Bacteria

Procaryotic, unicellular
microorganisms lacking
chlorophyll pigments
Among first life forms to appear
on Earth, no. of habitats
About 108/gram of soil
51030 bacteria on Earth
Inhabit soil, water, acidic hot
springs, radioactive waste
Symbiotic and parasitic: Plants
and animals
Useful as well as harmful
 Bacterial Cell Structure
Simple- no nucleus or membrane bound
organelles
Most bacteria are 0.2 um in diameter and 2-8 um
in length
Importance of small size: surface area and
volume ratio is high- high rate of growth &
metabolism
Vary in shape, size and structure
Maintain a definite shape due to presence of
rigid cell wall
Remarkable amount of variation due to
differences in genetics and ecology
 Shape and Arrangement
Bacteria have one of three shapes:
- Spherical (cocci; s. coccus)-
- Rod (bacillus; pl., bacilli): eg. Bacillus spp.
- Spiral (vibrio)
Coccobacilli being so short and wide that they
resemble cocci
Pleomorphic - Bacterium with varying shapes eg.
Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Oval to pear-shaped Hyphomicrobium produces a
bud at the end of a long hypha
Gallionella produce nonliving stalks
 Cocci may be oval, elongated, or flattened on one side
Cocci may remain attached after cell division
Neisseria

Streptococcus,
Enterococcus,
and Lactococcus

Two planes: Micrococcus

(square groups of four
cells called tetrads
Three planes: Sarcina
(cubical packets of eight
cells)

Staphylococcus
 Bacterial Shapes
Bacilli only divide across their short axis there are fewer groupings
Rods end often varies between species and may be flat, rounded, cigar-
shaped, or bifurcated
 Bacterial Shapes
Bacilli only divide across their short axis there are fewer groupings

Vibrios look like curved rods.

Spirilla have a helical shape and fairly rigid

bodies

Spirochetes have a helical shape and flexible

bodies. Spirochetes move by means of axial
filaments, which look like flagella contained
beneath a flexible external sheath
 Bacterial Shapes
Other Shapes

Eg. Stella Eg. Haloarcula, a genus of halophilic archaea

 Size
Bacteria vary in size
Spherical bacteria - 0.5-2.0 m
Rod-shaped or filamentous bacteria: length 1-10 m
and width 0.25-1.0 m
Escherichia coli: 1.1 to 1.5 m wide by 2.0 to 6.0 m
long
Smallest e.g., some members of Mycoplasma: 0.3 m in
diameter
Nanobacteria or ultramicrobacteria: 0.2 m to 0.05 m
in diameter
Some spirochetes: 500 m in length
Oscillatoria is about 7 m in diameter
Few bacteria much larger than average eucaryotic cell
Size
 Monstrous Microbes
Epulopiscium fishelsoni (Latin, epulum, a
feast or banquet, and piscium, fish):
procaryote related to Gram-positive
genus Clostridium
Size: 80 m by 600 m, and normally
ranges from 200 to 500 m in length
Million times larger in volume than
Escherichia coli
Thiomargarita namibiensis: Spherical
bacterium, 100 - 750 m in diameter,
forms chains of cells
over 100 times larger in volume than E.
fishelsoni
 Bacterial Cell Organization
Variety of structures found in bacterial cells
Not all structures are found in every genus
Bounded by a chemically complex cell wall
Gram ve and Gram +ve cells differ- cell walls
Plasma membrane
Cell wall and plasma membrane separated by
periplasmic space
Plasma membrane invaginated to form simple
internal membranous structures
 Bacterial Cell Organization
Genetic material nucleoid
Not separated from surrounding cytoplasm by
membranes
Ribosomes and inclusion bodies scattered in
cytoplasmic matrix
Flagella: locomotion, Gram-positive and Gram
-ve cells
Capsule or slime layer- external to cell wall
Bacterial Cell Organization
Bacterial Cell Organization
 Bacterial Cell Organization
Plasma membrane Selectively permeable barrier, mechanical boundary of
cell, nutrient and waste transport, location of many
metabolic processes (respiration, photosynthesis),
detection of environmental cues for chemotaxis
Gas vacuole Buoyancy for floating in aquatic environments
Ribosomes Protein synthesis
Inclusion bodies Storage of carbon, phosphate, and other substances
Nucleoid Localization of genetic material (DNA)
Periplasmic space Contains hydrolytic enzymes and binding proteins for
nutrient processing and uptake
Cell wall Gives bacteria shape and protection from lysis in dilute
solutions
Capsules and slime Resistance to phagocytosis, adherence to surfaces
layers
Fimbriae and pili Attachment to surfaces, bacterial mating
Flagella Movement
Endospore Survival under harsh environmental conditions
 Plasma Membrane
Thin structures: 5 to 10 nm thick; electron microscope
Model: Fluid mosaic model by S. Jonathan Singer and
Garth Nicholson
Proteins and lipids: proportions vary widely
Lipids : structurally asymmetric; polar and nonpolar
ends; amphipathic
Polar ends interact with water and are hydrophilic
Nonpolar hydrophobic ends: Insoluble in water and
tend to associate with one another
Many are phospholipids
 Plasma Membrane
Lipid bilayer
Outer surfaces hydrophilic
Hydrophobic ends - buried in interior away from
surrounding water
Bacterial membranes: Lacks sterols such as cholesterol
Hopanoids: many bacterial membranes contain
pentacyclic sterol-like molecules
Influence membrane permeability and rigidity

Membrane proteins: two types

Peripheral proteins: loosely connected; easily removed
Soluble in aqueous solutions
Make up about 20 to 30% of total membrane protein
 Plasma Membrane
Integral Proteins: 70 to 80% of membrane
proteins
Not easily extracted from membranes
Insoluble in aqueous solutions when freed of
lipids
Amphipathic
Hydrophobic regions buried in lipid
Hydrophilic portions project from membrane
surface
Carbohydrates attached to outer surface of
plasma membrane proteins
Plasma Membrane
 Functions of Plasma Membrane
Selectively permeable barrier: Allows particular
ions and molecules to pass, either into or out of
the cell, preventing movement of others
Prevents loss of essential components through
leakage while allowing movement of other
molecules
Location of a variety of crucial metabolic
processes: respiration, photosynthesis, the
synthesis of lipids and cell wall constituents
Contains special receptor molecules: detecting and
responding to chemicals in their surroundings
(chemotaxis)
 Internal Membrane Systems: Mesosomes
Invaginations of plasma membrane
shape of vesicles, tubules, or lamellae
Gram +ve ; Gram ve bacteria; more prominent in
former
Location: next to septa or cross-walls in dividing
bacteria
Sometimes seem attached to bacterial
chromosome
Functions: Involved in cell wall formation during
division
Play a role in chromosome replication and
distribution to daughter cells
 Internal Membrane Systems: Mesosomes
Currently many bacteriologists
believe: mesosomes are
artifacts generated during
chemical fixation of bacteria
for electron microscopy
Possibly they represent parts
of plasma membrane-
chemically different and more
disrupted by fixatives
 Cytoplasmic Matrix
Substance lying between plasma membrane and
nucleoid
Largely water (about 70% of bacterial mass is water)
Featureless in electron micrographs
Packed with ribosomes and highly organized
Specific proteins are positioned at particular sites
(cell pole and place where bacterial cell divides)
Protoplast: Plasma membrane and everything
within
Cytoplasmic matrix - major part of protoplast
 Inclusion Bodies
Granules of organic or inorganic material
clearly visible in light microscope; present in
cytoplasmic matrix
Function: storage; e.g. carbon compounds,
inorganic substances, and energy
Reduce osmotic pressure by tying up molecules
in particulate form
Some not bound by membrane; lie free in the
cytoplasm
Eg. polyphosphate granules, cyanophycin
granules, and some glycogen granules
 Inclusion Bodies
Some enclosed by membrane
Membrane about 2.0 to 4.0 nm thick
Single-layered
Examples: poly--hydroxybutyrate
granules, some glycogen and sulfur
granules, carboxysomes, and gas
vacuoles
Membrane composition: Some protein
in nature, whereas others contain lipids
Storage: quantity varies with nutritional
status of cell
 Organic Inclusion Bodies
Glycogen: Polymer of glucose units (14 glycosidic
bonds; branching chains - 16 glycosidic bonds)
20 to 100 nm in diameter
seen only with the electron microscope
Poly- -hydroxybutyrate (PHB): joined by ester
bonds between carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of
adjacent molecules
Usually only one found in species
Exception purple photosynthetic bacteria have both
0.2 to 0.7 m in diameter; easily stained with Sudan
black for light microscopy
Function: Both are carbon storage reservoirs
providing material for energy and biosynthesis
 Organic Inclusion Bodies
Cyanobacteria have two organic inclusion bodies:
Cyanophycin granules: Large polypeptides;
containing equal amounts of arginine and aspartic
acid
Store extra nitrogen for bacteria

Carboxysomes: polyhedral, 100 nm in diameter

Present in cyanobacteria, nitrifying bacteria, and
thiobacilli
Contain enzyme ribulose- 1,5-bisphosphate
carboxylase
reserve of this enzyme and may be a site of CO2
fixation
 Inorganic Inclusion Bodies
Many bacteria store phosphate - polyphosphate granules or
volutin granules/metachromatic granules
show metachromatic effect- appear red or a different shade
of blue when stained with blue dyes (methylene blue)
linear polymer of orthophosphates joined by ester bonds
Function: storage reservoirs for phosphate

Some bacteria store sulfur as sulfur granules

Eg., purple photosynthetic bacteria use H2S-
photosynthetic electron donor

Magnetosome: used to orient in earths magnetic field

Contain iron in form of magnetite
Inorganic Inclusion Bodies
 Inclusion Bodies: Gas vacuole
Cyanobacteria, purple and green photosynthetic
bacteria, and aquatic forms such as Halobacterium and
Thiothrix
Bacteria float: Gas vacuoles give buoyancy
Sudden pressure increase: gas vacuoles collapse;
destroy microorganisms buoyancy
Composition: aggregates of numbers of small, hollow,
cylindrical structures called gas vesicles
Gas vesicle walls- composed of single small protein; do
not contain lipid
Protein subunits assemble - rigid enclosed cylinder-
hollow and impermeable to water; permeable to
atmospheric gases
 Ribosomes
cytoplasmic matrix; may be loosely attached to plasma
membrane
look like small, featureless particles at low magnification
in electron micrographs
Actually complex objects- made of protein and RNA
site of protein synthesis
Matrix ribosomes: synthesize proteins destined to remain
within the cell
Plasma membrane ribosomes make proteins for transport
to outside
Newly formed polypeptide - folds into its final shape
Shape of each protein is determined by its amino acid
sequence
 Ribosomes
Special proteins- called molecular
chaperones/chaperones- aid the
polypeptide in folding to its
proper shape
Smaller than eucaryotic
ribosomes
70S ribosomes: 50S and a 30S
subunit
have dimensions of about 14 to
15 nm by 20 nm
Molecular weight- approximately
2.7 million
Ribosomes
 Nucleoid
Irregularly shaped region where
chromosome is located
nuclear body/chromatin body/nuclear
region
Single circle of double-stranded
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
But some have a linear DNA chromosome
Vibrio cholerae have more than one chromosome
Also visible in light microscope after staining with Feulgen
stain, which specifically reacts with DNA
During cell division- cell can have more than one nucleoid
Chemical analysis: 60% DNA, 30% RNA, and 10% protein
by weight
 Plasmids
Extra chromosomal genetic material
Double-stranded DNA molecules; circular
Replicon: Can exist and replicate
independently of chromosome or may be
integrated with it
Normally inherited
Functions: drug-resistance, new
metabolic abilities, make them
pathogenic
 Plasmids-Types
Conjugative plasmids: set of transfer (tra) genes;
promote sexual conjugation between different
cells; sex pili
Non-conjugative Plasmids: incapable of initiating
conjugation; transferred only with the assistance
of conjugative plasmids
 Plasmids- Types
Fertility F-plasmids: contain tra genes; capable
of conjugation and result in expression of sex pilli
Resistance (R) plasmids: contain genes that provide
resistance against antibiotics or poisons
Col plasmids: contain genes that code
for bacteriocins, proteins that can kill other bacteria
Degradative plasmids: enable digestion of unusual
substances, e.g. toluene and salicylic acid
Virulence plasmids: turn the bacterium into
a pathogen