Branching order of bacterial phyla (Woese, 1987)
Okay kiddo, so imagine there are a lot of different kinds of bacteria in the world, just like there are a lot of different types of animals. Scientists wanted to figure out how all these bacteria are related to each other, kind of like a family tree.
So in 1987, a scientist named Woese did a big study where he looked at the DNA of a bunch of different bacteria. He found that they could be grouped into different categories, or "phyla."
Now, here's where it gets a bit complicated, but I'll try to explain it in a way you can understand. Imagine each bacteria's DNA is like a recipe book. Scientists can look at the "ingredients" (or DNA sequences) in each recipe book to see how similar they are to each other.
Woese saw that some bacteria had very similar "ingredients" in their DNA recipe books, so he grouped them together in a phylum. He called these phyla things like "Proteobacteria" or "Actinobacteria."
But then, he noticed something really interesting. You know how sometimes a family tree can have two branches coming off of it? That's called a "bifurcation." Woese saw that the bacteria in his study had undergone a bifurcation a really long time ago.
Basically, he found that there were two main branches of bacteria that all the phyla came from. One branch he called the "eubacteria," and the other he called the "archaebacteria."
So to sum it up in a way you can understand, Woese looked at a bunch of bacteria and found that they could be grouped into phyla based on the "ingredients" in their DNA recipe books. He also saw that all these phyla stemmed from two main branches, like a family tree. These branches were called the eubacteria and the archaebacteria.
So in 1987, a scientist named Woese did a big study where he looked at the DNA of a bunch of different bacteria. He found that they could be grouped into different categories, or "phyla."
Now, here's where it gets a bit complicated, but I'll try to explain it in a way you can understand. Imagine each bacteria's DNA is like a recipe book. Scientists can look at the "ingredients" (or DNA sequences) in each recipe book to see how similar they are to each other.
Woese saw that some bacteria had very similar "ingredients" in their DNA recipe books, so he grouped them together in a phylum. He called these phyla things like "Proteobacteria" or "Actinobacteria."
But then, he noticed something really interesting. You know how sometimes a family tree can have two branches coming off of it? That's called a "bifurcation." Woese saw that the bacteria in his study had undergone a bifurcation a really long time ago.
Basically, he found that there were two main branches of bacteria that all the phyla came from. One branch he called the "eubacteria," and the other he called the "archaebacteria."
So to sum it up in a way you can understand, Woese looked at a bunch of bacteria and found that they could be grouped into phyla based on the "ingredients" in their DNA recipe books. He also saw that all these phyla stemmed from two main branches, like a family tree. These branches were called the eubacteria and the archaebacteria.