ACELLULAR AND PROKARYOTIC

MICROBES
CATEGORIES OF MICROORGANISMS
-Microbes can be divided into those that are truly
cellular (bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa, and
fungi) and those that are acellular (viruses, viroids,
and prions).
-Cellular microbes (microorganisms) can be divided
into those that are procaryotic (bacteria and archaea)
and those that are eucaryotic (algae, protozoa, and Viruses have 5 properties that distinguish them from
fungi). living cells:
-Viruses, viroids and prions are often referred to as 1. They possess either DNA or RNA – living cells
acellular microbes or infectious particles. possess both.
2. They are unable to replicate on their own.
3. Unlike cells, they do not divide by binary fission,
mitosis, or meiosis.
4. They lack the genes and enzymes necessary for
energy production.
5. They depend on the ribosomes, enzymes, and
metabolites of the host cell for protein and nucleic
acid production.

VIRUSES
There are 4 categories of viruses, based on the type
of nucleic acid that they possess. Most viral
genomes are of the first two types.
ACELL
-Double-stranded DNA viruses
ULAR MICROBES
-Single-stranded RNA viruses
VIRUSES
-Single-stranded DNA viruses
-Complete virus particles are called virions.
-Double-stranded RNA viruses
-Most viruses are from 10 to 300 nm in diameter.
Most viral genomes are circular molecules, but
-Viruses infect humans, animals, plants, fungi,
some are linear.
protozoa, algae and bacterial cells.
-Some viruses, called oncogenic viruses or
oncoviruses, cause specific types of cancer.
-A typical virion consists of a genome of either
DNA or RNA, surrounded by a capsid (protein coat)
which is composed of protein units called
capsomeres.
-Some viruses (enveloped viruses) have an outer
envelope composed of lipids and polysaccharides.
 HERPESVIRUSES acquiring their envelopes as
VIRUSES ARE CLASSIFIED BY: they leave a host cell’s nucleus by budding.
-Type of genetic material (either DNA or RNA)
-Shape and size of capsid
-Number of capsomeres
-Presence or absence of an envelope
-Type of host it infects
-Disease it produces
-Target cell(s) -Immunologic/antigenic properties

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ACELLULAR MICROBES: VIRUSES

ORIGIN OF VIRUSES
COEVOLUTION THEORY - coevolved with
bacteria and Archaea from the primordial soup
RETROGRADE EVOLUTION THEORY –
viruses evolved from free-living prokaryotes that
invaded other living organisms, and gradually lost
functions which were provided by the host cell
ESCAPED GENE THEORY – viruses are a piece
of host cell RNA or DNA that have escaped from
living cells and are no longer under cell control --
currently most widely accepted
VIRAL NUCLEOCAPSIDS AND ENVELOPES
BACTERIOPHAGES
-Viruses that infect bacteria are known as
bacteriophages or simply phages.
-There are two categories of bacteriophages:
virulent bacteriophages and temperate
bacteriophages.
-Virulent bacteriophages always cause what is
known as the lytic cycle, which ends with the
destruction of the bacterial cell.
-The 5 steps in the lytic cycle are attachment,
penetration, biosynthesis, assembly, and release.

Bacteriophages
-Categorized based on shape, nucleic acid, and
events that occur after entry into a host cell
Shape: icosahedron, filamentous, complex
Nucleic acid: ss DNA, ds DNA, ss RNA, ds RNA
Events: virulent vs temperate
A partially lysed cell of VIBRIO CHOLERAE -The cause of acquired immunodeficiency
with attached virions of phage CP-T1. syndrome (AIDS).
-It is an enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus.
-The primary targets for HIV are CD4+ cells.
HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS
(HIV)

-The bacteriophage T4 is an assembly of protein

components.
-Viral DNA enters the cell through the core.

ANIMAL VIRUSES

The steps in multiplication of animal viruses are: VIROIDS AND PRIONS

-Attachment -Viroids and Prions (smaller and less complex
-Penetration infectious particles than viruses)
-Uncoating VIROIDS
-Biosynthesis -Viroids are short, naked fragments of single-
-Assembly stranded RNA, which can interfere with the
-Release metabolism of plant cells.
Animal viruses escape from their host cells either -Viroids are transmitted between plants in the same
by lysis of the cell or budding. Viruses that escape manner as viruses.
by budding become enveloped viruses. -Examples of plant diseases caused by viroids:
potato spindle tuber and citrus exocortis.
Temperate bacteriophages (lysogenic phages)
PRIONS
-Do not immediately initiate the lytic cycle
-Prions are small infectious proteins that cause fatal
-Instead, integrates their DNA into the bacterial cell
neurologic diseases in animals; examples: Scrapie,
chromosome
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (“Mad Cow
-Phage switches to lytic cycle as a result of
Disease”) and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.
environmental clues
-Of all pathogens, prions are the most resistant to
disinfectants.
LATENT VIRUS INFECTIONS -The mechanism by which prions cause disease
-Viral infections in which the virus is able to hide remains a mystery.
from a host’s immune system by entering cells and -White tail deer prions
remaining dormant.
-Herpes viral infections are examples. -
-Once acquired, herpes virus infections (e.g., those Prions are small infectious proteins that cause fatal
that cause cold sores, genital herpes, and neurologic diseases in animals and humans
chickenpox/shingles) never completely go away; for -Scrapie
example, chickenpox may be followed, years later, -mad cow disease
by shingles - both the result of the same virus. -Kuru
-Creutzfeldt–Jacob disease
-Fatal Familial insomnia
ANTIVIRAL AGENTS
-Antibiotics are not effective against viral (All are fatal spongiform encephalopathies)
infections.
-Of all pathogens, prions are the most resistant to
-Antiviral agents are drugs that are used to treat
disinfectants.
viral infections.
-The mechanism by which prions cause disease
-These agents interfere with virus-specific enzymes
remains a mystery.
and virus production by disrupting critical phases in
viral multiplication or inhibiting synthesis of viral
DOMAIN BACTERIA: CHARACTERISTICS
DNA, RNA, or proteins.
BERGEY’S MANUAL OF SYSTEMATIC
BACTERIOLOGY
ONCOGENIC VIRUSES OR ONCOVIRUSES -Bacteriologist’s “bible”
-Viruses that cause cancer. -Domain bacteria contains
-Examples include Epstein-Barr virus, human 23 phyla
papillomaviruses, and HTLV-1. 32 classes
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) 5 subclasses
77 orders

SEM of STREPTOCOCCUS MUTANS

14 suborders illustrating cocci in chains.
182 families
871 genera
5,007 species
-This may only account for <1% to a few percent of
the total number of bacteria present in nature

THE DOMAIN BACTERIA

CHARACTERISTICS

-Bacteria are divided into 3 major phenotypic

categories:
-Those that are Gram-negative and have a cell wall BACILLI
-Those that are Gram-positive and have a cell wall -Often referred to as rods
-Those that lack a cell wall (Mycoplasma spp.) -They may occur singly, in pairs (diplobacilli), in
-Characteristics of bacteria used in classification chains (streptobacilli), etc.
and identification include: cell morphology, staining -Extremely short bacilli are called coccobacilli.
reactions, motility, colony morphology, atmospheric -Examples of medically important bacilli:
requirements, nutritional requirements, biochemical Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Proteus spp.,
and metabolic activities, enzymes that the organism Pseudomonas, Haemophilus, and Bacillus spp.
produces, pathogenicity, and genetic composition.

THE DOMAIN BACTERIA (CELL

MORPHOLOGY)

There are 3 basic categories of bacteria, based on

shape:
-Cocci (round bacteria)
-Bacilli (rod-shaped bacteria)
-Curved and spiral-shaped bacteria
-Cocci may be seen singly or in pairs (diplococci),
chains (streptococci), clusters (staphylococci),
packets of 4 (tetrads), or packets of 8 (octads). Curve (comma shaped)
-The average coccus is about 1 µm in diameter. -Medically relevant example: Vibrio
-Some cocci have “coccus” in their name. -usually occur single, but some may form pairs
Spiral shape – called spirochetes
CATEGORIES OF BACTERIA BASED ON THE -Vary in length, rigidity, size, number and amplitude
SHAPE OF THEIR CELLS
of their coils, and tightness of coils
-Treponema pallidum (syphilis), Borrelia (Lyme
disease)
-Shape can be lost due to adverse growth conditions
-Some bacteria can exist in a variety of shapes
(pleomorphic)

Curved and Spiral-Shaped Bacteria

-Examples of curved bacteria:
Vibrio spp.
Campylobacter spp.
MORPHOLOGIC ARRANGEMENTS OF
COCCI Helicobacter spp.
Gram-positive STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS -Examples of spiral-shaped bacteria:
in clusters. Treponema spp.
Borrelia spp.
Spiral-Shaped Bacteria VARIOUS GRAM-POSITIVE BACTERIA
BORRELIA HERMSII in a stained blood smear; a
cause of relapsing fever.
Chains of STREPTOCOCCI in
smear from broth culture.

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DOMAIN 2011 Wolters
BACTERIA
STAINING PROCEDURES STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE in
Three Major Categories of Staining Procedures blood culture.
1.Simple stains
2.Structural staining procedures
-Capsule stains
-Spore stains
-Flagella stains
3.Differential staining procedures
-Gram and acid-fast staining procedures

-Bacterial smears must be fixed prior to staining

-The fixation process serves to kill organisms, A bacillus, CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS,
preserve their morphology, and anchors the smear to in a smear from a broth culture.
the slide
-The two most common types of fixation:
-Heat-fixation; not a standardized technique; excess
heat will distort bacterial morphology
-Methanol-fixation; a standardized technique; the
preferred method

THE GRAM STAINING PROCEDURE CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI in a smear from

-Divides bacteria into 2 major groups: a broth culture (note terminal spores on some cells).
Gram-positive (bacteria are blue-to-purple)
Gram-negative (bacteria are pink-to-red)
-The final Gram reaction (positive or negative)
depends upon the organism’s cell wall structure.
-The cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria have a
thick layer of peptidoglycan, making it difficult to
remove the crystal violet-iodine complex.
-Gram-negative organisms have a thin layer of
peptidoglycan, making it easier to remove the Copyright © 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health |

crystal violet; the cells are subsequently stained

GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA
with safranin.
Gram-negative BACILLI in a smear
from a bacterial colony.
Loosely coiled Gram-negative COLONY MORPHOLOGY
SPIROCHETES, BORRELIA BURGDORFERI, -A bacterial colony contains millions of organisms.
the cause of Lyme disease. -Colony morphology (appearance of the colony)
varies from one species to another.
-Colony morphology includes: size, color, overall
shape, elevation, and the appearance of the edge or
margin of the colony.
-Colony morphology also includes the results of
enzymatic activity on various types of media.
-As is true for cell morphology and staining
characteristics, colony morphology is an important
“clue” to the identification of bacteria.
-Some bacteria are neither consistently purple nor -Size of colonies is determined by the organism’s
pink after Gram staining; they are known as Gram- generation time and is another important
variable bacteria; example, Mycobacterium spp. characteristic of a particular bacterial species.
-Mycobacterium spp. are often identified using the
acid-fast stain. ATMOSPHERIC REQUIREMENTS
-The acid-fast stain -Bacteria can be classified on the basis of their
-Carbol fuchsin is the red dye that is driven through atmospheric requirements, including their
the bacterial cell wall relationship to O2 and CO2
-Heat is used to soften the waxes in the cell wall -With respect to O2, bacterial isolates can be
-Because mycobacteria are not decolorized by the classified as:
acid-alcohol mixture, they are said to be acid-fast Obligate aerobes
Microaerophilic aerobes
Facultative anaerobes
DOMAIN BACTERIA
Aerotolerant anaerobes
ACID-FAST MYCOBACTERIA
Obligate anaerobes
Many acid-fast MYCOBACTERIA in a liver -Capnophilic organisms grow best in the presence
biopsy. of increased concentrations of CO2 (usually 5 to
10%)

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Acid-fast BACILLI in a digested sputum specimen.

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MOTILITY
-If a bacterium is able to “swim,” it is said to be
motile.
-Bacterial motility is most often associated with
flagella.
-Most spiral-shaped bacteria and about 50% of
bacilli are motile; cocci are generally nonmotile.
-Motility can be demonstrated by stabbing the
bacteria into a tube of semisolid medium or by
using the hanging-drop technique.
NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RICKETTSIA PROWAZEKII, the cause of
epidemic louseborne typhus.
-All bacteria need some form of the elements
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus, and
nitrogen for growth.
-Some bacteria require special elements (e.g.,
calcium, iron, or zinc).
-Organisms with especially demanding nutritional
requirements are said to be fastidious (“fussy”).
-The nutritional needs of a particular organism are Copyright © 2011
usually characteristic for that species and are MYCOPLASMAS
sometimes important clues to its identity. -Smallest of the cellular microbes
-Lack a cell wall and therefore assume many shapes
BIOCHEMICAL AND METABOLIC (they are pleomorphic)
ACTIVITIES -In humans, pathogenic mycoplasmas cause primary
-As bacteria grow, they produce many waste atypical pneumonia and genitourinary infections
products and secretions, some of which are -Because they have no cell wall, they are resistant to
enzymes. drugs like penicillin that attack cell walls
-Pathogenic strains of many bacteria, like
staphylococci and streptococci, can be tentatively SEM of MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE
identified by the enzymes they secrete.
-In particular environments, some bacteria produce
gases such as carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide.
-To identify bacteria in the lab, they are inoculated
into various substrates (i.e., carbohydrates and
amino acids) to determine whether they possess the
enzymes necessary to break down those substrates.

PATHOGENICITY
-Many pathogens are able to cause disease because
they possess capsules, pili, or endotoxins, or
because they secrete exotoxins and exoenzymes PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA
that damage cells and tissues. -Photosynthetic bacteria include purple bacteria,
-Frequently, pathogenicity is tested by injecting the green bacteria, and cyanobacteria; they all use light
organism into mice or cell cultures. as an energy source, but not in the same way.
-Examples of some common pathogenic bacteria: -Purple and green bacteria do not produce oxygen,
Neisseria meningitidis, Salmonella typhi, Shigella whereas cyanobacteria do.
spp., Vibrio cholerae, Yersina pestis, Treponema Photosynthesis that produces oxygen is called
pallidum oxygenic photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis that does not produce oxygen is
called anoxygenic photosynthesis.
GENETIC COMPOSITION
-Laboratory identification of bacteria is moving
toward analyzing the organism’s DNA or RNA. THE DOMAIN ARCHAEA
-The composition of the genetic material (DNA) of -Archaea (meaning ancient) were discovered in
an organism is unique to each species. 1977; they are procaryotic organisms.
-Through the use of 16S rRNA sequencing, the -Archaea: some live in extreme environments, such
degree of relatedness between 2 different bacteria as extremely acidic, extremely hot, or extremely
can be determined. salty environments.
-Archaea possess cell walls, but their cell walls do
not contain peptidoglycan (in contrast, all bacterial
UNIQUE BACTERIA cell walls contain peptidoglycan).
-Rickettsias, chlamydias, and mycoplasmas are
bacteria, but they are not typical bacterial cells.
-Rickettsias and chlamydias have a Gram-negative
type of cell wall and are obligate intracellular
pathogens (i.e., they must live within a host cell;
they cannot grow on artificial culture media).
-Rickettsias have “leaky membranes.”
-Chlamydias are “energy parasites,” meaning they
prefer to use ATP molecules produced by their host
cell.