MORPHOLOGY OF THE BACTERIA

LECTURE 2

Four cellular morphology of bacteria

1. Cocci (coccus) (a) Streptococcus pyogenes occurs as pairs of chains. (b) pairs of tetrad, Pediococcus (c) cube-shape packets, Sarcina lutea
diplococci, pairs, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, N.

meningitidis
(d) cluster of cells (Staphyloccus aureus) (grapelike clusters)

 2. Rods Bacillus, E. coli single, diplobacilli, streptobacilli, coccobacilli Moraxella, Acinobacter 3. Filament if the rod is so many times longer than its wide. Myxobacteria, Myxococcus, Cytophaga 4. Spiral/helix long spiral and helically coils rods, the spirochetes, 5-500 um long, eg. Spirillium motile by polar flagella. Other shaped, vibriod or comma shaped, Vibrio, Star-shape, Stella square, Haloarchula

 Shape offers an advantage to the cell: Cocci: more resistant to drying than rods Rods: More surfacee area & easily takes in dilute nutrients from the environment Spiral: Corkscrew motion & therefore less resistant to movement Square: Assists in dealing with extreme salinities

Structurally bacterial cells consists of:

1. Cell membrane cell wall 2. Internal structure ribosoms, nuclear region, granules, vesicles 3. External structure capsules, flagella, pili

morphological characteristics of bacteria that is used in identification system:

1) 2) 3) 4) Cell wall component Slime/capsule Flagella/pili/fimbriae Spore/endospore

1. Cell wall component

All the members of domain Bacteria, with the exception of the genera Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma, Spiroplasma, and Anaeroplasma contain cell walls Gram stain. Gram stain is a method of coloring bacterial cell wall that can give two results: 1. Red: Gram (-) ve 2. Blue: Gram (+) ve 18 hours culture is preferably used.

What are the different in the cell wall composition of these two classes of bacteria?
1. murein or peptidoglycan layer composed of two sugar derivatives; Nacetylglucosamine (NAG) and N-acetylmuramic (NAM) acid and a small group of acid amino. Gram (+) ve bacteria has a thick peptidoglycan layer compared to the Gram (-) ve bacteria and also contain teichoic acids, peptidoglycan of Gram +ve comprises 90% of the cell wall and only 10% is Gram ve.

 Gram ve bacteria has an outer membrane lipopolysaccharide. The lipid and polysaccharide are linked to form specific lipopolysaccharide structure. The cell wall of Gram (-) ve bacteria thicker 10 to 50 nm in width.

 A lipoprotein complex is found on the inner side of the outer membrane in a number Gram ve bacteria. It serve as an anchor between the outer membrane and peptidoglycan. One biological property of the outer membrane layer of many Gram ve bacteria is that it frequently toxic to animals due to Lipid A portion. Eg. Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli. The toxic property of the outer membrane layer of these bacteria is responsible for some of the symptoms of infection which these bacteria brings- fever, dilates of blood vessel.

 Gram (+)ve bacteria, with its thick peptidoglycan traps the stain while thin peptidoglycan in Gram (-) ve bacteria cell does not. Gram ve has periplasmic space (gap), an active area of cell metabolisms. It contains peptidoglycan, digestives enzymes, transport protein that destroy harmful substance and transport metabolites into cytoplasm.

Differences Between Gram-positive And Gram-negative

Bacterial Cell Walls

Gram-positive wall Peptidoglycan Peptidoglycan tetrapeptide Peptidoglycan cross linkage Teichoic acid Teichuronic acid Lipoproteins LPS Outer Membrane Periplasmic Space Thick layer Most contain lysine Generally via pentapeptide Present Present Absent Absent Absent Absent Gram-negative wall Thin layer All contain diaminopimelate Direct bonding Absent Absent Present Present Present Present

 2. Archaeal Cell Walls: Archaeal cells have more variations in their cell wall chemistries, and some do not contain cell walls (eg Thermoplasma) 3. Eucaryal Cell Walls: Cell walls of algae have a variety of different cell wall types and include cellulose, calcium carbonate, silcone dioxide, proteins and even polysaccharides.

2. Glycocalayx, Capsules, Slimer Layers & S layers:

Glycocalyx varies in different species: Capsules:
Are thick & rigid structures which exclude stain. Adhere externally to the to cell walls Negative stain allows capsules to be observed. Chemically polysaccharides. Found in pneumonia causing pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae & Klebsiella pneomoniae. Chemically D-glutamic acid found in some Bacillus sp. Capsulated variants of a species are pathogenic whereas noncapsulated variants of the same species are non-pathogenic. Capsules protect against phagocytosis by human white blood cells.

 Slime layers: Similar in composition to capsules but are not as tightly bound to the cell wall. Protects cells against dehydration and a loss of nutrients. S layer: Some bacteria have a crystalline protein layer called a S layer. Found outside the cell walls of some species of Gram-negative, Gram-positive Bacteria, and outside the cell membranes of some Archaea. Function is unknown.

3. Flagella/pili/fimbrieae
Function as motility The flagella are so thin (20 nm) that a single flagellum can never seen directly using the light microscope but only after staining with flagella stains (basic fuchsin, with tannic acid). It can be seen clearly with EM by negative staining.

Polar or Monotrichous Lophotrichous

Peritrichous

Types of flagella orientation

1. Polar attached to one or both end of the cell. Can be single or numerous. Monotrichous (single) Eg. Pseudomonas spinosa, polar, Vibrio Amphitrichous two flagella, one at each end. Spirillium Lophotrichous - If a turf of flagella arise at one end of the cell or both ends, (lopho = turf), trichous = hair Peritrichous flagella grow from many surface of on the cell (peri-around)- Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella

 Bacterial flagella are composed of protein sub units, call flagellin. The amino acid of flagellin are lower amounts of sulphur and aromatic amino acids, but rich with aspartic acid and glutamic acid.

Fimbriae
Not all bacteria posses fimbrae -- it is an inherited trait Arise from the cytoplasmic membrane or just below the membrane Can be mistaken for flagella but are not involved in motility Much shorter and more numerous than flagella Adhesion (dnh cht) functions which enables cells to form a pellicle (lp mng) on liquid (cht lng) surface

Pili
Similar to fimbrae but longer and fewer; sometimes only one per cell Three functional types of bacterial pili:
Act as receptors sites for some attachment of some phages ie phage infection Act as sex pilus for bacterial conjugation processes (F aka Fertility pili of E. coli) Attachment for pathogenic bacteria to human tissues (Neisseria gonorrhoeae)

4. Spore
The spore have unique characteristics: resistance to heat, drying, radiation, acids and chemical disinfectants The present of dipicollinic acid (DPA) together with calcium ions in the core of the spore cause the unusual heat resistance to the bacteria.

 mainly of the genera Bacillus (aerobic rods, facultative anaerobes), and Clostridium (anaerobic rods); Few others include Sporosarcina (aerobic cocci), Desulfotomaculum (anaerobic rods, sulfate-reducers)

Spore
Size
Larger (distends the cell) or smaller than the cell

Shape
Cylindrical (hnh tr) Ellipsoidal (hnh elp) Spherical (hnh cu)

Location
Central Terminal Sub-terminal

 Cells with endospores (ni bo t) can be identified by spore-staining

B. megaterium,an aerobe: Small cylindrical sub-terminal spores C. tetani, an anaerobe: Large (distend) spherical terminal spores

Heat resistance

 Spore structure Spores are formed during unfavourable growth conditions & germinate (ny mm) under favourable conditions The spore can be differentiated into 4 parts:
Core: Nucleic acids, ribosome, low levels of enzyme activity, Calcium dipicolonic acid (CDPA) & low water content. Low level of metabolic activity
Two wall like layers:
Cortex: Surrounds the core, mainly electron light peptidoglycan Coat: Surrounds the cortex, mainly protein

Exosporium: The outer most thin layer

 The location (s xnh) of spore is one of the criteria in the bacterial classification: terminal, subterminal, central, paracentral. The shape of the spore: oval, round, ellipsoidal etc.