MICROBIAL NUTRITION

- Requirements for microbial growth

 Nutrients (balanced mixture of nutrients)

 Appropriate environmental factors
 Energy
I. Nutrients
Substances used for biosynthesis of CHO, lipids, protein (cellular components) and nucleic acid
and energy production(ATP)
 Macro elements/macronutrient (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur,
phosphorous, calcium, magnesium and iron)
 Trace elements/micronutrient (manganese, zinc, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel and
copper) : act as cofactors for essential enzymatic reactions in the cell
 Growth factors are organic compounds required because they are essential cell
components or precursors of cell components and cannot be synthesized by certain
microorganism (fastidious M.O’s) (because they lack one or more essential enzymes)
o Purines and pyrimidines: required for synthesis of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA)
o Amino acids: required for the synthesis of proteins
o Vitamins: needed as coenzymes and functional groups of certain enzymes.

Element % of dry weight of cell Source Function

Carbon 50 Organic cpds or CO2 Main constituent of
cellular -material

Oxygen 20 H2O, Organic cpds, Constituent of cell

CO2 and O2 material and cell water;
02 is electron acceptor
in aerobic respiration
Nitrogen 14 NH3, NO3, organic Constituent of amino
cpds, N2 acids, nucleic , acids ,
nucleotides,and
coenzymes
Hydrogen 8 H2O, Organic cpds, H2 Main constituent of
organic compounds and
cell water
Phosphorus 3 Inorganic Constituent of nucleic
phosphates(PO4) acids, nucleotide,
phospholipids,
lipopolysaccharide(LPS),
teichoic acids
Sulfur 1 SO4,H2S,SO, Organic Constituent of cysteine,
sulphur cpds methionine,
glutathione, several
coenzymes
Potassium 1 Potassium salts Main cellular inorganic
cation and cofactor for
certain enzymatic
reactions
magnesium 0.5 Magnesium salts Inorganic cellular
cation, cofactor for
certain enzymatic
reaction
Calcium 0.5 Calcium salts Inorganic cellular
cation, cofactor for
certain enzyme and
component of
endospores
Iron 0.2 Iron salt Component of
cytochromes and
certain non-heme iron-
proteins and a cofactor
for some enzymatic
reactions
Classification of microorganisms based on carbon and energy sources

-Carbon sources

 Heterotrophs
Organisms that use reduced, preformed organic molecules (glucose) from other
organisms as a carbon sources
 Autotrophs
Organisms that use co2 as a sole or principal carbon source

-Energy sources

 Phototrophs
Organisms that use light as energy source
 Chemotrophs
Organisms obtain energy from oxidation of inorganic/organic compounds

Most pathogenic M.O’s are chemoheterotrophs (organic compounds as carbon and energy sources)

Auxotroph: Mutant strains of microorganism that require some growth factor not needed by the wild
type (parent) strain

Vitamin Coenzyme form Function

p-Aminobenzoic acid - Precursor for the biosynthesis of folic
(PABA) acid
Folic acid Tetrahydrofolate Transfer of one-carbon units and
required for synthesis of thymine,
purine bases, serine, methionine, and
pantothenate
Niacin (Nicotinic acid) NAD (nicotinarnidc Electron carrier in dehydrogenation
adeninedinucleotide) and NADP reactions
(nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
phosphate)

Pyridoxiue (B6) Pyridoxal phosphate Transamination, deamination, and

Riboflavin (B2) FMN (flavin mononucleotide)
and
FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide)
Thiamine (Bl) Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)
decarboxylation of amino acids
Oxidation-reduction reactions , (carry
electron or hydrogen atoms)
Decarboxylation of keto acids and
transaminase reactions

Cyanocobalamin Cobalamin coupled to adenine Transfer of methyl groups in one

(Vitamin 812) nucleoside carbon metabolism

Vitamin K Quinones and napthoquinones Electron transport processes

 II. Environmental factors

Oxygen

1. Obligate aerobes
Require o2 for growth (completely dependent on atmospheric o2 for growth)
O2 serves as the terminal electron acceptor for the electron transport chain in aerobic
respiration.
e.g. pseudomonas spp., myocobacterium spp.
2. Obligate anaerobes
Do not need or use o2 . in fact, o2 is toxic substance, which either kills or grows better in its
absence.
e.g. clostridium spp., bacteroides spp.
3. Facultative anaerobes
Does not require o2 for growth, but grows better in its presence
e.g. E.coli, enterococcus spp
4. Aerotolerant anaerobes
Grows equally well in the presence or absence of o2
e.g. Streptococcus pyogenes
5. Microaerophiles
Requires o2 levels below the range of 2 to 10% for growth and is damaged by atmospheric o2
(20%)
e.g. campylobacter and helicobacter spp.

Oxygen detoxifying enzymes reacting in response to o2

 Superoxide dismutase (SOD)

 Catalase
 Peroxidase
 Enzymes detoxify toxic oxygen radicals that are generated by living systems in the
presence of o2. The distribution of these enzymes in cells determines their ability to exist
in the presence of o2.

Toxic oxygen radicals

 o2 + e- = o2- (superoxide radicals)

 o-2 + e- = H2O2(hydrogen peroxide)
 H2O2 + e-+ H+ = H2o + OH- (hydroxyl radical)

Temperature

 Psychrophiles: grow well at 0oc (cold loving) and has an optimum growth temp of 15oc or lower
 Psychrotroph: grow 0-7oc (20-30oc, maximum 35oc)
 Mesophiles: grow at 30-37oc (most pathogenic M.O’s)
 Thermophiles: can grow at 50oc or higher; optimum often between 55 and 65oc
 Extreme thermophiles or hyperthermophiles: grow between 80-115 oc

PH or hydrogen ion concentration (H+)

 Acidophiles: growth optimum between PH 0 and 5.5

 Neutrophils: growth optimum between PH (5.5-8.0)
 Alkalophiles: growth optimum between PH (8.5-11.5)
 Extreme alkalophiles: growth optimum at PH 10 or higher
Salt(NaCl)

 Mild halophiles: 1-6%NaCl

 Moderate halophiles: 6-15%NaCl
 Extreme halophiles: 15-30%NaCl
III. energy

Energy is the capacity to do work(chemical, transport and mechanical works) or cause particular
changes.

Chemical work: involves the synthesis of complex biological molecules required by cells from much
simpler molecules.

Transport work: involves uptake of nutrients, eliminate wastes, and maintain ion balances.

Mechanical work: involves change of the physical location of organisms, cells and structures within cells

Energy yielding processes

 fermentation
 respiration (aerobic and anaerobic) (cell membrane vs. mitochondria)
 photosynthesis: plants

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is formed during energy yielding processes. ATP break down to ADP and
phosphate (pi) makes chemical, transport, and mechanical work possible.
 Uptake of nutrients by the cell

Uptake mechanisms of nutrients through cell/plasma membrane

1. passive/simple diffusion
 movement of molecules from high concentration to low concentration across plasma
membrane
 no energy/concentration gradient/ transport protein is required
 small molecules such as H20, 02 and co2 often moves across membranes by passive
diffusion.
 Larger molecules, ions and polar substances do not cross membrane by passive diffusion
2. facilitated diffusion
 transport of solutes in and out of the cell as regulated by a carrier membrane protein
(permeases)
3. Group translocation
 chemical modification of a molecule needed and energy is required
 many CHO’s are transported by this system through phosophorylation(glucose, fructose,
mannitol, sucrose etc…)

e.g. glucose modified to glucose-6-phosphate

mannitol modified to mannitol-1-phosphate

4. active transport
 transport of molecules to higher concentrations or against concentration gradient with
the use of energy (without modification of molecules)
 membrane carrier proteins needed
 gradients of protons (H+) and sodium ions also drive solute uptake across membranes
iron uptake

 iron required for cytochromes (electron transport) and many enzymes.

 Iron binding proteins (siderophore) plan an important role for iron uptake and able to form
complex with ferric iron (fe3+) and reduced to the ferrous form (fe2+)
 E.g. aerobactin/enterobactin
 Chromosomal/plasmid encoded