Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Bacterial cell structure

The prokaryotic cell is simpler than the eukaryotic cell at every level, with one
exception: The cell envelope is more complex.

Cytoplasm: is a gel like material composed of 80% water, enzymes, nutrients, wastes,
gases, inorganic ions, and many low molecular weight compounds and cell structures such
as ribosomes, chromosomes (nucleoid), and plasmids.

The Nucleoid

Prokaryotes have no true nuclei; instead they package their DNA in a structure known as
the nucleoid. The nuclear region is filled with DNA fibrils. The nucleoid of most bacterial
cells consists of a single continuous circular molecule.However, a few bacteria have been
shown to have two, three ,or even four dissimilar chromosomes. For example,Vibrio
cholerae .

Inclusion bodies:

They are granules of organic or inorganic material are present in the cytoplasmic matrix.
Used for storage (e.g., carbon compounds, inorganic substances, and energy almost always
function in the storage of energy or as a reservoir of structural building blocks.

Ribosome

In most bacteria the most numerous intracellular structure is the ribosome, the site of
protein synthesis in all living organisms. All prokaryotes have 70S (where S=Svedberg
units) ribosome , while eukaryotes contain larger 80S ribosome. The 70S ribosome is made
up of a 50S and 30S subunits.
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Chromosome and Plasmid:-

The bacterial chromosome is not enclosed inside of a membrane- bound nucleus but
instead resides inside the bacterial cytoplasm. The bacterial chromosome exists as a highly
compact super coiled structure.

Most bacterial chromosomes are circular although some examples of linear chromosomes
exist (e.g. Borrelia burgdorferi). Along with chromosomal DNA, most bacteria also
contain small independent pieces of DNA called plasmids .

Plasmids can be easily gained or lost by a bacterium and can be transferred between
bacteria as a form of horizontal gene transfer.

The cell envelope

Prokaryotic cells are surrounded by complex envelope layers, which composed of the
plasma membrane and cell wall.

These structures protect the organisms from hostile environments, such as extreme
osmolarity, harsh chemicals, and even antibiotics.

Cell wall

The functions of cell wall:

The primary function of the cell wall is to protect the cell from the internal pressure
(caused by the much higher concentrations of proteins and other molecules inside the cell
compared to its external environment osmotic protection),

The cell wall plays an essential role in cell division as well as serving as a primer for its
own biosynthesis.

Various layers of the wall are the sites of major antigenic determinants of the cell surface,
and one component—the lipopolysaccharide of gram-negative cell walls—is responsible
for the non specific endotoxin activity of gram-negative bacteria.

The cell wall is, in general, non-selectively permeable; one layer of the gram-negative
wall, however—the outer membrane—hinders the passage of relatively large molecules.

The bacterial cell wall differs from that of all other organisms by the presence of
peptidoglycan (poly- N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid), which is located
immediately outside of the cytoplasmic membrane.

Peptidoglycan is responsible for the rigidity of the bacterial cell wall and for the
determination of cell shape.
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

While all bacterial cell walls (with a few exceptions e.g. Mycoplasma) contain
peptidoglycan, not all cell walls have the same overall structures. Since the cell wall is
required for bacterial survival, but is absent in eukaryotes, several antibiotics (penicillins
and cephalosporins) stop bacterial infections by interfering with cell wall synthesis, while
having no effects on human cells, because human cells don't have cell walls, they only
have cell membranes.

There are two main types of bacterial cell walls: Gram positive and Gram negative
which are differentiated by their Gram staining characteristics.

Cell wall of Gram positive bacteria

Gram positive cell walls are thick and peptidoglycans, the structural elements of almost all
bacterial cell walls, constitute almost 95% of the cell wall in some Gram positive bacteria
and as little as 5-10% of the cell wall in Gram negative bacteria.

1. Peptidoglycans (also referred to as murein), an essential and specific component

of the bacterial cell envelope, forms a layer outside the cytoplasmic membrane, is
responsible for rigidity and shape of bacterial cells and protects them from osmotic
disruption.

Peptidoglycan is a heteropolymer that consists of glycan strands that are cross linked
by peptides. The glycan backbone is composed of alternating units of N-
acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid linked by β-1,4-glycosidic bonds. The
peptide subunits usually contain four alternating L- and D-amino acids, and they are
connected to the glycan stands via the lactyl groups of the N-acetylmuramic acid
residues (Figure 1)

The cell wall of some Gram positive bacteria can be completely dissolved by lysozyme, as
this enzyme attacks the bonds between GA and MA.

In other Gram positive bacteria, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, the walls are resistant to the
action of lysozyme. They have O-acetyl groups on carbon-6 of some MA residues.
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the peptidoglycan network structure

2. There are two main types of teichoic acid: ribitol teichoic acids and glycerol
teichoic acids located in G+ve cell wall; However, the exact function of teichoic acid
is debated and not fully understood.

Gram negative bacteria:

Gram-negative cell walls contain three components that lie outside of the peptidoglycan
layer: lipoprotein, outer membrane, and lipopolysaccharide

Gram negative cell walls are thin and unlike the Gram positive cell walls, they contain a
thin peptidoglycan layer. This is responsible for the cell wall's inability to retain the crystal
violet stain upon decolorisation (differentiation) during Gram staining.

In addition to the peptidoglycan layer, the Gram negative cell wall also contains an outer
membrane composed by phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides, which face into the
external environment.
 Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Periplasmic space : it is the space between inner & outer membrane which contains important
proteins and oligosaccharides ( In Gram-positive bacteria ;smaller periplasmic space between the
inner membrane and the peptidoglycan layer.)

As the lipopolysaccharides are highly charged, the Gram negative cell wall has an overall
negative charge. The chemical structure of the outer membrane lipopolysaccharides is
often unique to specific bacterial strains, and is responsible for many of the antigenic
properties of these strains.

Lipopolysaccharides, also called endotoxins, they are composed of polysaccharides and

lipid A (responsible for much of the toxicity of Gram-negative bacteria).
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Protoplasts ,Spheroplasts ,and L Forms:

Removal of the bacterial wall may be accomplished by hydrolysis with lysozyme or by

blocking peptidoglycan synthesis with an antibiotic such as penicillin. In osmotically
protective media, such treatments liberate protoplasts from gram-positive cells and
spheroplasts (which retain outer membrane and entrapped peptidoglycan) from gram-
negative cells. If such cells are able to grow and divide, they are called Lforms. Examples
of bacterial genera that can produce L-forms
include Bacillus, Clostridium, Haemophilus, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Vibrio.

But this is differ from the mycoplasmas which are cell wall-lacking bacteria containing no
peptidoglycan.

Plasma membrane:-

The plasma membrane or bacterial cytoplasmic membrane is composed of a phospholipid

bilayer and upward of 200 different kinds of proteins.
The cytoplasmic membrane forms a hydrophobic barrier impermeable to most hydrophilic
molecules. However, several mechanisms (transport systems) exist that enable the cell to
transport nutrients into and waste products out of the cell.
There are three general transport mechanisms involved in membrane transport: passive
transport, active transport, and group translocation.
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Bacterial Plasma Membrane Structure.

Functions:

1. Permeability and transport

2. Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation.
3. Excretion of hydrolytic exoenzymes and pathogenicity proteins
4. Biosynthetic functions
Extracellular (external) structures :-
Fimbrae and Pilus (pl:pili) :-
Fimbrae (sometimes called "attachment pili") are protein (pillin) tubes that extend out
from the outer membrane. They are generally short in length and present in high numbers
about the entire bacterial cell surface.
Fimbrae usually function to facilitate the attachment of a bacterium to a surface (e.g. to
form a biofilm) or to other cells (e.g. animal cells during pathogenesis)).
Pili are similar in structure to fimbrae but are much longer and present on the bacterial
cell in low numbers. Pili are involved in the process of bacterial conjugation where they
are called conjugation pili or "sex pili".
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Flagellum (pl:Flagella) :-
Flagella are whip-like structures composed entirely of protein (a flagellin subunit)
protruding from the bacterial cell wall and are responsible for bacterial motility .
The arrangement of flagella about the bacterial cell is unique to the species observed.
Common forms include:
 Atrichous non motile
 Monotrichous - Single flagellum
 Lophotrichous - A tuft of flagella found at one of the cell pole
 Amphitrichous - Single flagellum found at each of two opposite poles
 Peritrichous - Multiple flagella found at
several locations about the cell.
The bacterial flagellum consists of three
basic components: a whip-like filament, a
motor complex, and a hook that connects
them.
Base of filament inserts into hook
Basal body anchors filament and hook to
cell wall by a rod and a series of either
two or four rings of integral proteins
Filament capable of rotating 360º
Microbiology I Anatomy of bacteria third lecture

Capsule and glycocalyx

It is an extracellular polymer composed of polysaccharide. Many
bacteria synthesize capsule when growing in their natural
environments. With one known exception (poly-D-glutamic acid
capsules of Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus licheniformis).
functions of capsule:
The capsule contributes to the invasiveness of pathogenic bacteria
encapsulated cells are protected from phagocytosis. The glycocalyx plays a role in the
adherence of bacteria to surfaces in their environment.

Endospore :.

Endospores are bacterial survival structures that are highly resistant to many different
types of chemical and environmental stresses and therefore enable the survival of bacteria
in environments that would be lethal for these cells in their normal vegetative form. (e.g.
B.anthracis, B.subtilis , C.tetani, C.welchii, C.botulism ).

 As spores are formed within the parent bacterial cell so they are also called as
endospores

endospores

Vegetative
cell