Bacteria:

The Bacteria Cell

•Bacteria are EVERYWHERE!
And most bacteria are either harmless or helpful…

•Bacteria are prokaryotic –

…which means…?

•Prokaryotic cells can accomplish

all the tasks necessary for life.
 Bacteria and the Living World
(most bacteria are harmless or helpful)

Fuel
Food
• Methane is a gas
produced by • Do you like?:
archaebacteria during – Cheese
respiration – Yogurt
– Apple Cider
– Olives
– Sauerkraut
– Pickles
– Buttermilk
– Sour Cream
Then you like bacteria!
 Bacteria and the Living World
Natural Recycling Clean-up
• Bacteria are Decomposers • Bacteria are used to clean
• They also convert nitrogen up:
gas in the air into nitrogen – Oil-spills
that plants need to grow. – Gasoline leaks

Health and Medicine:

• They can keep you healthy!
- They help make insulin
- Help digestion
- Make vitamins
 Size of Bacteria
• Unit of measurement in bacteriology is the micron
(micrometre, µm)

• 1 micrometre (10-6)= 1/1000 mm = 1/10000 cm =

1/100000 metre

• 1 nanometer (10-9)= 1/1000 micrometer =

1/100000000 meter

• Bacteria of medical importance

– 0.2 – 1.5 µm in diameter
– 3 – 5 µm in length
 Introduction:
Based on the organization of their cellular structures, all living
cells can be divided into two groups: eukaryotic and
prokaryotic
– Eukaryotic cell types - Animals, plants, fungi, protozoans
– Prokaryotic cell types – bacteria

Prokaryotic Cells
• prokaryotes are molecules surrounded by a membrane and
cell wall.
• they lack a true nucleus and don’t have membrane bound
organelles like mitochondria, etc.
• large surface-to-volume ratio : nutrients can easily and rapidly
reach any part of the cells interior
Anatomy of a Bacterial Cell
 Anatomy of A Bacterial Cell
• Outer layer – two components:

1. Rigid cell wall

2. Cytoplasmic (Cell/ Plasma) membrane – present beneath
cell wall

• Cytoplasm – cytoplasmic inclusions, ribosomes,

mesosomes, genetic material

• Additional structures –capsule, flagella, fimbriae

(pili), spores
 Structure & Function of Cell Components
CELL WALL
• Outermost layer, encloses cytoplasm:
1.Confers shape and rigidity
2.10 - 25 nm thick
3.Composed of peptidoglycan
4.Chemical nature of the cell wall helps to
divide bacteria into two broad groups –
Gram positive & Gram negative
5.Carries bacterial antigens – important in
virulence & immunity – gm –ve cell wall
has lipopolysachhrides – fever and
necrosis
6.Several antibiotics may interfere with
cell wall synthesis e.g. Penicillin,
Cephalosporins
 Gram positive cell wall

The Gram-positive cell wall is composed of a thick,

multilayered peptidoglycan sheath outside of the cytoplasmic
membrane. Teichoic acids are linked to and embedded in the
peptidoglycan, and lipoteichoic acids extend into the
cytoplasmic membrane
 Gram negative cell wall

The Gram-negative cell wall is composed of an outer membrane

linked to thin, mainly single-layered peptidoglycan by
lipoproteins.The outer membrane includes porins, which allow
the passage of small hydrophilic molecules across the membrane,
and lipopolysaccharide molecules that extend into extracellular
space.
 Cytoplasmic (Plasma) membrane
• Thin layer 5-10 nm, separates cell wall from
cytoplasm

• Acts as a semipermeable membrane: controls the

inflow and outflow of metabolites

• Composed of lipoproteins with small amounts of

carbohydrates
 Other Cytoplasmic Components
• Ribosomes – protein synthesis

• Mesosomes –
1.Multilaminated structures formed as
invaginations of plasma membrane
2.Principal sites of respiratory enzymes

• Intracytoplasmic inclusions – reserve of energy &

phosphate for cell metabolism e.g. Metachromatic
granules in diphtheria bacilli
 Nucleus
• No nucleolus
• No nuclear membrane
• Genome –
– single, circular double stranded DNA.
Additional Organelles
1.Plasmid
– Extranuclear genetic elements consisting of DNA
– Transmitted to daughter cells
– Confer certain properties e.g. drug resistance,
toxicity
 Additional Organelles
2. Capsule:
– Viscous layer secreted around the cell wall.
– Polysaccharide / polypeptide in nature
– Capsule – sharply defined structure,
antigenic in nature
• Protects bacteria
• Stained by negative staining using India
Ink
3. Flagella
– Long (3 to 12 µm), filamentous surface
appendages .
– Organs of locomotion
Types of flagellar arrangement
Polar/ Monotrichous – single
flagellum at one pole

Lophotrichous – tuft of flagella at

one pole

Amphitrichous – flagella at both

poles

Peritrichous – flagella all over

Amphilophotrichous – tuft of
flagella at both ends
 Additional Organelles
4. Fimbriae / Pili :
– Thin, hair like appendages on the surface of
many Gram-negative bacteria

– 10-20µ long, acts as organs of adhesion

 Additional Organelles
5. Spores –
– Highly resistant resting stages
formed during adverse
environment (depletion of
nutrients)

– Formed inside the parent cell,

hence called Endospores

– Very resistant to heat,

radiation and drying and can
remain dormant for hundreds
of years.

– Formed by bacteria like

Clostridia, bacillus
 GROWTH AND MULTIPLICATION
Binary Fission
• DNA replication
• Plasma membrane invaginate
• Cell wall deposited in invaginated
space
• Cross wall completed
• Cells separate
 Binary Fission
• Light micrograph
Binary Fission
 Bacterial Growth Curve

Stationary phase

Death
phase

Log phase

Lag phase
1 5 10
Time (hours)
 G: Generation time
Time in minutes or hours for a population
of bacteria to double in number
Calculation of Generation Time
 Log Number
of Bacteria

Double
# cells Log phase

Generation time

1 5 10
Time (hours)
 GENERATION TIME / population doubling time
• E-coli – 20 min
• MTb - 20 hours
• Mleprae - 20 days

Minimum Growth requirements

• Water as a source of carbon
• Nitrogen source
• Inorganic salts like phosphate, sulphate,
sodium, potassium, iron etc – need to be
supplied in culture media
• Phototrophs – derive energy from sunlight
• Chemotrophs – from chemical reactions
• Autotrophs – synthesize organic compounds
• Heteretrophs – cannot synthesize, depend on
others.
Oxygen requirement
• Aerobic – V. cholera
• Anaerobic – Clostridia
Carbon dioxide
• All require
• Some like Brucella, req 5-10% k/a capnophilic
 Temperature
• Mesophilic – 25-40
• Psychrophilc - <20
• Thermophilic – 55-80
• Except thermophilic, most die at 50-60, k/a
thermal death point
Other factors
• Moisture
• pH