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This may sound a bit strange question, but I am very new to biology. I would like to ask that do microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, amoebas, etc also contain water, as every living thing contains water?

Remi.b
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Ren
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1 Answers1

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The short answer, is yes, pretty much!

Do microorganisms contain water?*

Bacteria and eukaryotic microorganism

Bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms (including amoebas) have a membrane that separates the interior from the exterior. And yes, they have water inside, in which all chemical reactions take place.

Viruses

Viruses, on the other hand, do not really have a membrane that separates the interior from the exterior. They are really just a bunch of proteins stuck together. As such, it is hard to tell whether you would consider the water in which those proteins float part of the organism or not.

Note however, that some viruses have a viral envelope (that can be derived from a host cell membrane). In such viruses, there is more clearly an interior and an exterior, and yes, there is water in the interior too! However, there is (except very few exceptions) no metabolism inside this envelope. This, by the way, is part of the reason viruses are not considered alive.

Dehydrated living things

Note that some organisms can survive with very little water. Some seeds can survive extremely strong dehydration. For example, some tardigrades can survive with less than 1% water in their body (see this New York Times article).

tyersome
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Remi.b
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  • I think this answer is currently wrong Remi. Amoebas have endoplasm inside them. There is water in endoplasm and biochemical reactions require the presence of water but they take place in endoplasm. The same holds for other microorganisms. To me a strict interpretation of the question Are microorganisms made of water? is No, only water is made of water. – Michael_A Nov 19 '17 at 00:06
  • Yes, of course. I added the sentence "Of course, no living thing is made of 100% water. I will rather consider the question as meaning Do microorganisms contain water?" to clarify this point. Is it better? – Remi.b Nov 19 '17 at 00:11
  • @Michael_A you are technically correct... however, when you see that "also" at OP's question, you realize that they are simply talking about water as a constituent, as in the other organisms (presumably the visible, non-microscopic ones). –  Nov 19 '17 at 00:12
  • @Remi.b Just edit OP's question title, since it's clear that OP made a small mistake. +1. Oh, and remove that "mini-micro" stuff. –  Nov 19 '17 at 00:15
  • @GerardoFurtado Following your advice... – Remi.b Nov 19 '17 at 00:20
  • @Remi.b, Yes, that's good. I liked the original answer. – Michael_A Nov 19 '17 at 00:21
  • "Are viruses organisms?" and "Are viruses alive?"---André Michel Lwoff shared his opinions in "The Concept of Virus" (J Gen Microbiol, 1957): :http://mic.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-17-2-239 –  Nov 19 '17 at 14:13
  • I am the guy who asked this question. When I said "made of water", what I actually meant was "every living thing constitutes water". Since there is a general consensus among scientists that every living thing has water, so essentially it cannot survive without water or it would need water at some point in its life. As far as viruses are concerned, Remi pointed out that viruses have proteins. So are these proteins also constituted of water (or any liquid)? What about capsids of virus? Do these capsids also contain water (or any liquid)? What about viroids? Kindly answer. – Ren Nov 19 '17 at 18:25
  • No, a protein is not made of water. A protein is a large molecule. It is not a complex cell structure made of several different molecules. You might want to take an intro course to biology and biochemistry. – Remi.b Nov 19 '17 at 18:26
  • What about capsids of viruses? What about other microorganisms like viroids? Are these viroids even considered alive, as many argue they are not. – Ren Nov 19 '17 at 18:29
  • @Ren this is an entirely different question. Please open a new post for a new question. This question has already been asked though. Have a look at Why isn't a virus “alive”? – Remi.b Nov 19 '17 at 18:32
  • Thanks. But could please kindly clarify that does capsids of virus contain water? Please pardon my lack of knowledge. Thanks. – Ren Nov 19 '17 at 18:35
  • I am not a virologist but I don't think there is any difference between a capsid and an envelope. As I said, in the answer, yes, there is water in an envelope (and in a capsid). – Remi.b Nov 19 '17 at 18:44