MBIO 102

General Microbiology II

Chapter 1- Physical
Requirements
 Temperature
• Most microorganisms grow well at the temperatures
that humans favor. However, certain bacteria are
capable of growing at extremes of temperature that
would certainly hinder the survival of almost all
eukaryotic organisms.

• Microorganisms are classified into three primary

groups on the basis of their preferred range of
temperature:
Psychrophiles (cold-loving microbes),
Mesophiles (moderate-temperature– loving microbes),
and
Thermophiles (heat-loving microbes).
• Most bacteria grow only within a limited range of
temperatures, and their maximum and minimum
growth temperatures are only about 30°C apart.
They grow poorly at the high and low temperature
extremes within their range.

• Each bacterial species grows at particular

minimum, optimum, and maximum temperatures.

 The minimum growth temperature is the lowest

temperature at which the species will grow.
 The optimum growth temperature is the
temperature at which the species grows best.
 The maximum growth temperature is the highest
temperature at which growth is possible.
• By graphing the growth response over a temperature
range, we can see that the optimum growth
temperature is usually near the top of the range; above
that temperature the rate of growth drops off rapidly
(Figure 1).

• This happens presumably because the high

temperature has inactivated necessary enzymatic
systems of the cell. The ranges and maximum growth
temperatures that define bacteria as psychrophiles,
mesophiles, or thermophiles are not rigidly defined.
 Psychrophiles
• were originally considered simply to be organisms capable of
growing at 0°C. However, there seem to be two fairly distinct
groups capable of growth at that temperature.

 One group, composed of psychrophiles in the strictest sense, can

grow at 0°C but has an optimum growth temperature of about 15
°C. Most of these organisms are so sensitive to higher
temperatures that they will not even grow in a reasonably warm
room (25°C). Found mostly in the oceans’ depths or in certain
polar regions, such organisms seldom cause problems in food
preservation.
 The other group that can grow at 0°C has higher optimum
temperatures, usually 20–30°C and cannot grow above about 40°
C. Organisms of this type are much more common than
psychrophiles and are the most likely to be encountered in low-
temperature food spoilage because they grow fairly well at
refrigerator temperatures. We will use the term psychrotrophs,
which food microbiologists favor, for this group of spoilage
microorganisms.
Mesophiles, with an optimum growth
temperature of 25–40°C, are the most
common type of microbe. Organisms that
have adapted to live in the bodies of animals
usually have an optimum temperature close
to that of their hosts. The optimum
temperature for many pathogenic bacteria is
about 37°C, and incubators for clinical
cultures are usually set at about this
temperature. The mesophiles include most
of the common spoilage and disease
organisms.
• Thermophiles are microorganisms capable of growth at high
temperatures. Many of these organisms have an optimum
growth temperature of 50–60°C, about the temperature of
water from a hot water tap.

• Such temperatures can also be reached in sunlit soil and in

thermal waters such as hot springs. Remarkably, many
thermophiles cannot grow at temperatures below about 45°C.

• Endospores formed by thermophilic bacteria are unusually

heat resistant and may survive the usual heat treatment
given canned goods.

• Although elevated storage temperatures may cause

surviving endospores to germinate and grow, thereby spoiling
the food, these thermophilic bacteria are not considered a
public health problem. Thermophiles are important in organic
compost piles, in which the temperature can rise rapidly to
50–60°C.
• Some microbes, members of the Archaea, have
an optimum growth temperature of 80°C or
higher. These organisms are called
hyperthermophiles or, sometimes, extreme
thermophiles.
• Most of these organisms live in hot springs
associated with volcanic activity, and sulfur is
usually important in their metabolic activity.
• The known record for bacterial growth and
replication at high temperatures is about 121°C
near deepsea hydrothermal vents.
• The immense pressure in the ocean depths
prevents water from boiling even at
temperatures well above 100°C.
 Effect of Refrigeration in Microbial
Growth
• Refrigeration is the most common method of
preserving household food supplies.
• It is based on the principle that microbial
reproductive rates decrease at low
temperatures.
• Although microbes usually survive even
subfreezing temperatures (they might become
entirely dormant), they gradually decline in
number.
• Some species decline faster than others.
• Psychrotrophs do not grow well at low
temperatures, except in comparison with other
organisms; given time, however, they are able to
slowly degrade food.
• Such spoilage might take the form of mold
mycelium, slime on food surfaces, or off-tastes
or off-colors in foods.
• The temperature inside a properly set
refrigerator will greatly slow the growth of most
spoilage organisms and will entirely prevent the
growth of all but a few pathogenic bacteria.
• When large amounts of food must be
refrigerated, it is important to remember that a
large quantity of warm food cools at a relatively
slow rate.
Effect of Osmosis & Water Activity
on Bacterial cells
• Water is critical to the survival of all
organisms, but the behavior of water can also
be destructive. Solutes in an aqueous
solution alter the behavior of water.
• One way this occurs is the phenomenon of
osmosis, which is observed when two
solutions are separated by a semipermeable
membrane that allows movement of water
but not solutes.
• If the solute concentration of one solution is
higher than the other, water moves to
equalize the concentrations.
• Because a selectively permeable plasma
membrane separates microorganisms from
their environment, they can be affected by
changes in the solute concentration of their
surroundings.
• If a microorganism is placed in a hypotonic
solution (one with a lower solute concentration;
solute concentration is also referred to as
osmotic concentration or osmolarity), water will
enter the cell and cause it to burst unless
something is done to prevent the influx of water
or inhibit plasma membrane expansion.
• Conversely, if the microbe is placed in a
hypertonic solution (one with a higher osmotic
concentration), water will flow out of the cell. In
• Dehydration of the cell in hypertonic
environments may damage the plasma
membrane and cause the cell to become
metabolically inactive. Because of the
potential damaging effects of uncontrolled
osmosis, it is important that microbes be
able to respond to changes in the solute
concentrations of their environment.
• Microbes in hypotonic environments are
protected in part by their cell wall, which
prevents over-expansion of the plasma
membrane.
• However, not all microbes have cell walls.
• Wall-less microbes can be protected by
reducing the osmotic concentration of their
cytoplasm; this protective measure is also used
by many walled microbes to provide protection
in addition to their cell walls.
• Some microbes are adapted to extreme
hypertonic environments, and can be
called osmophiles. By definition,
osmophiles should include halophiles,
which require the presence of NaCl at a
concentration above about 0.2 M.
 Types of Organisms based on
osmotic pressure
• Some organisms, called extreme halophiles,
have adapted so well to high salt
concentrations that they actually require
them for growth.
• In this case, they may be termed obligate
halophiles.
• Organisms from such saline waters as the
Dead Sea often require nearly 30% salt, and
the inoculating loop (a device for handling
bacteria in the laboratory) used to transfer
them must first be dipped into a saturated
salt solution.
More common are facultative halophiles, which
do not require high salt concentrations but are
able to grow at salt concentrations up to 2%, a
concentration that inhibits the growth of many
other organisms. A few species of facultative
halophiles can tolerate even 15% salt.
 Types of Organisms based on
water activity:
• Microbiologists express quantitatively the
degree of water availability by determining
water activity(aw). The water activity of a
solution is 1/100 the relative humidity of the
solution (when expressed as a percent). It is
also equivalent to the ratio of the solution’s
vapor pressure (Psoln) to that of pure water
(Pwater).

• To survive in a habitat with a low aw value

microorganisms must maintain a high internal
solute concentration to retain water.
• Osmotolerant; they grow over wide ranges of
water activity but optimally at higher levels.
• Osmotolerant organisms can be found in all
domains of life.
• For example, Staphylococcus aureus is
halotolerant, can be cultured in media
containing sodium chloride concentration up to
about 3 M, and is well adapted for growth on
the skin.
• The yeast Saccharomyces rouxii grows in sugar
solutions with aw values as low as about 0.65.
• In contrast to osmotolerant microbes,
xerophiles grow best at low aw. However,
most microorganisms only grow well at
water activities around 0.98 (the
approximate aw for seawater) or higher.
 pH
• Most bacteria grow best in a narrow pH
range near neutrality, between pH 6.5 and
7.5.
• Very few bacteria grow at an acidic pH
below about pH 4.
• This is why a number of foods, such as
sauerkraut, pickles, and many cheeses, are
preserved from spoilage by acids produced
by bacterial fermentation.
• Each species has a definite pH growth range and
pH growth optimum.
 Acidophiles have their growth optimum between
pH 0 and 5.5;
 Neutrophiles, between pH 5.5 and 8.0; and
 Alkaliphiles (alkalophiles), between pH 8.0 and
11.5.

• In general, different microbial groups have

characteristic pH preferences.
• Most known bacteria and protists are neutrophiles.
• Most fungi prefer more acidic surroundings,
about pH 4 to 6; photosynthetic protists also
seem to favor slight acidity.
• Many archaea are acidophiles.
• For example, the archaeon Sulfolobus
acidocaldarius is a common inhabitant of
acidic hot springs; it grows well from pH 1 to 3
and at high temperatures. Thus it is more
accurately described as an acidophilic
thermophile
 Oxygen Concentration
Traditionally, five types of relationships to oxygen
have been described.
• Organisms that are completely dependent on
atmospheric O2 for growth are obligate
aerobes. Oxygen serves as the terminal
electron acceptor for the ETC in the metabolic
process called aerobic respiration.

• Microaerophiles are damaged by the

atmospheric level of O2 (20%) and require O2
levels in the range of 2 to 10% for growth.

• Facultative anaerobes do not require O2 for

growth but grow better in its presence. In the
presence of oxygen, they use O2 as the
terminal electron acceptor during aerobic
respiration.
• Aerotolerant anaerobes grow equally well whether
O2 is present or not; they can tolerate O2, but they
do not make use of it. Many have strictly
fermentative metabolism and thus do not use O2
in their energy-conserving processes. The ability to
grow in both oxic and anoxic environments
provides considerable flexibility and is an
ecological advantage for facultative and
aerotolerant anaerobes.

• In contrast, for strict or obligate anaerobes, O2 is

toxic, and they are usually killed by prolonged
exposure to O2. Strict anaerobes cannot generate
energy through aerobic respiration and employ
other metabolic strategies such as fermentation or
anaerobic respiration, neither of which requires O2.
• Although obligate anaerobes are killed by
O2, they may be recovered from habitats
that appear to be oxic. In such cases, they
associate with facultative anaerobes that
use up the available O2 and thus make the
growth of strict anaerobes possible.
 Pressure

• Organisms that spend their lives on land or the surface of

water are always subjected to a pressure of 1 atmosphere
(atm; 1 atm is ,0.1 megapascal, or MPa for short) and are
never affected significantly by pressure.
• Many microbes found at great ocean depths are
barotolerant: increased pressure adversely affects them
but not as much as it does nontolerant microbes.

• Some are truly piezophilic (barophilic). A piezophile is

defined as an organism that has a maximal growth rate at
pressures greater than 1 atm.
• For instance, a piezophile recovered from the Mariana
trench near the Philippines (depth about 10,500 m) grows
only at pressures between about 400 to 500 atm when
incubated at 28C.
 Oligotrophic Environments
• Relatively few microbes are lucky enough
to live in nutrient-rich eutrophic
environments. Rather, most inhabit
oligotrophic environments ones in which
nutrient levels are low—and some live in
“feast or famine” environments.
• For microbes in oligotrophic or nutrient-
labile environments, the ability to survive
starvation conditions is paramount.
• Fortunately, microbes have evolved
numerous responses to starvation.
Thank You