CELL STRUCTURE

As any beginning student of microbiology knows, bacteria

come in three basic models:
spherical (coccus), rod (bacillus), and spiral (spirillum).

 They do not possess a membrane-bound nucleus as do

eukaryotic microorganisms; therefore, they are
prokaryotic.

In addition to these basic types of bacteria, there are other

more specialized forms described as budding, sheathed,
and mycelial. Figure 1-1 presents a schematic
representation of a typical (meaning E. coli ) bacterial cell.
S-layer, outer membrane and cell wall
S-layer
A protein or glycoprotein layer is found on the surface of all prokaryotic
cells except mycoplasma. This is called an S-layer (Figure 2.3).
Functions of the S-layer are (1) protection from toxic compounds,
(2) adhesion to solid surfaces, (3) a phage receptor, (4) a physical
structure to maintain cell morphology, and (5) a binding site for
certain extracellular enzymes.
Outer membrane
Gram-negative bacteria are more resistant to lysozyme,
hydrolytic enzymes, bile salts and hydrophobic antibiotics
than Gram-positive bacteria. These properties are due to the
presence of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria
The outer membrane (OM) is different in structure from the
cytoplasmic membrane (CM).

The CM consists of phospholipids while lipopolysaccharide

(LPS) forms the outer leaflet of the OM with the inner leaflet composed
of phospholipids.
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) consists of three components: lipid A,
core polysaccharide and repeating polysaccharide (referred to as O-
antigen).
Lipopolysaccharide LPS
contains unique sugars
L-glycero-D-mannoheptose
(Hep) and 2-keto-3-
deoxyoctonate (KDO), and rare
sugars such as abequose (Abe)
and colitose (Col).
Galactose (Gal), glucose (Glc),
mannose (Man) and rhamnose
(Rha) can also be present.
Figure 2:3 Cell surface
structures of prokaryotic cells.
(a) Archaea, (b) Gram-positive
bacteria, (c) Gram-negative
bacteria.
S, S-layer; CM, cytoplasmic
membrane; CW, cell wall; OM,
outer membrane; PG,
Lipid A structure in Salmonella
typhimurium.
3-hydroxy fatty acids are bound to
glucosamine and the core
polysaccharide is linked to carbon 6
as indicated by the dotted line.

The structure of the outer

membrane of Gram negative
bacteria.
Omp A, outer membrane protein A.
Cell Wall.
In 1884, the Danish investigator Christian Gram devised a
differential stain based on the ability of certain bacterial cells to
retain the dye crystal violet after decoloration with 95% ethanol.
With a few exceptions, prokaryotic cells have a cell wall that
provides the physical strength to maintain their shapes. Murein is
the main component of the cell wall of bacteria.
The cell wall in Gram-negative bacteria is much thinner than in
Gram-positive bacteria, which have a complex cell wall with other
polymers and do not possess an outer membrane As shown in the
schematic drawings in Figure 1-3.
Cells that retained the stain were called gram positive.
The gram-positive cell surface has two major structures: the
cell wall and the cell membrane. The cell wall of gram-positive cells
is composed of multiple layers of peptidoglycan, which is a linear
polymer of alternating units of N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and N-
acetylmuramic acid (NAM).
A short peptide chain is attached to muramic acid.
Gram-positive bacteria do not have an outer membrane but have a
much thicker cell wall containing teichoic acid, lipoteichoic acid and
lipoglycan in addition to murein.
A common feature in bacterial cell walls is cross-bridging between
the peptide chains.
 Other components—for example, lipoteichoic acid (only present in
gram-positive organisms)—are synthesized at the membrane surface
and may extend through the peptidoglycan layer to the outer surface.
The peptidoglycan layer of a gram-negative cell is generally a single
monolayer.

An outer membrane surrounding the gram-negative cell is composed

of phospholipids, lipopolysaccharides, enzymes, and other proteins,
including lipoproteins.

The space between this outer membrane and the inner membrane is
referred to as the periplasmic space (Fig. 1-2).
Membranes:-
The cytoplasmic membrane of both gram-positive and gram-
negative cells is a lipid bilayer composed of phospholipids,
glycolipids, and a variety of proteins.
The proteins in the cytoplasmic membrane may extend through its
entire thickness.
Some of these proteins provide structural support to the membrane
while others function in the transport of sugars, amino acids, and
other metabolites.
The cytoplasmic membrane mediates not only these
functions but also other important physiological activities.
These include solute transport , oxidative phosphorylation
through electron transport, photosynthetic electron
transport in photosynthetic prokaryotes , maintenance
of electrochemical gradients and ATP synthesis , motility
, synthesis of cell surface structures and protein secretion .
The cytoplasmic membrane consists of phospholipid (35–50%) and
protein (50–65%). The phospholipid is responsible for the isolation
property of the membrane with the various proteins being involved in
the rest of the membrane functions.
Phospholipid forms both inner and outer leaflets of the cytoplasmic
membrane, but the membrane is asymmetrical due to proteins present
in the membrane. The phospholipid bilayer membrane is permeable to
hydrophobic solutes and water but not to charged solutes and polymers.
Membrane proteins transport these in and out of the cell. Though
water can diffuse through the membrane, the diffusion rate is too low
Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm refers to everything inside the cytoplasmic
membrane.
Cells are classified as prokaryotes or eukaryotes depending
on the possession of a nucleus. Eukaryotic cells have well-developed
intracellular organelles such as mitochondria, chloroplasts and
endoplasmic reticulum in addition to the nucleus. With only a few
exceptions, prokaryotic cells do not have subcellular organelles
within the cytoplasm.
Prokaryotic cytoplasm contains DNA, ribosomes, proteins, RNA,
salts and metabolites and is viscous due to the high concentration of
macromolecules
Some of these macromolecules form aggregates, while others are
soluble. The soluble part is called the cytosol.
Proteins in the cytoplasm are in high concentration and can interact
with each other to form a kind of network.
The enzymes involved in a particular metabolic process are adjacent
for their required interaction.
The term ‘metabolon’ has been proposed to describe such a set of
Capsules.
Some bacterial cells are covered with capsule or a slime layer
Capsules are composed of either polysaccharides (high molecular-
weight polymers of carbohydrates) or polymers of amino acids called
polypeptides (often formed from the D- rather than the L-isomer of an
amino acid).

 The capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae type III is composed of

glucose and glucuronic acid in alternating β-1, 3- and β-1, 4-
linkages.

This capsular polysaccharide, sometimes referred to as

pneumococcal polysaccharide, is responsible for the virulence of the
pneumococcus.

Bacillus anthracis, the anthrax bacillus, produces a polypeptide

capsule composed of D-glutamic acid subunits, which
is a virulence factor for this organism.
Capsules of Streptococcus pneumoniae
Flagella and pili
Motile prokaryotic cells have an appendage called a flagellum
(plural, flagella) involved in motility.
motility is accomplished by means of simple strands of
protein (flagellin) woven into helical organelles called flagella.
The bacterial flagellum consists of three parts. These are a basal
body, a hook and a filament (Figure ).
The basal body is embedded in the cytoplasmic membrane and cell
surface structure and connected to the filament through the hook.
The number and location of flagella vary depending on the bacterial
species.
A similar but smaller structure, the fimbria (plural, fimbriae).
Fimbriae are not involved in motility and are composed of proteins.
 Fimbriae consist of a major protein with minor proteins called
adhesins that facilitate bacterial attachment to surfaces by
recognizing
the appropriate receptor molecules.
The fimbria, also known as the pilus (plural, pili), is observed in
many Gram-negative bacteria but rarely in Gram-positive bacteria.
 Fimbriae have been proposed as the fibrils that mediate attachment
to surfaces. For this reason, the term pilus should be used only to
describe the F-pilus, the structure that mediates conjugation.