Microbes and the World

Types of Microorganisms

Microorganisms make up a large part of the planet’s living material and play a major
role in maintaining the Earth’s ecosystem.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Define the differences between microbial organisms.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Key Points

 Microorganisms are divided into seven types: bacteria, archaea, protozoa, algae,
fungi, viruses, and multicellular animal parasites ( helminths ).
 Each type has a characteristic cellular composition, morphology, mean of
locomotion, and reproduction.
 Microorganisms are beneficial in producing oxygen, decomposing organic
material, providing nutrients for plants, and maintaining human health, but some
can be pathogenic and cause diseases in plants and humans.

Key Terms

 Gram stain: A method of differentiating bacterial species into two large groups
(Gram-positive and Gram-negative).
 peptidoglycan: A polymer of glycan and peptides found in bacterial cell walls.

Microorganisms or microbes are microscopic organisms that exist as unicellular,

multicellular, or cell clusters. Microorganims are widespread in nature and are beneficial
to life, but some can cause serious harm. They can be divided into six major types:
bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses.

Bacteria

Bacteria are unicellular organisms. The cells are described as prokaryotic because they
lack a nucleus. They exist in four major shapes: bacillus (rod shape), coccus (spherical
shape), spirilla (spiral shape), and vibrio (curved shape). Most bacteria have a
peptidoglycan cell wall; they divide by binary fission; and they may possess flagella for
motility. The difference in their cell wall structure is a major feature used in classifying
these organisms.

According to the way their cell wall structure stains, bacteria can be classified as either
Gram-positive or Gram-negative when using the Gram staining. Bacteria can be further
divided based on their response to gaseous oxygen into the following groups: aerobic
(living in the presence of oxygen), anaerobic (living without oxygen), and facultative
anaerobes (can live in both environments).

According to the way they obtain energy, bacteria are classified as heterotrophs or
autotrophs. Autotrophs make their own food by using the energy of sunlight or chemical
reactions, in which case they are called chemoautotrophs. Heterotrophs obtain their
energy by consuming other organisms. Bacteria that use decaying life forms as a
source of energy are called saprophytes.

Archaea

Archaea or Archaebacteria differ from true bacteria in their cell wall structure and lack
peptidoglycans. They are prokaryotic cells with avidity to extreme environmental
conditions. Based on their habitat, all Archaeans can be divided into the following
groups: methanogens (methane-producing organisms), halophiles (archaeans that live
in salty environments), thermophiles (archaeans that live at extremely hot
temperatures), and psychrophiles (cold-temperature Archaeans). Archaeans use
different energy sources like hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide, and sulphur. Some of them
use sunlight to make energy, but not the same way plants do. They absorb sunlight
using their membrane pigment, bacteriorhodopsin. This reacts with light, leading to the
formation of the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Fungi

Fungi (mushroom, molds, and yeasts) are eukaryotic cells (with a true nucleus). Most
fungi are multicellular and their cell wall is composed of chitin. They obtain nutrients by
absorbing organic material from their environment (decomposers), through symbiotic
relationships with plants (symbionts), or harmful relationships with a host (parasites).
They form characteristic filamentous tubes called hyphae that help absorb material. The
collection of hyphae is called mycelium. Fungi reproduce by releasing spores.

Protozoa

Protozoa are unicellular aerobic eukaryotes. They have a nucleus, complex organelles,
and obtain nourishment by absorption or ingestion through specialized structures. They
make up the largest group of organisms in the world in terms of numbers, biomass, and
diversity. Their cell walls are made up of cellulose. Protozoa have been traditionally
divided based on their mode of locomotion: flagellates produce their own food and use
their whip-like structure to propel forward, ciliates have tiny hair that beat to produce
movement, amoeboids have false feet or pseudopodia used for feeding and locomotion,
and sporozoans are non-motile. They also have different means of nutrition, which
groups them as autotrophs or heterotrophs.

Algae

Algae, also called cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, are unicellular or multicellular

eukaryotes that obtain nourishment by photosynthesis. They live in water, damp soil,
and rocks and produce oxygen and carbohydrates used by other organisms. It is
believed that cyanobacteria are the origins of green land plants.

Viruses

Viruses are noncellular entities that consist of a nucleic acid core (DNA or RNA)
surrounded by a protein coat. Although viruses are classified as microorganisms, they
are not considered living organisms. Viruses cannot reproduce outside a host cell and
cannot metabolize on their own. Viruses often infest prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
causing diseases.

Multicellular Animal Parasites

A group of eukaryotic organisms consisting of the flatworms and roundworms, which are
collectively referred to as the helminths. Although they are not microorganisms by
definition, since they are large enough to be easily seen with the naked eye, they live a
part of their life cycle in microscopic form. Since the parasitic helminths are of clinical
importance, they are often discussed along with the other groups of microbes.
Viruses
Viruses are tiny, ranging in size from about 20 to 400 nanometers in diameter. Billions can fit
on the head of a pin. Some are rod shaped; others are round and 20 sided; and yet others have
fanciful forms, with multisided “heads” and cylindrical “tails.”
Viruses are responsible for a wide range of diseases, including the common
cold, measles, chicken pox, genital herpes, and influenza.
Viruses are simply packets of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA, surrounded by a protein shell and
sometimes fatty materials called lipids. Outside a living cell, a virus is a dormant particle, lacking the
raw materials for reproduction. Only when it enters a host cell does it go into action, hijacking the
cell’s metabolic machinery to produce copies of itself that may burst out of infected cells or simply
bud off a cell membrane. This lack of self-sufficiency means that viruses cannot be grown in artificial
media for scientific research or vaccine development; they can be grown only in living cells, fertilized
eggs, tissue cultures, or bacteria.

Viruses are responsible for a wide range of diseases, including the common cold, measles, chicken
pox, genital herpes, and influenza. They also cause many of the emerging infectious diseases, among
them AIDS, Ebola, and Zika.

Bacteria are 10 to 100 times larger than viruses and are more self-sufficient. These single-
celled organisms, generally visible under a low-powered microscope, come in three shapes: spherical
(coccus), rodlike (bacillus), and curved (vibrio, spirillum, or spirochete).
Bacteria are ancient organisms. Evidence for them exists in the fossil record
from more than 3 billion years ago.
Most bacteria carry a single circular molecule of DNA, which encodes (or programs) the
essential genes for reproduction and other cellular functions. Sometimes they carry accessory small
rings of DNA, known as plasmids, which enable specialized functions like antibiotic resistance. A
broader term, antimicrobial resistance, includes resistance to drugs that treat infections, viruses, or
parasites. Unlike more complex forms of life, bacteria carry only one set of chromosomes instead of
two. They reproduce by dividing into two cells, a process called binary fission. Their offspring are
identical, essentially clones with the exact same genetic material. When mistakes are made
during replication and a mutation occurs, it creates variety within the population that could—under
the right circumstances—lead to an enhanced ability to adapt to a changing environment. Bacteria
can also acquire new genetic material from other bacteria, viruses, plants, and even yeasts. This
ability means they can evolve suddenly and rapidly instead of adapting slowly.

Bacteria are ancient organisms. Evidence for them exists in the fossil record from more than 3 billion
years ago. They have evolved many different behaviors over a wide range of habitats, learning to
adhere to cells, make paralyzing poisons and other toxins, evade or suppress our bodies’ defenses,
and resist drugs and the immune system’s antibodies. Bacterial infections are associated with
diseases such as strep throat, tuberculosis, staph skin infections, and urinary tract and bloodstream
infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection—caused by a type of staph
bacteria that has become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections—
has become more prevalent in the last few years and is an area of focus for those working on
antimicrobial resistance efforts.
In addition to viruses and bacteria, three other major types of microbes—and one newly
discovered type—can cause infectious disease. As with viruses and bacteria, not all of the species in
each of these categories are infectious to humans. But many of the world’s most prevalent infectious
diseases are caused by microbes included in the groupings below.

Fungi: These organisms cause a wide variety of diseases in humans, ranging from athlete’s foot to
ringworm to deadly histoplasmosis. Some fungi, such as yeasts, are comprised of a single cell, but
most are multicellular. They are found in the air, in soil, on plants, and in water. Only about half of
all known fungi are harmful. Many perform vital functions such as helping materials decay and
decompose in the environment. They reproduce primarily by forming spores that float in the air.
These spores can land on human skin or be inhaled, which is why most fungal infections start on the
skin or in the lungs. A weakened immune system can make people more prone to fungal infection. So
can taking antibiotics, which reduce the bacteria in the body that keep some fungal communities
(such as yeast) from growing unchecked.
Prions evoke no immune response and resist heat, ultraviolet light, radiation,
and sterilization, making them difficult to control.
Protozoa: Amoebas and paramecia may be the most familiar examples of these single-celled
microbes. Able to move rapidly and flexibly because they do not have cell walls, the different species
that fall under this category have little in common otherwise. Protozoa typically enter human hosts
through contaminated water or food or by the bite of an infected arthropod, such as a mosquito.
They are able to multiply in humans, so the presence of just one protozoan can lead to serious
infection. These parasites cause some of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide,
including malaria and amebic dysentery.

Helminths: Parasitic worms, or helminths, cause mild diseases such as swimmer’s itch but also
more serious illnesses such as schistosomiasis, a disease spread to humans via snails. Tapeworms,
flukes, and roundworms comprise the three main categories of helminths. Unlike lice and fleas,
which are external parasites, helminths live inside a host. Their presence typically disrupts the host’s
nutrient absorption, causing weakness and a greater vulnerability to disease. Helminth eggs can
contaminate food, water, soil, feces, air, and surfaces such as doorknobs and toilet seats. The eggs
enter the human body through the mouth, anus, or nose and often hatch, grow, and multiply in the
human intestine, though they may infect other areas of the body. Some helminths are large enough
to be seen with the naked eye and can live within their hosts for years. Proper sanitation and
thorough cooking of meat can help prevent the transmission of helminths.

Prions: A newly recognized class of infectious agents, the prions or proteinaceous infectious
particles, consist only of protein. Prions are thought to cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in cattle. These proteins are
abnormally folded and, when they come in contact with similar normal proteins, turn them into
prions like themselves, setting off a chain reaction that eventually riddles the brain with holes. Prions
evoke no immune response and resist heat, ultraviolet light, radiation, and sterilization, making
them difficult to control.