Introduction to Biodiversity And

Ecological Systems
Dr. Hanaa Hegazy Elshazly
Professor of Genetics
hhelsahzly@yahoo.com
Lecture 3 :Kingdom of Bacteria
 The Two Kingdoms of
Bacteria
The main group of the Monera All are
Prokaryotes

• Kingdom Archaebacteria
“Ancient”, most primitive earliest known form
of life
• Kingdom Eubacteria
-includes bacteria and cyanobacteria (blue-
green)
 1-Bacteria
The bacteria have the
following characteristics:
Relatively small
Single-celled
No nucleus or other
membrane-bound
organelles
Most bacteria do not cause
human diseases, but most
infectious diseases are
caused by bacteria
 Shapes of Bacteria
Most of the bacteria belong to three main shapes:

1. Rod (rod shaped bacteria are called bacilli)

2. Sphere (sphere shaped bacteria are called cocci)
3. Spiral (spiral shaped bacteria are called spirilla.)

Some bacteria belong to different shapes, which are

more complex than the above mentioned shapes
 Reproduction in Bacteria
Asexual reproduction.
Binary fission is the process by
which a bacteria splits into two
cells. Each cell gets an exact
copy of the parent cell's genetic
material.
sexual reproduction.
Conjugation of two parent cells
is the process and exchange
genetic materials. Once genetic
materials are exchanged, each
bacteria cell will go through
binary fission to produce an
offspring with a new genetic
makeup
 Actinomycetes
•Actinomycetes are a
group of Gram-positive
bacteria.
-Most are found in the soil,
playing an important role in
decomposition of organic
materials, such as cellulose
and chitin.
-Most are found in the soil,
playing an important role in
decomposition of organic
materials, such as cellulose
and chitin.
• The ability of Actinobacteria to thrive in low
nutrient evironments and to consume lignocellulose
(a component of decaying plant matter not normally
consumed by most soil bacteria) have allowed the
Actinobacteria to become the predominant bacteria
in soil.
• Actinobacteria colonies can be seen as small yellow
or white round colonies.
• Some Actinobacteria form braching filaments,
which which they were originally classified under
the older name Actinomycetes.
• Most members are aerobic, but a few, such as
Actinomyces israelii, can grow under
anaerobic conditions.
 All bacteria are Prokaryotes
General Characteristics of Bacteria
• All are single-cell organisms, rarely cluster as
multicellular in cyanobacteria
• No nucleus or other membrane-bound organelles
(mitochondria, chloroplasts)
• Have a plasma membrane (a barrier to hold nutrients)
• Metabolic reactions occur in folds of plasma membrane
• Cell wall (Functions as a protective barrier) is composed
of peptidoglycan found in most cells
• External layers may be present as capsule or slime layer
• Genome is DNA (single, circular chromosome without
histones) in “nucleoid”
•Flagella (whip-like structures) when present consist of fibris of
flagellin
•Pili (Short, hair-like, thin appendages) when present as
attachment or conjugation pili
•Cell division by binary fission (DNA molecule is replicated,
separated and attached to the cell membrane; then the cell splits
into two identical cells, each containing an exact copy of the original
cell's DNA)
•Bacteria can perform both anaerobic and aerobic respiration
•Many aquatic bacteria have gas vacuole (filled with gas) enable
the bacteria to float
Still other Bacteria live on the roots of certain plants,
converting nitrogen into a usable form.
•Some bacteria can obtain energy by
oxidizing compounds such as
sulfur, iron, methane or carbon
dioxide
•Many bacteria fixing nitrogen
(convert atmospheric nitrogen
into ammonia)
•Bacteria can protect themselves
from environmental stress including:
drought, high temperatures, and
lack of nutrients by
synthesizing of an endospore
•Many aquatic bacteria have gas
vacuole (filled with gas) enable the
bacteria to float
 Comparison of Eukaryotes & Prokaryotes
Characteristic Eukaryotes Prokaryotes
True nucleus Yes No

Cell Size 10.0 >microns 2.0 – 0.2microns

Chromosomes +Histones Naked circular DNA

Enclosed within sac like double
layered nuclear membrane
Ribosomes 80S ribosomes which are made up
of 60S & 40S subunits
Cell division Mitosis
No nuclear membrane
In contact with cytoplasm
70S ribosomes which are
made up of 50S & 30S
subunits
Binary fission

Genetic Meiosis Transformation

recombination Conjugation

Flagella If present, complex structure If present, simple structure

Mitochondria, Mitoch. Generally present No Mitochondria,

choroplast Chloroplast in photosynthetic cells No chloroplast

Cell wall absent in animal cells, Cellulose in Peptidoglycane in most

plant cell, chitin, glucan in fungi bacteria
 Common Shapes of Bacteria

Strepto
Bacilli
Diplo cocci
coccus Cocci

Spirillum Vibrio Spriochaetes

Tetrads Staphylococcus
 Biological Importance of Bacteria

1) Some make antibiotics (Streptomyacin)

2) Provide enzymes for biological washing powders
3) Used as microbial insecticides
4) Used to make biodegradable plastics & leach out metals

5)Decomposers – Analysis of dead bodies and substances

in soil, inside animals Enterobacteria – live inside us,
break down waste, make vitamins
6)Process foods – cheese, yogurt (convert lactose to lactic
acid), produce characteristic flavour
)7Xanthan gum formed by certain bacteria is used as gelling
agent in many industries

8)Bacteria are used in molecular research, genetic

engineering, and medical research
9)Some bacteria ferment sugars & organic acids and produce
ethanol, methanol, acetone, lactic acid & acetic acid
10)Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) used as biological control of
pests. BT reproduce only in intestinal tract of caterpillars
which are killed by toxin from the bacterium
11)Lactobacillus used in the dairy, beverage and baking
industries. Used in production of wine, beer and other
commercial products
12)Actinomycetes (nonphotosynthetic bacteria with
branched filaments) were original source of antibiotics
as tetracycline, neomycine, erthromycin & streptomycin
-Streptomycin is produced by Streptomycetes

)13The cyanobacterium Spirulina has a dry

weight protein content of about .% 70

-So it is used as a nutritional food supplement

 Common shapes of bacteria

Staphylococcus Anthrax Streptobacilli

Diplococcus Spirillum Spriochetes

 Group Cyanobacteria
• Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic and they contain
chlorophyll a and accessory pigments phycocyanin
(blue) and phycoerythrin (red)
• Cyanobacteria are called the blue green algae, although
the cyanobacteria can range from brown to olive-green
• Some are capable of nitrogen fixation, usually in special
cells called heterocysts (larger, thicker-walled cells.)
• Cyanobacteria lake flagella, but filamentous form
Oscillatoria exhibit gliding movement
• Growth forms include unicellular, colonial and
filamentous forms
 Reproduction
•Cell division by binary fission, some also reproduce by
fragmentation of filamentous (hormogonia), budding
or multiple fission
•Budding occurred by large swelling on cell until it
becomes mature cell
•Multiple fission occurs when cells enlarges and its contents
divide several times. The wall of the original cell then
breaks down & smaller cells are released
•Some produce a “resting” cells called akinetes (thick-
walled cells) that resist desiccation and freezing. Akinetes
remain dormant until favorable conditions and then
germinate to form new chain of cells
• Some are “spore” formers
• Sexual reproduction is rare
Kingdom Archaebacteria compared to Bacteria

Archae differ chemically from other bacteria

1) cell wall - different amino acids and sugars
Eubacteria have peptidoglycan
Archaebacteria have varied polysaccharides
but not peptidoglycan
2) membrane lipids
3)ribosomes like euokaryotes
4) enzymes - - - - - - - - - - - - >
5) cytochromes
6) gene sequences. . .
 Archae are extremophiles
Live in habitats like early earth
Are of four major types
1) Methanogens – decomposers, live in intestines,
swamps & bogs sewage treatment
2) Halophiles – “love salt”
Great Salt Lake, Dead Sea
3) Thermophiles – hot springs
4) Acidophiles – acid media
 2- Archaebacteria
• Data from DNA and
RNA comparisons
indicate that
archaebacteria are
different from
bacteria.
• Lipids of
archaebacterial cell
membranes differ
from those of both
prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cells
Examples of the Archaebacteria shapes and names are in
the following plate:-
Examples of ancient bacteria environments

1- Ain Helwan sulfer water springs in

Egypt
2- The blue stone park in Idaho and
Montana in the USA

3- The dry Owns Lake in

California

4- Pharaoh’s (Hammamat)
bathrooms in Sinai, Egypt
Methanogens
-These Archebacteria are
anaerobes.
-They make methane
(natural gas) as a waste
product.
-They are found in swamp
sediments, sewage, and
in buried landfills.
-In the future, they could
be used to produce
methane as a by product
of sewage treatment or
landfill operation.
 Halophiles
- These are salt-loving Archaebacteria that grow in
places like the Great Salt Lake of Utah or salt ponds on
the edge of San Francisco Bay.
- Large numbers of certain halophiles can turn
these waters a dark pink.
- Pink halophiles contain a pigment very similar to
the rhodopsin in the human retina.
- They use this visual pigment for a type of
photosynthesis that does not produce oxygen.

- Halophiles are aerobes, however, and perform

aerobic respiration.
- Extreme halophiles can live in extremely salty environments.
- Most are photosynthetic autotrophs.
-The photosynthesizers in this category are purple because instead of
using chlorophyll to photosynthesize, they use a similar pigment called
bacteriorhodopsin that uses all light except for purple light, making the
cells appear purple.
 Cyanobacteria

-Kingdom Monera is a very diverse group.

-There are some bacteria relatives that can
do photosynthesis
- They don’t have chloroplasts, but their
chlorophyll and other needed chemicals are
built into their cell membranes.
- These organsims are called
Cyanobacteria(cyano = blue, dark blue) or
bluegreen algae, although they’re not
really algae (real algae are in Kingdom
Protista).
-Cyanobacteria are aquatic and
photosynthetic, that is, they live in the
water, and can manufacture their own food.
-Similar to bacteria, they are quite small
and usually unicellular, though they often
grow in colonies large enough to see.
- Because they are photosynthetic and
aquatic, cyanobacteria are often called
"blue-green algae."
- Cyanobacteria are relatives of the
bacteria, not eukaryotes.
 Nostoc
• Nostoc is a genus of fresh water
cyanobacteria that forms spherical
colonies composed of filaments of cells
in a gelatinous sheath.
• cells known as heterocysts are present
in between the ordinary cells of the
filament. They lose their contents and
acquire thickened walls. The portion of
the filament between two heterocysts is
known as hormogone.
• It contains photosynthetic pigments in
its cytoplasm to perform
photosynthesis.
• Reproduction
Binary fission takes place in the
developing hormogons.
 Cyanobacteria

Hormogonium

Anabaena Oscillatoria Nostoc

 Thank you

Hanaa Hegazy Elshazly