Introduction

ULTRA-
to
STRUCTURE OF
BACTERIA
MS. SHABABANO SIDDIQUE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICAL
CHEMISTRY
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SSR COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
Bacteria
■ The first and foremost thing to know about bacteria is................
Whether it is prokaryote or eukaryote?.

■ Bacteria belongs to prokaryotes.

■ Bacteria is called prokaryotes and its cell is called as prokaryotic cell.
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Bacteria

■ Small unicellular size.

■ Bacteria are customarily 0.5 to 2.0 μm in diameter and have
lengths of 0.5 to 10 μm or more.
■ An important attribute of their small cell size is a high surface
to volume ratio. This beneficial surface to volume ratio allows
simple diffusion to be sufficient for many cellular processes.
Small size also allows for rapid growth and lessens the need for
internal organelle systems.

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Cell morphology
■ The most elemental structural property of bacteria is
their morphology (shape)
■ They include: round (cocci), rod (bacillus), a curved rod (vibrio), corkscrew
shaped (spirilla), and a flexible wavy shape (spirochete), elongated
(filamentous)

■ This type of variation is called pleomorphism. The degree of pleomorphism

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Different types of bacterias

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COMPONENTS OF BACTERIA
Structurally it consist of the following:
■ Appendages (attachments to the cell surface) in the form
of flagella and pili (or fimbriae);
■ a cell envelope consisting of a capsule, cell wall and plasma membrane;
and
■ a cytoplasmic region that contains the cell chromosome (DNA)
and ribosomes and various sorts of inclusions
Predominant chemical
Structure Function(s)
composition
Flagella Swimming movement Protein
Pili
Stabilizes mating bacteria during
Sex pilus Protein
DNA transfer by conjugation
Attachment to surfaces; protection
Common pili or fimbriae Protein
against phagotrophic engulfment
Attachment to surfaces; protection
against phagocytic engulfment,
Capsules (includes "slime layers" Usually polysaccharide;
occasionally killing or digestion;
and glycocalyx) occasionally polypeptide
reserve of nutrients or protection
against desiccation

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 Predominant chemical
Structure Function(s)
composition
Cell wall
Prevents osmotic lysis of cell
Peptidoglycan (murein) complexed
Gram-positive bacteria protoplast and confers rigidity and
with teichoic acids
shape on cells
Peptidoglycan prevents osmotic lysis
Peptidoglycan (murein) surrounded
and confers rigidity and shape; outer
by phospholipid protein-
Gram-negative bacteria membrane is permeability barrier;
lipopolysaccharide "outer
associated LPS and proteins have
membrane"
various functions

Permeability barrier; transport of

Plasma membrane solutes; energy generation; location Phospholipid and protein
of numerous enzyme systems
Sites of translation (protein
Ribosomes RNA and protein
synthesis)
Often reserves of nutrients; Highly variable; carbohydrate, lipid,
Inclusions
additional specialized functions protein or inorganic
Chromosome Genetic material of cell DNA
Plasmid Extrachromosomal genetic material DNA

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Flagella
■ Flagella are filamentous protein structures attached to the cell surface
that provide the swimming movement for most motile prokaryotes.
■ Prokaryotic flagella are much thinner than eukaryotic flagella
■ About half of the bacilli and all of the spiral and curved bacteria are
motile by means of flagella.

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■ Flagella may be variously distributed over the surface of bacterial
cells in distinguishing patterns.
■ But basically flagella are either
1. polar (one or more flagella arising from one or both poles of the cell)
or
2. peritrichous (lateral flagella distributed over the entire cell surface).

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Fimbriae and Pili
■ Fimbriae and pili are interchangeable terms used to designate short, hair-
like structures on the surfaces of prokaryotic cells.
■ Like flagella, they are composed of protein.
■ Fimbriae are shorter and stiffer than flagella, and slightly smaller in
diameter.
■ Generally, fimbriae have nothing to do with bacterial movement (there are
exceptions, e.g. twitching movement on Pseudomonas).
■ Fimbriae are very common in Gram-negative bacteria, but occur in some
archaea and Gram-positive bacteria as well.
■ Fimbriae are most often involved in adherence of bacteria to surfaces,
substrates and other cells or tissues in nature.
■ In E. coli, a specialized type of pilus, the F or sex pilus, apparently stabilizes
mating bacteria during the process of conjugation, but the function of the
smaller, more numerous common pili is quite different.
■ Common pili (almost always called fimbriae) are usually involved in specific
adherence (attachment) of prokaryotes to surfaces in nature.
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The Cell Envelope
■ The cell envelope is a descriptive term for the several layers of
material that envelope or enclose the protoplasm of the cell.
■ The cell protoplasm (cytoplasm) is surrounded by the plasma
membrane, a cell wall and a capsule.

Capsules
■ Most prokaryotes contain some sort of a polysaccharide layer outside of
the cell wall polymer. In a general sense, this layer is called a capsule.
■ A true capsule is a discrete detectable layer of polysaccharides
deposited outside the cell wall.
■ A less discrete structure or matrix which embeds the cells is a called
a slime layer or a biofilm.
■ A type of capsule found in bacteria called a glycocalyx is a thin layer of
tangled polysaccharide fibers which occurs on surface of cells growing
in nature
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Capsules
■ Capsules are generally composed of polysaccharide; rarely they
contain amino sugars or peptides
■ Capsules have several functions and often have multiple functions
in a particular organism.
■ Like fimbriae, capsules, slime layers, and glycocalyx often mediate
adherence of cells to surfaces.
■ Capsules also protect bacterial cells from engulfment by
predatory protozoa or white blood cells (phagocytes), or from attack
by antimicrobial agents of plant or animal origin.
■ Capsules in certain soil bacteria protect cells from perennial
effects of drying or desiccation.

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Cell Wall
■ Each bacterium is enclosed by a rigid cell wall composed of
peptidoglycan, a protein-sugar (polysaccharide) molecule.
■ The wall gives the cell its shape and surrounds the cytoplasmic
membrane, protecting it from the environment.
■ It also helps to anchor appendages like the pili and flagella, which
originate in the cytoplasm membrane and protrude through the wall
to the outside.
■ The strength of the wall is responsible for keeping the cell from
bursting when there are large differences in osmotic pressure
between the cytoplasm and the environment.
■ Since the cell membrane is a delicate, plastic structure, it must be
restrained by an outside wall made of porous, rigid material that has
high tensile strength. Such a material is murein, the ubiquitous
component of bacterial cell walls.

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 Cell Wall
■ Murein is a unique type of peptidoglycan, a polymer of
disaccharides (glycan) cross-linked by short chains of amino acids
(peptide).
■ Many types of peptidoglycan exist.
■ Peptidoglycan is made up of a polysaccharide backbone consisting of
alternating N-Acetylmuramic acid (NAM) and N-
acetylglucosamine (NAG) residues in equal amounts.
■ There are two main types of bacterial cell walls, those of gram-
positive bacteria and those of gram-negative bacteria, which are
differentiated by their Gram staining characteristics.

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The gram-positive cell wall
■ Gram-positive cell walls are thick and the peptidoglycan (also known
as murein) layer constitutes almost 95% of the cell wall in some gram-
positive bacteria and as little as 5-10% of the cell wall in gram-
negative bacteria.
■ The gram-positive bacteria take up the crystal violet dye and are
stained purple.
The gram-negative cell wall

■ Gram-negative cell walls are much thinner than the gram-positive cell
walls, and they contain a second plasma membrane superficial to
their thin peptidoglycan layer, in turn adjacent to the cytoplasmic
membrane.
■ Gram-negative bacteria are stained as pink colour.
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Gram-positive Cell
Wall

Gram-negative
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The Plasma Membrane
■ The plasma membrane, also called the cytoplasmic membrane, is
the most dynamic structure of a prokaryotic cell.
■ Its main function is as selective permeability barrier that regulates
the passage of substances into and out of the cell.
■ The plasma membrane is the definitive structure of a cell since it
sequesters the molecules of life in a unit, separating it from the
environment.
■ The bacterial membrane allows passage of water and uncharged
molecules up to mw of about 100 daltons, but does not allow passage
of larger molecules or any charged substances except by means
special membrane transport processes and transport systems.

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The Plasma Membrane
■ Bacterial membranes are composed of 40 percent phospholipid and
60 percent protein.
■ The phospholipids are amphiphilic molecules with a polar hydrophilic
glycerol "head" attached via an ester bond to two nonpolar
hydrophobic fatty acid tails, which naturally form a bilayer in aqueous
environments.
■ Dispersed within the bilayer are various structural and enzymatic
proteins which carry out most membrane functions
■ The membranes of Bacteria are structurally similar to the cell
membranes of eukaryotes, except that bacterial membranes consist
of saturated or monounsaturated fatty acids (rarely, polyunsaturated
fatty acids) and do not normally contain sterols..

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Functions of the prokaryotic plasma membr
■ Osmotic or permeability barrier
■ Location of transport systems for specific solutes (nutrients and ions)
■ Energy generating functions, involving respiratory and photosynthetic
electron transport systems, establishment of proton motive force, and
trans membranous, ATP-synthesizing ATPase
■ Synthesis of membrane lipids (including lipopolysaccharide in Gram-
negative cells)
■ Synthesis of murein (cell wall peptidoglycan)
■ Assembly and secretion of extra cytoplasmic proteins
■ Coordination of DNA replication and segregation with septum
formation and cell division
■ Chemotaxis (both motility per se and sensing functions)
■ Location of specialized enzyme system

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The Cytoplasm
■ The cytoplasm of bacterial cells consists of an aqueous solution of
three groups of molecules:
– macromolecules such as proteins (enzymes), mRNA and tRNA;
– small molecules that are energy sources, precursors of
macromolecules, metabolites or vitamins; and
– various inorganic ions and cofactors .
■ The primary structural components found in the cytoplasm are the
nucleoid and ribosomes, and possibly some type of inclusion.
■ The bacterial chromosome (nucleoid) is typically one large circular
molecule of DNA, more or less free in the cytoplasm, although coiled
and supercoiled and anchored by proteins.
■ Prokaryotes sometimes possess smaller extrachromosomal pieces of
DNA called plasmids. The total DNA content of a prokaryote is
referred to as the cell genome.

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■ The distinct granular appearance of procaryotic cytoplasm is due to
the presence and distribution of ribosomes.
■ Ribosomes are composed of proteins and RNA.
■ The ribosomes of procaryotes are smaller than cytoplasmic ribosomes
of eucaryotes.
■ Procaryotic ribosomes are 70S in size, being composed of 30S and
50S subunits. The 80S ribosomes of eucaryotes are made up of 40S
and 60S subunits.
■ Ribosomes are involved in the process of translation (protein
synthesis.

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Endospores
■ A bacterial structure sometimes observed as an inclusion is actually a type of dormant
cell called an endospore.
■ Endospores are formed by a few groups of Bacteria as intracellular structures, but
ultimately they are released as free endospores.
■ Biologically, endospores are a fascinating type of cell.
■ Endospores exhibit no signs of life, being described as cryptobiotic.
■ They are highly resistant to environmental stresses such as high temperature (some
endospores can be boiled for hours and retain their viability), irradiation, strong acids,
disinfectants, etc. They are probably the most durable cell produced in nature.
■ Although cryptobiotic, they retain viability indefinitely such that under appropriate
environmental conditions, they germinate back into vegetative cells. Endospores are
formed by vegetative cells in response to environmental signals that indicate a limiting
factor for vegetative growth, such as exhaustion of an essential nutrient.
■ They germinate and become vegetative cells when the environmental stress is relieved.
Hence, endospore-formation is a mechanism of survival rather than a mechanism of
reproduction.
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 YO U
A N K
TH

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