GRAM-POSITIVE

BACTERIA

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 Bacteria

Gram positive Gram negative

• Cocci: • Cocci: Neisseria
• Staphylococcus, Streptococcus • Bacilli:
• Bacilli: • Pseudomonas
• Bacillus • Escherichia
• Clostridium • Haemophilus
• Corynebacterium • Salmonella
• Vibrio
• Brucella
• Shigella
• Klebsiella
• Proteus

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 • Most bacteria grow independently in host tissues and are thus exposed to potentially opsonizing
antibodies.
• Opsonin- extracellular protein
• Opsonization – coating of pathogens with antibodies in order to increase their susceptibility to
ingestion by phagocytes

• However, some bacteria have developed strategies to grow within human host cells, thus being
protected from antibodies.

Facultative Intracellular Organisms:

• Most facultative intracellular bacteria are phagocytosed by immune cells but secrete factors which
prevent their destruction once inside the phagosome.
• Remarkably, facultative intracellular organisms can replicate within the phagosome. This capacity
exists in addition to the ability to replicate outside of host cells.

Obligate Intracellular Parasites:

• Unlike facultative intracellular organisms, these bacteria can only replicate inside host cells.
• This is because these organisms cannot generate their own ATP and must parasitize this energy
source from host cells.
• The forms of these organisms which exist outside of host cells are purely infectious and cannot
replicate independently.
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 •No outer membrane. Gram-
positive bacteria don’t have an outer
membrane, but gram-negative
bacteria do.

•Complex cell wall.

•surrounds the cytoplasmic membrane
•consists of peptidoglycan,
polysaccharides, teichoic acids, and
proteins
•It can easily absorb foreign material.
•Thick peptidoglycan layer
the peptidoglycan is 40 to 80 layers thick.

•Certain surface appendages. Gram-

positive bacteria may have flagella, which
help them move. They rarely have hair-
like structures called pili.
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GRAM POSITIVE
COCCI

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There are two medically important genera of gram-positive
cocci:
Staphylococcus
Streptococcus

• Staphylococci and streptococci are non-motile and do

not form spores.
• Both Staphylococci and Streptococci are Gram-positive
cocci, but they are distinguished by two main criteria:

1. Microscopically, Staphylococci appear in grapelike

clusters, whereas Streptococci are in chains.

2.Biochemically, Staphylococci produce catalase (i.e., they

degrade hydrogen peroxide), whereas Streptococci do not.

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 CATALASE NEGATIVE:
No bubbles are formed

CATALASE POSITIVE:
Bubbles are formed

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 COAGULASE NEGATIVE:
No clot formed on slide (left) or tube (right) tests

COAGULASE POSITIVE:
Clots/clumps formed on slide (left) or tube (right) tests

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Hemolytic activity

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Streptococcus
❑ Streptococci bacteria are common pathogenic bacteria.

•S. pneumoniae

pneumonia

Streptococcus pneumoniae
❑ common cause of community-
acquired pneumonia.
❑ sinus infections
•pink eye ❑ meningitis 18
Streptococcus pyogenes
• S. pyogenes is a group A streptococci.
• It can cause:
•strep throat
•cellulitis
•pharyngitis
•impetigo
•scarlet fever
•rheumatic fever
•necrotizing fasciitis
•glomerulonephritis

•scarlet fever
•impetigo •rheumatic fever 19
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Staphylococcus

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STAPHYLOCOCCUS
Diseases

Staphylococcus aureus causes

❑ Abscesses
❑ various pyogenic infections (e.g., endocarditis, septic arthritis,
and osteomyelitis)
❑ food poisoning
❑ scalded skin syndrome
❑ toxic shock syndrome.
❑ It is one of the most common causes of hospital-acquired
pneumonia, septicemia, and surgical-wound infections.
❑ skin and soft tissue infections, such as folliculitis cellulitis, and
impetigo
❑ bacterial conjunctivitis.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most

common cause of skin abscesses in the United States. It is also
an important cause of pneumonia, necrotizing fasciitis, and sepsis
in immunocompetent patients.
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•scalded skin syndrome

•endocarditis

•septic arthritis 25
Gram-positive cocci
❑ Gram-positive cocci are circular or oval in shape.
❑ The term “cocci,” which means sphere, indicates
the bacteria are generally round.

Staphylococcus
❑ Staphylococcus grows in grape-like clusters.
❑ Normally, they exist on our skin and mucous
membranes without causing problems. But if
staphylococci enter the body, they can
cause serious infections.

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Staphylococcus epidermidis
• causes infections in people with weakened
immune systems or who are in the hospital. It
causes:
•infections of medical devices like urinary catheters
•bacteremia
•mediastinitis
•surgical site infections
•eye keratitis
•endophthalmitis (inner eye infection)

Staphylococcus saprophyticus
• normally found in the genital tract and perineum. It
causes:
•uncomplicated urinary tract infections (most
common)
•urethritis
•prostatitis
•acute pyelonephritis
•epididymitis
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Micrococcus

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GRAM POSITIVE RODS

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 Gram-positive bacilli

Spore-forming Non-spore-forming
• Bacillus are aerobic • Listeria bacteria are anaerobic
• Clostridia are anaerobic • Corynebacterium are aerobic.
Gram-positive bacilli
• shaped like rods, they’re known as bacilli.
• Most of these bacteria are typically found on the skin, but some can
cause serious medical conditions. 32
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Endospore enables an organism to resist extreme environmental conditions such as:

▪ Temperature
▪ Dry environment
▪ UV radiation
▪ Strong acids and bases
▪ Oxidizing agents
▪ Extremes of both vacuum and ultrahigh hydrostatic pressure

The resistance of spore is attributed to following factors:

- The presence of high content of calcium-dipicolinate which stabilizes and protect the DNA
- DNA-binding proteins protect DNA from heat, drying, chemicals, and radiation
- Dehydration that results in resistance to heat and radiation

• DNA repair enzymes are able to repair damaged DNA during germination
• These resistant structures survive heating to 150°C although mostly killed at 121°C
in moist medium.
• They can remain dormant for immense periods of time, perhaps even millions of
years.
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Bacillus
• As spore-forming bacteria, bacilli
produced spores that release toxins.
• Most bacilli aren’t pathogenic to
humans, but the following two can
cause severe medical conditions.
1. Bacillus cereus
2. Bacillus anthracis

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Bacillus cereus
• a spore-forming bacterium that’s found in the soil and some foods.
• It’s most associated with illness due to eating undercooked or reheated rice.
• B. cereus causes:
➢ diarrhea
➢ nausea
➢ wound infections
➢ respiratory infections
➢ endophthalmitis

endophthalmitis
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Bacillus anthracis
• B. anthracis spores produce the anthrax toxin, which
causes serious illness.
• Humans can get anthrax through inhalation of
endospores or contact with infected animals (cattle &
sheep).
• Depending on how anthrax is spread, it can cause a
variety of symptoms. These may include:
➢ itchy bump that turns into a sore with black center
➢ vomiting
➢ abdominal pain
➢ coughing up blood
➢ high fever

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Clostridium

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 psychrophiles

aerotolerant

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Clostridium tetani

sustained spasm of the facial muscles that appears to produce

grinning

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Clostridium botulinum
• The spores of C. botulinum produce the botulinum toxin, the most
dangerous toxin to humans.
• It leads to botulism, including:
➢ foodborne botulism (most common)
➢ infant botulism
➢ wound botulism
➢ inhalation botulism

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Clostridium perfringens
Morphology

▪ Gram positive bacilli

▪ Pleomorphic, filamentous and involution form are
common
▪ Capsulated
▪ Non-motile
▪ Spores – central or subterminal

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 Clostridium perfringens

Gas gangrene

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 Clostridium difficile
❑ C. difficile, also called C. diff, usually affects older
individuals in hospital.

❑ C. difficile causes pseudomembranous colitis- swelling or

inflammation of the large intestine (colon) due to an
overgrowth of C. difficile.

❑ This infection is a common cause of diarrhea after

antibiotic use

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Clostridium
Species of the bacteria are used commercially:

• to produce ethanol (Clostridium thermocellum)

• to produce acetone (Clostridium acetobutylicum),
• convert fatty acids to yeasts and propanediol
(Clostridium diolis).

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 Listeria
• Facultative anaerobic bacteria
• Motile- flagella, non-spore forming
• The only pathogenic Listeria bacteria is L.
monocytogenes.
• In healthy people, it typically causes mild symptoms of
foodborne illness. But in people with weakened immune
systems, the bacterium can cause life-threatening
conditions like:
• Listeriosis – serious infections – eating food
contaminated with L. monocytogenes.
• Meningitis: inflammation of the protective membranes
covering the brain & spinal cord
• Septicemia/ sepsis : blood poisoning by bacteria

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Corynebacterium

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Corynebacterium diphtheriae

• There are about 30 Corynebacterium bacteria associated with human

disease.
• C. diphtheria is the primary pathogenic organism in this group. It’s
responsible for:
➢ Diphtheria - a serious infection caused by strains of bacteria called
Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make toxin (poison).
➢ pharyngitis
➢ respiratory infections
➢ septic arthritis
➢ cutaneous infections

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