have two new bacterial cells.
• Given the right conditions, some bacteria can divide once every 20 minutes and because the population doubles with every division, one cell becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, and so on, the population as a whole grows really quickly.