BACTERIAL CELL

INTRODUCTION
• All living cells are classified as;
1. Prokaryotic - single celled organism e.g bacteria
2. Eukaryotic- plants, animals, fungi, and protists (such as
malaria parasite).
 PROKARYOTES VS EUKARYOTES
Features Prokaryotic cells Eukaryotic cells

Size 0.5-3.0 um ≥ 5 um in diameter

Cell wall Peptidoglycan No peptidoglycan layer

Nucleus No nuclear membrane Classic membrane

Single, circular DNA haploid Strands of DNA diploid

Chromosome
genome genome

Reproduction Asexual (binary fission) Sexual and asexual

 PROKARYOTES VS EUKARYOTES

Cytoplasmic structures Prokaryotic cells Eukaryotic cells

Does not contain sterols

Cytoplasmic membrane Contains sterols
(except mycoplasma)

Ribosomes 70S 80S

Mitochondria Absent Present

Endoplasmic reticulum Absent Present

Chloroplasts Absent May be present
SHAPES OF PATHOGENIC BACTERIA
Bacterial shape Examples
Comma “Curved” Shaped Vibrio cholerae
Coccobacilli Haemophilus influenzae

Grape like clusters Staphylococci

Lancet-shaped cocci Streptococcus pneumoniae
Kidney/ bean shaped Neisseria (N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis)

Tennis racket shaped” or “Drum Clostridium tetani

stick appearance”
V or L shaped formations Corynebacteria, Listeria monocytogenes
(“Chinese-Letter” appearance)
“Boxcar” shaped rods Clostridium perfringens

Corkscrew shaped Spirochetes (Treponema, Leptospira, and

Borrelia)
 THE CELL WALL

• Lies between the cytoplasmic membrane and the

capsule.
• Essential for bacterial survival
– Contains peptidoglycans- confers rigidity and shape to the
cell wall.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CELL WALL

• Maintains cell shape

• Protects bacteria from osmotic lysis
• Acts as a barrier- protects cell contents from external
environment
• Determines reactivity to Gram stain
• Attachment site for flagella
• Site of action of certain antimicrobial agents.
• Confer specific antigenicity to a strain/species that can be
exploited to detect and identify an isolate.
 THE PEPTIDOGLYCAN LAYER
• Constitutes 95% of the cell wall in gram positive
bacteria
• Essential for structure and survival.
• Peptidoglycan is a good target for antibacterial
drugs. 
• Can be degraded by lysozyme- human tears, mucus,
and saliva.
GRAM POSITIVE CELL WALL
 CYTOPLASMIC MEMBRANE
Encloses the cytoplasm
Composed of
phospholipids (40%)
and proteins (60%).
Has a lipid bilayer
structure similar to that
of eukaryotic
membranes.
-Contains no steroids
(e.g cholesterol), with
exception of
Mycoplasma.
 SUBSTANCES THAT CAN DAMAGE CELL MEMBRANE

• Detergents
• Antibiotics such as Polymyxin B and Gramicidin
• Chemical agents such as alcohols and quaternary
ammonium compounds
CELL WALL OF GRAM NEGATIVE BACTERIA

• More complex than that of gram positive

bacteria.
• Peptidoglycan layer- 5% to 10%
• External to the peptidoglycan layer is the
outer membrane, which is unique to gram
negative bacteria.
 THE OUTER MEMBRANE
• A permeability barrier to large molecules
(lysozymes) and hydrophobic molecules (e.g
some antimicrobials)
• Provides protection from adverse
environmental conditions (such as the
digestive system of the host)
• Composed primarily of LIPOPOLYSACHARIDE
(LPS).
• Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is toxic in nature and is
called endotoxin.
– firmly bound to the cell wall and released only when cell is
lysed.
– A powerful stimulator of the innate and immune responses
– Can trigger fever and septic shock in gram negative
infections
GRAM NEGATIVE CELL WALL
Properties Gram Positive Bacteria Gram Negative Bacteria
Outer membrane - +
Cell wall Thick Thin
Gram reaction Purple stain pink to red color
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
- +
layer
Endotoxin - +
Teichoic acids + -
Sporulation Some strains -
Capsule Sometimes present Sometimes present
Lysozyme Sensitive Resistant
Penicillin activity More susceptible More resistant
Exotoxin production Some strains Some strains
 BACTERIA WITH ALTERNATIVE CELL WALL STRUCTURES

• Mycobacteria- peptidoglycan layer is

surrounded by waxlike lipid coat of mycolic
acids.
• Corynebacteria and Nocardia also produce
mycolic acids
• Mycoplasma- No peptidoglycan cell wall, and
incorporate steroids from the host into their
membranes
 THE CAPSULE 

• Gelatinous layer covering the entire bacterium

• Exterior to the peptidoglycan layer- gram
positive bacteria
• Exterior to the outer membrane
(Lipopolysaccharide layer)- gram negative
bacteria.
• Composed of polysaccharide
• A major virulence factor of bacteria
THE CAPSULE
Examples of Capsulated bacteria/yeasts:
Mneomonics: – Some Killers Have Pretty Nice Capsule
• Streptococcus pneumoniae
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• Haemophilus influenzae
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Neisseria meningitidis
• Cryptococcus neoformans
 IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIAL CAPSULE

Virulence determinants:
Capsules are anti-phagocytic.
• They limit the ability of
phagocytes to engulf the bacteria.
Saving engulfed bacteria
from the action of
neutrophil
• prevents the direct access of
lysosome contents with the
bacterial cell, preventing their
killing.
 IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIAL CAPSULE

• Prevention of complement-mediated bacterial

cell lysis.
• Protection of anaerobes from oxygen toxicity.
• Protect cells from drying out (desiccation)
• May protect cells from bacteriophages.
 IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIAL CAPSULE

Identification of bacteria
– Using specific antiserum against capsular
polysaccharide.  E.g. Quellung reaction
– Colony characteristics in culture media: Bacteria
with capsules form smooth (S) colonies while
those without capsules form rough (R) colonies.
– Some capsules are very larg e and absorb water
form mucoid (M) colonies.E.g. Klebsiella
pneumoniae
 IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIAL CAPSULE

Development of Vaccines: Capsular

polysaccharides are used as the antigens in
certain vaccines. For examples:
– Polyvalent (23 serotypes) polysaccharide vaccine
of Streptococcus pneumoniae capsule.
– Polyvalent (4 serotypes) vaccine of Neisseria
meningitidis capsule.
– A monovalent vaccine made up of capsular
material from Haemophilus influenzae.
 IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIAL CAPSULE

Initiation of infection:
• Capsules helps the organism to adhere to host
cells.
• The capsule also facilitates and maintains
bacterial colonization of biologic (e.g. teeth)
and inanimate (e.g. prosthetic heart valves)
surfaces through formation of biofilms.
FLAGELLUM
• Whip like appendages that move the bacteria
towards nutrients.  
• Can never be seen directly with the light
microscope
– Seen by using special flagella stains that increase
their diameter.
 ARRANGEMENT AND TYPES
OF BACTERIAL FLAGELLA
• The number and location of flagella are
distinctive for each genus.
• There are four types of flagellar arrangement.
• Monotrichous: Single polar flagellum e.g. Vibrio
cholerae, Campylobacter spp. 
• Amphitrichous: Single flagellum at both ends e.g.
Alcaligenes faecalis
• Lophotrichous: Tuft of flagella at one or both ends
e.g. Spirilla spp
• Peritrichous: Flagella surrounding the bacterial
cell. Motile members of family Enterobacteriaceae
e.g. Salmonella typhi,  Escherichia coli, Proteus spp
 FUNCTIONS OF BACTERIAL FLAGELLA

• Motility; -Most prokaryotes move by means of flagella.

– Most of the cocci (e.g. Staphylococci, Streptococci etc) don’t
have flagella so they are non-motile.

 Role in Pathogenesis
• Escherichia coli and Proteus spp are common causes of
Urinary tract infections.
- The flagella propel the bacteria up the
urethra into the bladder.
• Roles in organism identification
– Some species of bacteria, eg. Salmonella species
are identified in the clinical laboratory by the use
of Specific antibodies against flagellar proteins.
– Organisms such as Vibrio cholerae (darting
motility) and Proteus species (swarming growth in
common culture media) are easily identified by
their characteristics motility pattern.
PILI/FIMBRIAE
• Hair like filaments that extend from the cell
membrane into the external environment.
• Fimbriae (pili) are shorter, straighter and more
numerous than bacterial flagella.
• Found mainly in Gram negative organisms e.g.
Neisseria gonorrhoeae and some strains of
Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Shigella
species.
Two general types of Pili are known they are:
• Sex pili- long, used for conjugation pili, also
known as F pili
• Common pili (adhesins)- short, used for
attachment to mucous membranes, also called
fimbriae.
 ENDOSPORE
• Bacterial spores are highly resistant, dormant
structures (i.e. no metabolic activity) formed
in response to adverse environmental
conditions.
• They help in the survival of the organisms
during adverse environmental conditions
• They do not have a role in reproduction.
 SPORULATION
• Spore formation occurs when nutrients, such as sources
of carbon and nitrogen are depleted.
• When the favorable condition prevail, i.e. availability of
water and appropriate nutrients, spores germination
occurs which forms vegetative cells of pathogenic
bacteria.
• Spores formed by only two genera of gram positive rods
are of medical importance.
– Bacillus spp
– Clostridium spp
 SHAPE AND THE POSITION OF SPORES

• Useful for classification and identification purposes.

• Central or equatorial, giving the bacillus a spindle
shape (eg. Clostridium bifermentans)
• Sub-terminal, the bacillus appearing Club shaped
(eg. Clostridium perfringens)
• Oval and terminal, resembling a tennis racket (eg.
Clostridium tertium)
• Spherical and terminal, giving a drumstick
appearance (Clostridium tetani)
 MEDICAL IMPORTANCE OF SPORES

Important features of Spores Medical Implications

Highly resistant to heating; are not killed Medical supplies must be heated to 121oC
by boiling (100OC) but are killed at 121OC. for at least 15 minutes to be sterilized.

Highly resistant to many chemicals, Only solution designated as sporicidal will

including most disinfectants.
Spores can survive for many years in soil
and other inanimate objects.
Spores do not exhibit measurable
metabolic activity.
Spores formed only when nutrients are
insufficient.
kill spores.
Wound contaminated with soils can be
infected with spores and cause diseases
such as tetanus, gas gangrene.
Antibiotics are ineffective against spores.
Spores are not often found at the site of
infection because nutrients are not
limiting.