BACTERIAL PHYSIOLOGY, GROWTH & NUTRITION

OUTLINE Obligate Anaerobes

I. Nutritional Requirements for Growth Only anaerobic growth; ceases in the presence of
II. Environmental Factors Influencing oxygen
Growth III. Bacterial Growth & Growth Curve Growth occurs only where there is no oxygen
Usually enteric bacterias
OBJECTIVES
● Discuss the growth requirements of bacteria Frankly Fusobacterium sp.
● Differentiate bacteria as to: Can’t Clostridium sp.
◌ Source of Carbon & Energy
Breathe Bacteroides sp.
◌ Temperature Requirement
◌ Oxygen Requirement Air Actinomyces
◌ pH Requirement Even Eubacterium sp.
● Discuss the bacterial growth curve
Perfumed Prevotella sp.

MICROBIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GROWTH Facultative Anaerobes

Requirements for microbial growth can be divided into two Can grow either with or without oxygen
main categories: Growth is best where most oxygen is present but
occurs throughout the tube
◌ Chemical: sources of carbon & energy Have the faculty to be anaerobic but prefer aerobic conditions
◌ Physical: temperature, pH & gaseous composition of the air Most medically important bacterias are belong to this group
Includes:
NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GROWTH ◌ Staphylococcus
Carbon ◌ Streptococcus
Carbon is the structural backbone of living matter ◌ Neisseria
Needed for all the organic compounds that make up a living cell ◌ Escherichia
Classified into two basic groups:
◌ Heterotrophs (organotrophs) Aerotolerant Anaerobes
◌ Autotrophs (lithotrophs) Previously referred to as facultative aerobes
Can survive in the presence of oxygen but do not use oxygen in
Heterotrophs metabolism
Requires complex substances for growth Includes:
Require an organic source of carbon such as glucose & obtain ◌ Lactobacillus
◌ Proprionobacterium
energy by oxidizing or fermenting organic substances
All bacteria that inhabit the human body fall into the
J Microaerophile
heterotrophic group Require a reduced level of oxygen to grow
Growth occurs only where a low concentration of
Autotrophs
Able to grow simply using carbon dioxide as the sole source of oxygen has diffused into the medium
carbon with only water & inorganic salts required in addition Includes:
◌ Campylobacter
Energy ◌ Helicobacter
Can obtain energy either photosynthetically (phototrophs) or
by oxidation of inorganic compounds (chemolitotrophs)
Carbon dioxide
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH Capnophiles
Oxygen Organisms that grow best when the atmosphere is enriched with
Based on their oxygen requirements, prokaryotes can be extra carbon dioxide (5-10%)
separated into aerobes & anaerobes Capable of growing on an environment with high CO2
tension To achieve high CO2 tension,
Obligate Aerobe culture media is placed
Require oxygen for growth
inside a candle jar
Growth occurs only where high concentrations of Includes:
oxygen have diffused into the medium In ◌ Streptococcus
the absence of oxygen, bacteria will die ◌ Neisseria
◌ Haemophilus influenzae
Nagging Nocardia sp.
Pests Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Must MycoBacterium
Breathe
But Bacillus sp.
Cannot Corynebacterium sp.

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 BACTERIAL PHYSIOLOGY, GROWTH & NUTRITION Microbiology
Generation Time or Doubling Time
Redox Potential (Eh) Average time required for cell numbers to double
Most culture media have Eh = +0.2 to +0.4 V
Obligate anaerobes = requires -0.2V BACTERIAL GROWTH CURVE

Temperature

Microorganisms are classified into three primary groups on the If bacteria are in a balanced growth state, with enough nutrients &
basis of their preferred range of temperature: no toxic products present, the increase in bacterial numbers is
◌ Psychrophiles (cold-loving microbes) proportional to the increase in other bacterial properties such as
◌ Mesophiles (moderate-temperature-loving microbes mass, protein content & nucleic acid content
◌ Thermophiles (heat-loving microbes) When the growth of a bacterial culture is plotted during
balanced growth, the resulting curve shows four phases of
Psychrophiles growth:
Bacteria that grow best at cold temperatures (Can grow at 5 to 1. Lag Phase – during which bacteria are preparing to divide
30 C) 2. Log Phase – during which bacteria numbers increase
Optimal growth at 10 to 20 C logarithmically
Example: Listeria monocytogenes 3. Stationary Phase – in which nutrients are becoming limited
& the numbers of bacteria remain constant (although
Mesophiles viability may decrease)
Bacteria that grow optimally at moderate temperatures (10 to 4. Death Phase – when the number of nonviable bacterial
45 C) cells exceeds the number of viable cells
Optimal growth at 20 to 40 C
Stages of Bacterial Growth
Includes medically important bacteria
Lag Phase
AKA Adjustment Phase
Thermophiles
Bacteria is still adopting to a new
Bacteria that grow best at high temperatures (25 to 80 C) environment No cell division during this stage
Optimal growth at 50 to 60 C
Bacteria may increase in size but not in
number 0% growth rate
Optimum Temperature of Growth in routine diagnostic laboratory:
35 C
Log Phase
AKA Exponential Phase
pH
Neutrophiles Stage when bacteria divides at a constant rate
Bacteria that grow best at neutral pH (pH 7.5 – 7.8) Bacterias become susceptible to antibotics (+)
Most pathogenic bacteria grow best at neutral pH (pH 7.2 – 7.6) Increase in Growth Rate

Acidophiles Stationary Phase

Bacteria that grow best at acidic pH (pH 6.5 – 7.0) AKA Plateau Phase
Example: Lactobacillus acidophilus (normal flora of acidic vagina Accumulation of toxic waste & depletion of nutrients causes a
in child bearing age women) decrease in growth rate
No net growth; death = living cells
Alkalophiles/Basophiles
Bacteria that grow best at alkaline pH (pH 8.4 – 9.0) Death Phase
Example: Vibrio cholerae AKA Phase of Decline
Complete cessation of bacterial growth
BACTERIAL GROWTH Death rate is increased
Refers to an increase in bacterial cell numbers (multiplication)
which results from a programmed increase in the biomass of the
bacteria
It results from bacterial reproduction due to binary fission
which may be characterized by a parameter called generation
time or doubling time.

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