How Do Bacteria Divide?

• Binary vision


  The process by which prokaryotic organisms like bacteria divide and reproduce
• Binary fission


  1. How binary vision works

  2. Bacterial cell grows in size

  3. Replicates genetic material (large circular DNA strand and plasmids)

  4. Two circular DNA strands move to opposite sides of cell

  5. Plasmids arrange randomly

  6. New cell wall grows down middle of cell

  7. Cell divides into two new bacterial cells
• Binary fission is not the same as mitosis or meiosis, which happen in eukaryotic cells
• Bacterial cell


  • Cell wall
  • Cell membrane
  • Cytoplasm
  • Large circular DNA strand
  • Plasmids (smaller circular DNA)
• Some bacteria


  • Have a flagellum (tail to move around)
• Binary fission


  A type of asexual reproduction for single-celled organisms
• Bacterial cells can divide once every 20 minutes under optimal conditions
• Bacterial population growth


  Doubles with each division cycle
• Calculating bacterial population growth

  1. Divide total time by mean division time to get number of division cycles

  2. Multiply initial population by 2 raised to the power of number of division cycles
• Bacterial division time depends on species and environmental conditions (warm, moist, nutrient-rich)
• Bacterial population growth calculation

  • 1000 bacteria, 20 minute division time, 4 hours
  • 240 minutes / 20 minutes = 12 division cycles
  • 1000 * 2^12 = 4,096,000 bacteria
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