BACTERIAL CELL STRUCTURE

1) CAPSULE
 Are usually made of polysaccharides (sometimes
proteins)
 Used by microorganisms as a protective structure
against phagocytosis and physical and chemical
effects of the environment
 used for attachment to surfaces
 reserve of nutrients or protection against desiccation
 its presence denotes the bacteria’s virulence
CAPSULE

2) CELL WALL
 Maintains the shape of the cell; the three
primary shapes in bacteria are coccus
(spherical), bacillus (rod-shaped) and
spirillum (spiral). Mycoplasmas are bacteria that
have no cell wall and therefore have no
definite shape.
 Surrounds the underlying, fragile
plasma(cytoplasmic) membrane
 Prevents bursting of the cell from the high
osmotic pressure inside it
 Important in the identification of major
phylogenetic groups of prokaryotes
 Serves as a point of anchorage for flagella
 Contributes to the ability of some species to
cause disease
 Site of action of some antibiotics CELL
 determines reactivity to Gram stain WALL
*BACTERIAL CELL MORPHOLOGY
* Coccus: spherical cells
* Bacilluss: rod-shaped cells. Cells have
greater surface area-to-volume and
absorption is more effective. Cells are often
motile.
* Coccobacillus: cells that are not perfectly
round, as are true cocci, but appear to have
blunted ends
* Spirillum: cells with spiral or curved
bodies with one or more twists. Cells tend to
be rigid and fairly inflexible. Spirilla are
often motile by means of flagella.
* Spirochetes are also spiral shaped but are
more flexible than spirilla and move by an
internal flagellum known as an axial
filament.
* Vibrio: comma shaped cells, typically motile by flagella.
  Gram positive cell wall
 Consist of a relatively thick layer of exposed peptidoglycan (60-90% of the cell wall) are
are placed into the Division Firmicutes ('thick-skinned')
 cells stain purple due to retention of the crystal violet dye during the gram stain
procedure
 Antigens called teichoic acids project out of the cell wall and aid in typing different gram
positive bacteria
 If peptidoglycan is digested away from the cell, gram positive cells lose their cell walls
and become protoplasts. Protoplasts must be maintained in isotonic solutions in order to
survive.
 Mycobacteria also contain peptidoglycan in their cell walls and tend to stain weakly
gram positive. However, the cell walls can contain as much as 60% mycolic acid, a thick
waxy material. These type of bacteria are usually stained using the acid-fast procedure.
The microbes grow slowly as lipids present a barrier to nutrients into cells.
 Gram negative cell walls
 decolorize during the gram stain and appear pink due to retention of the counterstain
safranin
 Consist of a relatively thin layer of peptidoglycan these bacteria are placed into the
Division Gracilicutes ('thin-skinned')
 Contain a periplasmic space which contains digestive enzymes and other transport
proteins
 An external layer of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) consists of polysaccharide O antigens
used in typing gram negatives and a component known as lipid A or endotoxin.
Endotoxin can trigger fever and septic shock in gram negative infections
 LPS also protects the cell from phagocytosis, penicillin's and the antibacterial enzyme
lysozyme
 LPS acts as a permeability barrier interspersed with narrow, restrictive protein channels
called porins. In the gram negative Enterics, porins exlude all hydrophobic molecules
and only permit passage of low molecular weight hydrophilic molecules. This protects
the bacteria from the action of bile salts and toxins of the gut.

3) RIBOSOMES
 Site of protein synthesis
 give the cytoplasm of bacteria a granular appearance in electron
micrographs
 have a similar function to eukaryotic ribosomes in translatingRIBOSOMES
the
genetic message in messenger RNA into the production of peptide
sequences (proteins)

4) NUCLEOID
 Usually contains a single, long, continuous, and frequently
circularly arranged thread of double-stranded DNA called
the bacterial chromosome
 Also contain plasmids
 Isn’t bounded by a membrane, but is visibly distinct (by
transmission microscopy) from the rest of the cell interior.

5) FLAGELLA
  Whip-like, exterior protein filaments that rotate and cause
bacteria to be motile
 Bacteria that lack flagella are atrichous; those that have
flagella may be monotrichous, amphitrichous,
lophotrichous, or peritrichous.
 Has 3 basic parts: the filament, hook and the basal body.
 Can help in identifying certain types of bacteria. For
example, Proteus species show a rapid 'swarming' type of
growth on solid media.
 Basic arrangements of flagella
A. Amonotrichous: a single flagellum at one pole of the
cell
B. lophotrichous: a tuft of flagella at one pole of the cell
C. amphitrichous: one or more flagella at both ends of the
cell
D. peritrichous = flagella around the entire cell

6) PILI
 Also known as conjugation pili
 Non-motile, long, hollow protein tubes
that connect two bacterial cells and
mediate DNA exchange
 Usually longer than fimbriae
 Number only one or two per cell
 Join bacterial cells in preparation for the
transfer of DNA from one cell to another,
a process called conjugation.
*Fimbriae – non-flagellar, sticky,
proteinaceous, hairlike appendages that
adhere some bacterial cells to one another
and to environmental surfaces; can occur at
the poles of the bacterial cell or they can be
evenly distributed over the entire surface of PILI
the cell

7) CYTOPLASM
 Thick, aqueous, semitransparent and elastic
 Substance of the cell inside the plasma CYTOPLASM
membrane
 About 80% water and contains primarily
CHONs, CHOs, lipids, inorganic ions, and
many low-molecular-weight compounds.
 Lack cytoskeleton and cytoplasmic
streaming

*Endospores
  a resting structure formed by gram positive bacteria
 highly durable dehydrated cells with thick walls and additional layers
 When released into the environment, they can survive extreme heat, lack of water, and exposure to
toxic chemicals and radiation
 Formed through a process called Sporulation or sporogenesis; returns to its vegetative through
germination

References:
 Tortora, G. J., Funke B.R., & Case, C.L. (2009).Microbiology: An Introduction (9 th edition) pp. 85, 95,
96, 97, 102, 105, 109, 917
 Mahon, C.R., Lehman, D.C. & Manuselis, G. (2010). Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology (4 th edition)
pp. 7, 8, 9, 10, 1028
 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/48203/bacteria/39340/The-cytoplasm?anchor=ref463553
 http://www.ccsf.edu/Departments/Biology/ctoebe/bactcell.htm
 http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/structure.html
 http://www.eastchester.k12.ny.us/schools/hs/teachers/fishman/images/494px-Average_prokaryote_cell-
_en.svg.png
 http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/moder_just/Images/Flagella.png
 http://lic.leidenuniv.nl/files/lic/images/nucleoid.jpg
 http://teachernotes.paramus.k12.nj.us/Nolan/2005-2006/procaryote.jpg
 http://www.exploringnature.org/graphics/anatomy/cells_text.jpg