PROKARYOTE

EUBACTERIA AND ARCHAEBACTERIA

INSTRUCTOR: MUHAMMAD FU’AD FIQRI, S.Pd
Biology

History of Bacteria

The bacterium was discovered by a dutch scientist, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek. Later on,
he published diverse pictures of bacteria (in 1684). From then on, the study of bacterium
called bacteriology, began to develop.

In the 1970s, a scientist named Carl Woese from the University of Illinois was the first to
suggest a six-kingdom classification system. It’s because the scientists have discovered that
there are distinctly two different groups of prokaryotes. They are bacteria (known as
eubacteria) and archae (known as archaebacteria). Most prokaryotic organisms are in the
group of Eubacteria. It has distinct characteristics compared to Archaebacteria. Eubacteria
and Archaebacteria are prokaryotes.

Prokaryote

Introduction

Prokaryotes are single-celled. Prokaryotic cells are smaller than eukaryotic cells, have no
nucleus and lack organelles. Fossils show that prokaryotes were already here on earth 3.5
billion years ago.

Structure

Many prokaryotic cells have sphere (coccus), rod (bacillus), or spiral shapes (spirillum).
There are also combinations of shapes, i.e coccus-basil and filament.

1
The Cell Wall

The cell wall protects the bacterium, gives its shape and prevents the cell from bursting
when it takes up water. It is composed of peptidoglycan - combination of proteins and
polysaccharides. Peptidoglycan is unusual in that it contains not only L-amino acids, the
type normally used to make proteins, but also D-amino acids ("mirror images" of the
L-amino acids).

Archea's cell walls are not composed of peptidoglycan, but include a similar molecule called
pseudopeptidoglycan.

Based on the difference of thickness of the peptidoglycan layers, bacteria can be grouped
into gram-positive and gram-negative.

1. Gram-positive bacteria are those that have thick peptidoglycan layers in the cell wall.
They will appear purple when stained with Gram stain.
2. Gram-negative bacteria are those that have thin peptidoglycan layers in the cell wall.
They will appear pink or red when stained with Gram stain.

2
The Capsule or Mucous Layer

Many prokaryotes have a sticky outermost layer called the capsule or mucous layer, which
is made of polysaccharides and water. If the layer is thick, it is called a capsule; otherwise it
is called a mucous layer. Both function to help bacteria attach to a surface or other bacteria
cell and may also protect against the host’s immune system.

The Plasma Membrane

Underneath the cell wall lies the plasma membrane. The plasma membrane is a membrane
that envelopes the cytoplasm. It is composed of phospholipids. The phospholipid is a lipid
composed of a glycerol molecule attached by a hydrophilic (water-attracting) phosphate
head and two hydrophobic (water-repelling) fatty acid tails. The phospholipids of a
eukaryotic or bacterial membrane are organized into two layers, forming a structure called
a phospholipid bilayer.

The plasma membranes of archaea have some unique properties, different from those of
both bacteria and eukaryotes. For instance, in some species, the opposing phospholipid
tails are joined into a single tail, forming a monolayer instead of a bilayer. This modification
may stabilize the membrane at high temperatures, allowing the archaea to live happily in
boiling hot springs.

In addition to consisting of monolayers in some cases, archaeal plasma membranes differ

from those of bacteria and eukaryotes in other ways. Below three main differences:

1. First, archaea have phospholipids with isoprenoid tails instead of fatty acid tails. The
isoprenoid tails are branched, and while the fatty acid tails are not.

3
 2. Second, the glycerol molecules used to make archaeal phospholipids are mirror
images of those used to make bacterial and eukaryotic phospholipids (when
considered in three-dimensional space). These forms of glycerol are enantiomers of
each other and are designated L-glycerol (found in archaea) and D-glycerol (found in
bacteria and eukaryotes).
3. Third, the bond that joins the glycerol molecule to isoprenoid tails in archaea is an
ether linkage. In bacteria (and eukaryotes), by contrast, the glycerol is joined to fatty
acid tails by an ester linkage.

The Cytoplasm

The cytoplasm is the cell liquid. Bacteria cytoplasm is not composed of many organelles like
in eukaryotes. It is composed of ribosomes, DNA, and storage granules.

The Ribosomes

Ribosomes are very small sub-cellular structures; they are the site of protein synthesis with
the help of RNA (Ribonucleic acid) molecules.

Appendages

Prokaryotic cells often have appendages (protrusions from the cell surface) that allow the
cell to stick to surfaces, move around, or transfer DNA to other cells.

4
Thin filaments called fimbriae (singular: fimbria), are used for adhesion-that is, they help
cells stick to objects and surfaces in their environment.

Longer appendages, called pili (singular: pilus), come in several types that have different
roles. For instance, a sex pilus holds two bacterial cells together and allows DNA to be
transferred between them in a process called conjugation (genetic material exchange).
Another class of bacterial pili, called type IV pili, help the bacterium move around its
environment.

The most common appendages used for getting around, however, are flagella (singular:
flagellum) or whiphair. These tail-like structures whip around like propellers to move
(motility) cells through a friendly environment. It is composed of proteins. There are several
types of bacteria with flagella: 1) Single flagellum (monotrichous), 2) Many flagellum on one
side (lophotrichous), 3) On or many on both tips (amphitrichous), 4) Distributed throughout
the surface of the cell (peritrichous).

Storage granulates

Storage granules act as storage for food.

Chlorosome

Chlorosome is a structure that is located right underneath the plasma membrane.

Chlorosomes contain chlorophyll and other pigments for photosynthesis.

Gas Vacuole

Gas Vacuole is found in aquatic and photosynthetic bacteria. It allows bacteria to float on
surface of water and obtains sunlight to photosynthesis.

5
Eubacteria

The word eubacteria is derived from the prefix eu (=true) and bacteria. Which are organisms
common to our daily lives. They can live in diverse habitats. In general, they live in humid or
watery environments, with temperatures ranging from 25-37°C.

Cell Characteristic

The size of bacterium cell is very diverse, ranging from 0.12 micrometers or microns to
hundreds of microns in diameter (1µm = 1/1,000 mm). However, the average size is 1 to 5
microns. Bacteria can be seen using a light or electron microscope. The smallest known
bacterium is 0.12 microns Mycoplasma, while the biggest is 200 microns Thiomargarita.

There are several basic shapes of bacteria. Coccus and bacillus bacteria may form a colony.
Colonies may have varying shapes, except spirillum bacteria that have a distinct shape of
the cells.

Coccus bacteria

1. Monococcus, (mono = single, coccus = spherical)

2. Diplococcus, doubled or coupled spherical bacteria.
3. Tetracoccus, four spherical bacteria forming a square
4. Sarcina, eight spherical bacteria forming a cube
5. Streptococcus, more than four spherical bacteria forming a long chain
6. Staphylococcus, more than four spherical bacteria clustering together like a stack of
grapes

Bacillus bacteria

1. Monobacillus, single rod shaped bacterium

2. Diplobacillus, two clustering rod-shaped bacteria
3. Streptobacillus, several rod shaped bacteria that cluster together forming a long
chain

Spirillum bacteria

6
 1. Spiral, a wavy-shaped bacteria
2. Spirochaeta, helically coiled bacteria
3. Vibrio, comma-shaped bacteria

Life Cycle

Based on the way bacteria obtain their food, they are classified into heterotrophic and
autotrophic bacteria. Mostly, bacteria are heterotrophic.

Heterotrophic Bacteria

Heterotrophic bacteria (Greek, hetero = other, trophos = eat) are bacteria that consume
organic substances from other organisms. There are two divisions of heterotrophic
bacteria: saprophytic bacteria (obtain their food from the remains of organisms or products
of organisms) and parasitic bacteria (obtain food from their hosts)

Autotrophic Bacteria

Autotrophic bacteria (Greek, auto = self, trophos = eat) are bacteria that are able to produce
their own food. They can be classified into two groups based on their source of energy to
synthesize food: photoautotrophic bacteria (use sunlight energy to produce food) and
chemoautotrophic bacteria (use chemical energy to synthesize food, which the chemical
change is obtained from oxidations reaction of inorganic substances).

Based on the need of oxygen to process food into energy, bacteria can be classified into:

Aerobic Bacteria

Aerobic are the bacteria need free oxygen to obtain energy

Anaerobic Bacteria

Anaerobic (the bacteria do not need free oxygen to obtain energy, energy is obtained from
the breaking down of organic substances without the presence of oxygen in a process
called fermentation. There are two types of anaerobic bacteria: obligate, which they only
live when oxygen is absent and facultative, which they can live either in the absent bacteria
or presence bacteria).

7
Reproduction

In general, bacteria reproduce assexually by cell division - bacteria cell division is binary
fission because every cell divides into two. Some bacteria also reproduce sexually by
changing genetic materials with other bacteria in a process called genetic or DNA
recombination. It results in two bacterium cells that each have genetic material
combinations of the parent cells.

1. Transformation is the entrance of naked DNA into a bacterium cell and changes its
characteristic.
2. Transduction is the exchange of genetic materials from one bacterium to another by
a mediator organism.
3. Conjugation is the exchange of genetic materials by direct contact between two cells
through the formation of ‘bridging’ structure. Generally, conjugation is done by
Gram-negative bacteria

Classification

There are five major subgroups of eubacteria

Proteobacteria

Proteobacteria is the biggest group of bacteria. It is grouped into photoautotrophic or

photoheterotrophic violet bacteria, and chemoautotrophic or chemoheterotrophic
proteobacteria.

Violet bacteria contain chlorophyll in the plasma membrane. Some kinds of violet bacteria
have flagella. Most violet bacteria are obligate anaerobes and live in pond debris, lake, or
mud.

Chemoautotrophic proteobacteria are free living or in symbiosis with other organisms.

Some have important roles in biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems, i.e. fixing nitrogen by
converting atmospheric N2 to nitrogen compounds that can be used by plants.
Chemoautotrophic proteobacteria are those that live in human and animal digestion tracts.
Mostly, they are rod-shaped and facultative anaerobes.

8
Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria are often called blue-green algae or mucous algae because they have
chlorophyll just like microscopic green algae. Meanwhile, the term mucous algae comes
from the mucous layer covering the cell wall. In some species of Cyanobacteria, the mucous
helps the bacteria to slide or glide. Cyanobacteria do not have structures for movement but
carry out photosynthesis.

Their size is approximately 1-60 µm. They can live solitary or in colonies. The shapes of the
colonies vary:
1) Thread-like cyanobacteria such as Anabaena have three main cells that have different
functions: a. Heterocyst [is a thick-walled cell to fix nitrogen], b. Akinete [is a thick-walled
cell to act as defense, and c. Baeocyte [ is a small spherical cell as products of reproduction,
it can also do photosynthesis].
2) Sheets cyanobacteria
3) Hollow balls

The cytoplasms of cyanobacteria do not have many organelles and nuclear membranes
(prokaryotic). The photosynthetic membrane (mesosome) contains chlorophyll, carotene,
and additional pigments such as blue phycocyanin, and red phycoerythrin.