POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Department of Biology

BIOL 30035 GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY A.Y. 2021-2022

Name: De Guzman, Rochele P. Yr. & Sec: BS Biology 1-2

Professor: Dr. Lourdes Alvarez

LECTURE
Activity No. 3
MICROBIAL DIVERSITY

1. Differentiate the six Phototrophic Bacteria

CYANOBACTERIA
PIGMENT: Chlorophyll a, Phycobilins
HABITAT: Lakes, streams, oceans, soil, glaciers, deserts, in endolithic communities,
and in hot springs below 72 °C
SPECIES/GENERA: Anabaena flosaquae, Aphanizomenon flosaquae, Microcystis
aeruginosa and Nodularia.
TYPE OF PHOTOSYSTEM: have both FeS-type and Q-type photosystems
OXYGEN TYPE: Cyanobacteria are widely distributed photosynthetic prokaryotes that
play an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. They are the only oxygenic
photosynthetic prokaryotes, and they thrive in a wide range of environments. With fossil
records extending back 3.5 billion years, they are among the planet's oldest organisms.

PURPLE SULFUR BACTERIA

PIGMENT: Bacteriochlorophyll a or b, Carotenoid
HABITAT: Lakes, marine sediments, and “sulfur springs,” and also found in microbial
mats and salt marsh sediments.
SPECIES/GENERA: Chromatium, Ectothiorhodospira, Thiocapsa, and Halorhodospira
TYPE OF PHOTOSYSTEM: Q-type system
OXYGEN TYPE: Purple sulfur bacteria are a photosynthesis-capable type of
Proteobacteria. They live in hot springs or stagnant water and are anaerobic or
microaerophilic. They do not create oxygen because they do not utilize water as a reducing
agent, unlike plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.

PURPLE NON-SULFUR BACTERIA

PIGMENT: Bacteriochlorophyll a or b, Carotenoids
HABITAT: Mangrove swamps, wastewater ponds, coastal lagoons, and waste lagoons.
SPECIES/GENERA: Rhodospirillum, Rhodoferax, and Rhodobacter
TYPE OF PHOTOSYSTEM: Q-type photosystem
OXYGEN TYPE: Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) are phototrophic microorganisms
that are gaining attention in plant production due to their capacity to create and accumulate
high-value chemicals that help plants thrive.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Department of Biology
GREEN SULFUR BACTERIA
PIGMENT: Bacteriochlorophyll c, d, or e, Chlorosomes
HABITAT: Live in anoxic, sulfidic, illuminated aquatic environments
SPECIES/GENERA: Chlorobium, Chlorobaculum, Chlorochromatium, and
Pelochromatium roseum
TYPE OF PHOTOSYSTEM: FeS-type photosystem
OXYGEN TYPE: The green sulfur bacteria are also known as Chlorobi or
Chlorobiaceae, which refers to "green ones." They are anaerobes, which means they do not
require oxygen to develop, and they are mostly autotrophs.

GREEN NON-SULFUR BACTERIA

PIGMENT: Bacterioclorophyll a and chlorosomes
HABITAT: The filamentous green non sulphur bacteria (Chloroflexaceae) are
thermophilic microorganisms that grow in microbial mats in hot springs.
SPECIES/GENERA: Dehalococcoidetes
TYPE OF PHOTOSYSTEM: Q-type photosynthetic reaction center
OXYGEN TYPE: Green nonsulfur bacteria are similar to green sulfur bacteria, but their
oxidation substrates are not sulfides. A green nonsulfur bacteria like Chloroflexus is an
example. When it develops in the dark, it turns orange, but when it grows in the light, it turns
green.

HELIOBACTERIA:
PIGMENT: Bacteriochlorophyll g
HABITAT: Distributed in rice soils and occasionally found in other soils.
SPECIES/GENERA: Heliobacterium, Heliophilum, Heliorestis, Heliomonas, and
Heliobacillus
TYPE OF PHOTOSYSTEM: FeS-type photosystem
OXYGEN TYPE: Heliobacteria are anoxygenic, phototrophic gram-positive bacteria that
belong to the phylum Firmicutes.

2. Describe the Morphologically Diverse Bacteria

SPIROCHAETA
MORPHOLOGY: Spirochaeta has a distinctive shape and cellular structure among
prokaryotes. An outer membrane, axial filaments (ultrastructurally comparable to bacterial
flagella), and a protoplasmic cylinder make up the helical cells.
HABITAT: Common in aquatic environments such as freshwater and sediments, and
also in the oceans.
MOTILITY: Flagella-dependent motility
TYPE OF FLAGELLA: Periplasmic flagella (PFs)
DISEASE: Syphilis, yaws, Lyme disease, and relapsing fever in humans.

CRISTISPIRA
MORPHOLOGY: Helical cells 0.5-3.0 um in diameter and 30-180 um in length, generally
displaying 2-10 complete helical turns. Ends of cells are blunt, rounded or tapered; in fixed and
stained preparations a filament or spicule may emanate from one or both ends. Stained
preparations reveal a series of ovoid inclusions of unknown composition which impart a
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Department of Biology

chambered appearance to the protoplasmic cylinder. Electron microscopy of thin sections r

eveals multiple cytoplasmic vesicles bounded by a double membrane
HABITAT: Lives in both freshwater and marine molluscs
MOTILITY: Actively motile
TYPE OF FLAGELLA: Periplasmic Flagella
DISEASE: Researchers are having trouble determining the illnesses that this species
can induce in people because it has yet to be grown. However, radulae, a chitin structure
related to glands that shoot potent neurotoxic peptides, cause significant human
envenomation and even death, which is linked to receptor blocking and muscle paralysis, are
found in mollusks of diverse species.

TREPONEMA
MORPHOLOGY: Helical rods. Cells have tight, regular, and irregular spirals.
HABITAT: The oral cavity, intestinal tract, rumen, and genital areas of humans and
animals.
MOTILITY: Motile with rotational movement by periplasmic flagella. Treponema spp.
may have translational movement in liquid media.
TYPE OF FLAGELLA: Endoflagella (Periplasmic Flagella)
DISEASE: Syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, chancroid, granuloma inguinale/donovanosis,
lymphogranuloma venereum, genital herpes and warts, and trichomoniasis.

BORRELIA
MORPHOLOGY: Helical shaped spirochete bacterium. It has an inner and outer
membrane as well as a flexible cell wall. Inside the bacteria's cell membranes is the
protoplasm, which, due to the spiral shape of the bacteria, is long and cylindrical.
HABITAT: Borrelia burgdorferi is an endoparasitic species and therefore its main habitat
and nutrition is in host tissue. An endoparasite is a parasite that lives within the cells and
tissues of its host (Singleton, P., & Sainsbury, D., 2006).
MOTILITY: Flat-wave, motile spirochete
TYPE OF FLAGELLA: Periplasmic Flagella
DISEASE: Lyme disease

LEPTOSPIRA AND LEPTONEMA

MORPHOLOGY: Leptospires are corkscrew-shaped bacteria, which differ from other
spirochaetes by the presence of end hooks. They belong to the order of Spirochaetales, family
Leptospiraceae, genus Leptospira. about 0.1 µm in diameter by 6–20 µm in length. While the
Leptonema is Helical.
HABITAT: Leptospirosis is found all over the world, but it is more frequent in humid
tropical and subtropical regions. Most Leptospira are naturally found in rodents, while canines
are also hosts.
MOTILITY: The spirochete Leptospira swims in liquid but has also been proven to crawl
across solid surfaces due to its two flagella in the periplasmic region. Spirochete motions in
liquid and on surfaces entail a rotation of the helical cell body, according to the current motility
tests.
TYPE OF FLAGELLA: Flagellar Filaments
DISEASE: Leptospirosis
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Department of Biology

REFERENCES:

Better Health Channel. (2016, October 20). Leptospirosis. Retrieved from

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/leptospirosis

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, May 28). Lyme Disease.
https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html

Gibson, K. H., Trajtenberg, F., Wunder, E. A., Brady, M. R., San Martin, F., Mechaly, A. E.,
Shang, Z., Liu, J., Picardeau, M., Ko, A. I., Buschiazzo, A., & Sindelar, C. V. (2019). An
asymmetric sheath controls flagellar supercoiling and motility in the leptospira
spirochete. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1101/847533

Lakna. (2017, April 20). Difference Between Photosystem 1 and 2. Pediaa.

https://pediaa.com/difference-between-photosystem-1-and-2

Microbewiki (n.d.). Borrelia burgdoferi. Retrieved from

https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Borrelia_burgdorferi

Nakamura, S. (2020). Spirochete Flagella and Motility. Biomolecules, 10(4), 550.

https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10040550

Sal, M. S., Li, C., Motalab, M. A., Shibata, S., Aizawa, S., & Charon, N. W. (2008). Borrelia
burgdorferi uniquely regulates its motility genes and has an intricate flagellar hook-basal
body structure. Journal of Bacteriology, 190(6), 1912-1921.
https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.01421-07

Singleton, P., & Sainsbury, D. (2006). Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause of Lyme Disease.
Retrieved from
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2007/joyce_kait/habitat_and_geography.htm#:~:text=Borrelia
%20burgdorferi%20is%20an%20endoparasitic,%2C%20D.%2C%202006

Tahara, H. (2018). The mechanism of two-phase motility in the spirochete Leptospira:

Swimming and crawling. Retrieved from
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar7975#:~:text=The%20spirochete%20Leptospir
a%2C%20having%20two,of%20the%20helical%20cell%20body.

Wikipedia. (2002, October 24). Cyanobacteria. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria