...

I
:.•.... ,

MICRO~ GANS t-.•. !'

Bacteria.: ' .. Culture metbods

-Structure and reproduction.
' ,Liquid and solid media; aseptic techniques.
7itrU$es
Prncticnlll'o?1"k
S:ructure and multiplication.
Culturing tacteria, effect ot antibiotics.
"~mgi '.' Growing mould fungi, starch digestion,
Structure, nutrition and reproduction.
Penicillium, yeast.

" ).7' :,I.~.

-,
"
The term 'micro-org:Ulism 'Includes viruses, bacteria; protocrista r" .
and some fungi and l~gll~., Most' of these organisms are, indeed, ; '~,"<::'':::-:'.-, --flagellum
microscopic. .',."
, , ' (in !;ome
Bacteria and protocusta arc sillgle-ceUed.organisms. Fungi and r""" •••••••""'-~ . -, bacteria)

algae are multicellular; (That n~an~, thc;!r 11:ad.!cs are madc'iup of cnromc some
.I
many cells.) Vil'uses do norhave a cellularstrtlctllr~, ' . (single :)NA . I' . 1,-,--'-- slime capsule
'Micro-orgallisms' Is a convenient term hy which to refer 10' a
strand " I
I -, ••
...': I
',') I
(in some)
coiled up) I

wide variery of fairly simple organisms. But the word is not used in • • ~. 0 ~ I

classifications, in the way we use words like 'mammal' or -....,.H--- cytoplasm

...
! "-.

"
'vertebrate' . - celfwal/----1i!
I,; • " ...;
"11+--- glycogen granule

Bacteria,
------- ---------------------------------
0.001 mm ,
d<.cterial structure )--'---------1

H,i;'tcria (singular = bacterium) are very small organisms constsr- Figure 1 Getleralized diagram of a bacterium
, ing of :inglc cells rarely more than 0.01 mm tl1lcnRII~, They can be
seen only with the higher powers of the microscope.
Their cell w:llls are made, not of cellulose, but of a complex
mixture of proteins, sugars and lipids. Some bacteria have a slime
('3!,~ldeoutside their cell wall. Inside the cell wall is the cytoplasm
which may contain. gra~ules of glycogen, lipid .and other food
reserves (Hg. -] ).' !

Lach haclcri:l! cdl contains a si;lgle 'chl'Omosome, consisting of

a Clreulur stn.nd of DNA .Ip. 20Z), The chromosome is nOI
{!'lc/oscd in a nuclear memhrane bw is coiled lip to occupy part of
the cell (llig. 1)
may he spherical, rod-shaped or spired,and
I"dn'jdl::tl b;,ctcria
some have ftI~1ll1nt~t called gag~lIa, pro.jeclingffQ!lltlhcm. T~e-
", '

nagcHa can OitJ<, aml,so move the bacterial cell about'. ..,.,
¢.
Bacterial physiology L ..
:~ t

~utrition
'here are a few species of bacteria which ~qntal!l a photosynthetic
,..;
Jt..'.
.
"!1''iw ..
'.

•••
,.
,
t ...•••

dgmem like ch IOi'ophytl, and can 'huild ttj1 their food bv phOIOSn}- i .',"'r .
tests. Most buctcria, ilOWCI'(,1', .lil'ci ill' 01: on, their food. Tl;_c~' FigUfe 2, Longitudinal section through a bacterium (x 27,000),
The light areas are coiled DNA strands. There are three of tnern 29j
,becaus_ethe bacterium is about to divide twice (see Fig, 3).
 ..
produce and release enzymes which digest the food outside the Bacteria which feed saproti'o!?hicaUy (I}.'309), brill~ .a.butl(
cell. The liquid products of digestion are then absorbed back into': decay, 'they secrete enzymes into dead organic matter anti liquefy it,
the bacterial cell, This may be a nuisance if the organic matter is our food but, in
Respiration ..
The bacteria which need oxygen for their respiration are called
most cases, it consists of the excreta and dead bodies of organisms.
If it were not for the, activities of the decay bacteria (ami fungi), we
should be buried in ever-increasing layers of deadvegetation and
aerobic bacteria, Those which do not need oxygen for respiration
animal bodies,
are called anaerobic bacteria The bacteria used in the filter beds
The decay bacteria also release essential elements from the dead
of sewage plaat~ (p.257) are aerobic, but'those used to digest
remains. For example, proteins are broken down tv ammonia and
sewage sludge and produce methane. are anaerobic.
tbe ammonia is turned into nitrates by nitrJl)rlngbactcl'ia (p. 237),
Reproduction -The nitrates are taken up from the soil by plants. which use them to
Bacteria reproduce by cell division or fission. Any bacterial cell. build up their proteins. In a similar way.sulphur, phosphorus, iron,
can divide into two and each daughter cell becomes an indepen-' magnesium and ail the elements essential to living organisms are .
dent bacterium (Fig. 3). In' some cases. this cell division can take recycled in thecourse of bacterial de~Qil1pO&!tion.
place every 20 minutes so that, in a very short time, it large colony Humans exploit bacterial physiology in the course of biotech-
of bacteria can be produced, This is one reason why a small nology (p, 340).
number of bacteria can seriously contamlnate our food products. The bacteria which causedisease are parasites (p, 309). They
This kind of reproduction, without the formation of gametes.Is live in the cells of plants 01" animals and feed on the cytoplasm.
called asexual reproduction (p. 321). Parasnic organisms which cause disease', arc' called pathogens
. • . f. . (Fig. 4). The orgarilsm in. which they live and reproduce Is called
~.;

the host: '

C~·:
(a) bac:terlal cell (c) cell divides
Pathogenic bacteria (p. 347) may cause diseases because of the
damage they do to the host's cells, but most bacteria also produce
poisonous waste products called toxins. The toxin produced by
the Clostridium bacteria (which cause tetanus) b so poisonous
that asli~lieas 0.00023: g is f-.lt:y.~ ,'

{bl chromo,orne replfcates (d) each cen dMdes allain

Figure 3 Bacterium reproducing, This is asexual reproduction by

cell division.

Effect ~theat
Bacteria, like at'Y othet livtng organisms, are killed by high tem-
peratures. The process of cooking destroys any bacteria in food,
provided high C110ughtelll.Peratures are used. If dnnktngwater is .
. spherical bacteria (cocci) ;.

Staphylococcus
(boils)
'-~
~
Streptococcus
~.~.@
DiplococclJs
belled, any bacteria present are killed, ' ' r •••• h~bl (")felh.oa~t~ l .~pne~um~n;,~
_
However, some bacteria can' produce spores which are resistant.
to heat. When the cooked food or boiled water cools down, the
spores germinate to produce new colonies or bacteria, particularly
if the food is left in a warm place (01' many hours. For this reason,
cooked food should be eaten at once or Immediately refrigerated.
(RefrlW't'ation SI0\'I') dov'~ bacterial growth and r!:p;,~dtlctic;].)
-
~
A)
II
Bacillus anthracis
.~an.thrax}

splrlJl bacterl~m~plrllluml
¥)~/
.
:::-.:. ---- -
.
Salmollellf! tvphi
(typhOid fever I
.:

After refrigeration, food should not merely be warmed up but either

eaten cold or heated to
a temperature high enough (0. kill any
,.~.~

'~1'\;,..
.' \·l
bacteria that have grown, l.e. to 90 °C ormore (p. ro 1).
;
r,J ~
Treponema
.:> '('
I . . Vib;i~
(syphilis)
Useful and harmful bacteria . (cholera) ,
When people talk ~uJ~bacte~ia, they ~re
u~ually thin,king about I,.
.0.002 rpm ~
i

:hose which cause disease or 'spotl.our food. In 'fact, only tiny a

minority of bacteria- are harmful. Most of them are harmless or
cxtremely useful. ' Figura 4 Some pathogenic bacteria
 . ,.

• •• ·f •• -...-M........ : " '1•• ~.~~

.'
\ .
',"
. Multiplication of viruses
. '" Viruses can survive outside the host cell. but ID order to' reproduce ~ .
they must penetrate ,into a liying cell. How·they do this, many,;.. ~ to
ost vlf\Jses are very much smaller than bacteria and can be seen cases, is not Im{J~1for certain. In mosttastances, the vims ~l'tick '. J
,ly with the electron microscope at magnifications of about first stick.') to tkceU membrane. It may'iliM"lnf(:Ct' its DNAUl." RNt\. \l

,',0 gnp. if:. . •. !nt9 the cell's cvtoplasrn or the whole viM. IWiY .pe. taken in uy a ,1,..:
kind of endocytosis (p. 29). .' '.' . f4
nus structure Once inside the host cell. the virus is 'uncoated' , i.e. its capsid is =
ere are many different types of virus and they vary in their shape dispersed, exposing its DNA or RNA.The DNA 0(' RNA then takes
d structure. All vlruses, however, have a central core of RNAor over the host cell's physiology.lt·arrests the nollWll syntheses in the
~A (p.202) surrounded by a protelncoat, Viruses have no cell and makes the cell produce new viral DNA or RNAand new
cleus, cylopla:;m, ·<lell organelles, or cell membrane, though capsomeres. The nucleic acid and thecapsomeres are assembled .
me forms 'have a membrane outside their Protein coats, .' ..' . i~ the cell to make new virus .particles which' escape from the' cell
Virus parucles, therefore, are not ceUs. 'i'hey do not feed, respire, ... (Fig. 7):
crete or grow and itl is debatable 'whether they can be classed as
lng organisms. Viruses do reproduce, but only inside the cells of
Ing organisms. using materials provided by the host cell.
A generalized virus particle Is shOWD ja Fig. 5. The nucleic acid
re' is a -coUe~·.Single ~. of RNA. 'nIe COal made up :of is ,.. ,"

-:
. I • "'1 ..

gularly packed'protein units called capsOmeres each containing'

my protein molecules. The protem coat is called a capsid.
ustde the capsid. In the influenza ~some other viruses, is an
velope which is probll»ly. derived ~.~ cell membrane of the
(a) The virus ~1icks
st cell (Fig. 6). ..; ,d, .
, to the membrane of .
a. suitc!ble t.o·st cell.
. ' '13, "

.'~_:; . ,. r
.....

-f~~ RNA
.•..• .
strand
r-:.:..;~--~Coat·!/ .i

". (capsid) (c.) The wal DNA or RNA '.Cd) The new Wuses
. .replicates aM directs the host ceil . escape from 1he
to make new protein coats. nastcef.· . '.:'.

fieure. 7 Reproduction o~a virus· ,

''I ,.

~. . t' L

.. <-
.;'"'-
",. ~. ~~~
,,~.
"", '. '

The cell may be destroyed io this process or the viruses may

,,:~ escape, wrapping themselves in pieces of the hosrs ce1lmemhraoe
v . «tom llOst's
.'
.•,:.1,
l4J
"" .10 '''\ ~'1.".,.,.,:,* ~ .. ,.' er-v
,,,bey,",,,,,
..,)t; •.•. ,,-,,)\... a..,n...w -Utesl""''''
0:"'-•... f'<''''
(~""t,;..;) .' 1Y.e:-" auJ•. ~\.(mptolllS
1 .{J! ..~. . ., I
~.' . c&. Ir~mbnmtl) diSease. .', .
"

. -:~~;. .;4
'~coat Many viruses cause diseases in p~ts and animalsr lluman virus
,.(~
diseases include the common cold. poliomyelitis, measles, mumps,
'I#---JIiP.!",,-:~,! c;QiIed RNA chickenpox, herpes, rubella, iDftuenza and AIDS (p. 349).

/II!-': L:1'obacco mosaic virus aff= toma!Q\pWUs as well as tobacco, I _.~

':t.;

. ,,:er . buttbe virus whtch Causes the-strikiag praUefDS (caBed 'breaks') in

,tuB, petals does not seem to harm the plant.' .
Viroses may be used as vedQrs to 'deUver' recOmbinant J?NAin
.
:uro 6 Structure of the influeoza virus ~etic engineering (p, 206). ;301 :
.,'

. ' .. :':<' •

-
 , ;"

\0\ .•

'~;~1~"
1\
.The h\'phae arc like microscopic tubes lh.cd \Vit~1cyl()plll;'~J.ln:.....,
• . ' I 'I: ~ ,I

,QUESTIONS " the centre of the older hyphae there is a vacuole, and the cytoph\sm -
": contains organelles and inclusions (p. 3). 'Pl\c inc.h,sjo~~s may be
,1 'Which of the foilowing structures 'are present in both
baeterielcells and plant cells: cytoplasm', cellulose, llpid'droplcts or-granules of glycogen bUI, unlike pLnts, 'there arc
DNA, cell wall, nucleus,chromosome, vacuole, . no chloroplasts or stat'eh grains (Fig. 9 ).
glycogen? . .: . The hyphal wall mav contain cellulose or chitin or both,
2 If 5 bacteria landed in some food and reproduced at according to the species, Chitin is similur to cellulose but the chitin
the maximum possible rate, what would, be the .
poputatio~qfbacteria afte.rl A hours? i . molecule contalns nitrogen atoms, ,
3 a '!f:iY
ls a virus 'particle not consldered'to be a cen? ' In some species of fungi, there arei'ilcoinp!c\e cross-walls
b vvhy, a~ vIruses not easy to tlassify as living I" ,,' i.\ividing nle,hnlhaeinto cell-like regions, but the cytoplasm is free '
organisms., '" to flow through large pores in these walls. In the species which do
4 Why do you think that commercial. growers of
have cross-walls (septa), there may be one, two (II' more nuclei in
tomatoes forbid smoking in their greenhouses?
5 How does the reproduction of a virus differ from that each compartment. In the species without septa, the nuclei are
of a bacterium? distributed throughout the cytoplasm. . ~'.

('

vacuole gl:/cogen granule

I , ' nU~leus.' _~::::e~ ," ,

i'..-- c!f ~;'
'

~~r'~~
~~··"~·:;.~~::"'~r··
....
_____ ' , .' ,: :-' s., '''' "'(' ••,
;..--;,,/'" "" "'--J '
Fungi

The kingdom of the fungi includes fairlyfamlltar organisms such as '~'/:?" ,,~>Y.;./ I
cytoplasm, hyphal
r mus Iirooms, toa dst00,Is pu ffball S, an d tIie b rac Icet fu llgl. th"at grow ;/'~/'/-/
/" , ",.~/
\\ ' wall
on tree-trunks. Thereare also the less obvious.but very important,': /;/.", ' , '.~ ,
mould fungi which grow on stale bread, cheese, fruit or other food. ' ~' ,,' '-, '" '~~~_
in
Many of the mould fungi live the soil or in dead wood. The yeasts ~:,:~~,-::;:;,!~~:-:~!, ..r .v • :5·~~-::::;;_"

are single-celled fungi similar to the

Some fungal species are parasites
moulds in some respects.
and.live in other organisms,
~',,>j
"
/,., -'-:'':'::<:':(' ;'-\~=~~' _'."::~'" :\
.-.::::.; - "-
particularly plants, where they' cause diseases which can affect crop
plants..' ,, ,,' d;gest~d ' , . \ \
food ,'enzymes

Structure Figure 9 Structure of a fungal hyphae

Niany fungi are not made up of cells but of microscopic threads
called hyphae. The branching hyphae spread through the material
on which the fungus is growing, and.absorb food from it. The
network of hyphae ihatgrow over or through th~ t~odmateri~d is '
called the mycelium (Fig,8),' .

r.

!"..

, ,.
"
. , ·r.
, '
"

., ., '

Mushrooms ~ld toadstools are the 'reprodiJct1v~ st~ctti~~s, ;';' . ,' 'II· . ','.'

'fllii~rtg bodies', of anextensive inyceliuin that 5IireacL~tllrElUglltllc', Figure 1,.0 Toad~tools growing.b~:a fallen tree. The toadstools' .'
soil orthe dead wood on whlchthefun us Is: .,' '" are ~he rep\pduct1v~ structures whlc~ pro~u;ce spor~;. The,
. ,' g J5 growmg. feeding hyphae are inside the tree, dlgestlng,the wood .

•••••••• u 4n
••••
_IIIIIIII_,"1I,iHMllfjljU •• --IIII--"