Chapter 1

Microorganisms
Dr. Cijo Vazhappilly

General Microbiology
Course Code: BIOL 230
Learning objectives
• Introduction to microorganisms and microbiology
• Naming and classification of microorganisms
• Describe the characteristics of each type of
microorganisms
 What are microorganisms?
Microorganisms:

• defined as those organisms too small to be seen clearly by the unaided eye

• cellular microbes are usually smaller than 1 millimeter in diameter

• often unicellular

• and, if multicellular, lack differentiated tissues

• Found almost everywhere: in air, soil, water, food we eat, surfaces of objects,

our body and inside alimentary canal

icrobiology: The study of living things too small to be seen without magnificati
Types of microorganisms
Eubacteria

Archaea

Fungi ( yeast and molds

Slime molds

Protozoa

Algea

Viruses ( non cellular)

Microorganis
ms and
microbiology
Two main themes
involved in
microbiology
1. BASIC- cellular
process
2. Applied –
concerning
agriculture,
industry and health
Microbes in our lives

Gut microbiota:
Microbes in the intestines for digestion,
synthesis of vitamins- Vitamin B , vitamin K

Disease producing microorganisms: pathogenic

Naming and classifying
microorganisms

• Linnaeus system for scientific nomenclature

• Each organism has two names:

1. Genus

2. Specific epithet ( species name)

 Classification of microorganisms
• Organisms are grouped into various
categories based on morphological
Five Kingdom classification
and physiological characteristics ( R.H Whittaker)

• Cell type

• Presence of cell wall and its

constituents Protist Fungi Animali
Monera Plantae
a a
• Body organization

• Mode of nutrition Eukaryote

Prokaryot
• Mode of reproduction s
es
Bacteria ( Monera)
• Most abundant microorganisms
• present almost everywhere
• All unicellular and prokaryotic cell ( Size: 0.2- 10µm)
• reproduce by binary fission
• Many have Flagella for movement

Archaebacter
Eubacteria
ia
• They are true bacteria • They can thrive in extreme environmental
• Rigid cell wall ( peptidoglycan) conditions.
• They have different cell wall compositions,
• Autotrophic or heterotrophic which enable them to survive in harsh
• Photosynthetic autotrophs ( blue conditions.
green algae/ cyanobacteria) - • The cell membrane of archaea is ether-
photosynthesis linked as compared to ester-linked in
• Chemosynthetic autotrophs: bacteria
energy from inorganic compounds • Methanogens
• Heterotrophs: ecosystem as • Halophiles
• Thermoacidophiles
• decomposers
Mycoplasma does not contain a cell wall • Not known to cause diseases in humans
• characteristics that make them resistant to antibiotics) .
 Eubacteria - Nutrition and Growth

• Heterotrophic or Autotrophic
• Some are Photoautotrophs – Use sunlight for Energy
• Some are Chemoautotrophs.
• Oxidation of organic chemicals > chemoorganotrophy
• Oxidation of inorganic chemicals > chemolithotrophy
• Many are Obligate Anaerobes. (live without O2)
• Ex. Clostridium tetani – Tetanus
• Some are Facultative Anaerobes (can live with or without O2)
• Ex. Escherichia Coli
• Some are Obligate Aerobes (need O2 to survive)
• Ex.) Mycobacterium tuberculosis

11
Shapes of bacteria
• Based on the shape of the cell, bacteria are classified into four main groups
Bacterial cell wall and Gram staining
Cell wall composition varies widely amongst bacteria ( staining technique developed by Christian Gram)

Gram Positive Gram Negative

• Cell walls that contain thick and multilayerd • Cell walls with thin layers and single of
layers of peptidoglycan (90%) peptidoglycan (10% )and high lipid (fatty
• helps Bacillus and Clostridium to survive in the acid) content ( more complex )
harsh physical conditions found in soil • aid Salmonella and Pseudomonas in
environment
interacting with mineral surfaces and solutes in
• This causes them to appear blue to purple the environment to obtain required nutrients for
under a Gram stain. metabolism
• These bacteria do not retain the stain colour
and appear as pink-coloured when examined
under the microscope after gram staining..
Cell wall: peptidoglycan, common to +/- , maintain the shape and integrity giving
rise to various bacterial morphologies : bacillus (rod), coccus (round), spirillum
(twisted) vibrio (comma-shaped)

Composed of repeating units of N acetylmuramic acid NAM and N

acetylglucosamine NAG, linked to each other trough peptide cross linking :
NAM-peptide-NAG network forms rigid porous structure
Method of
reproduction
Mainly Asexually -
Binary fission ( simple cell
division)
 Endospore
formation
• Some bacteria reproduce by
spore formation
• Adapted for dispersal and for
survival often for extended
periods of time
• Resistant structures used for
survival under unfavourable
condition (heat, radiation and
other harsh conditions)
• When condition become
favorable they develop into
new organism
Information transfer
Conjugation: direct cell to cell DNA transfer through a protein pilus

• Transformation: bacterial cell obtains DNA from died bacteria

• Transduction: This kind of sexual reproduction occurs when a virus ( bacteriophage) introduces foreign
genes into the bacterial cell.
Fungi
• Eukaryotes : Unicellular / multicellular; microscopic, as
well as quite big in size
• have a rigid cell wall ( made of chitin)
• They are heterotrophic – mostly parasites or
saprotrophs.
• Asexual/ sexual reproduction
Yeast Molds Mushroom
Protista

• Size: 2- 200µm;
• Unicellular eukaryotes -a well-defined nucleus and other
membrane-bound cell organelles
• Protozoan, slime molds and unicellular algae
• Photosynthetic protist , Heterotrophs- mostly are parasites/
predators
• Can reproduce sexually and asexually (fission)
 Protozoans ( Protista)
Unicellular eukaryotes; heterotrophs, which are parasites or predators

On the basis of their mode of locomotion, they are classified into four major
groups

• Amoeboid – move by extension of the cytoplasm eg;. Amoeba, Entamoeba

• Flagellated- long flagella eg: Trypanosoma, Leishmania,

• Ciliated- thousands of cilia present on the body surface, e.g. Paramoecium.

• Sporozoans – They are non-motile. They produce spores. E.g. Plasmodium

 Slime molds ( Protista)
• Phenotypically similar to both fungi and protozoa, slime molds produce spores
but move with amoeba-like gliding motility

• Phylogenetically, slime molds are more related to the amoeboid protozoa

than the fungi
 Algae ( Protista)
• Unicellular (Chlamydomonas; diatoms; golden algae;
dinoflagellates) /joined together in chains like Spirogyra /or
made up of many cells (Rhodyphyta - red seaweed)
• live in fresh or sea water or salt water
• they can be free-floating (planktonic) or attached to the bottom
• They are photosynthetic and chief producers of oxygen
• Algal cell walls are thin and rigid made of cellulose

rhodophyta spirogyra
Acellular - Viruses
• Too small – can be seen only with electron
microscope

• Different types of virus have different shape

• Contains core made if nucleic acid (

DNA/RNA) surrounded by protein coat

• Sometimes encased by a lipid membrane

( envelope)

• Do not feed, respire or grow

• Can reproduce only by using the cellular

machinery of other organisms- Obligate
parasite

• Living- only when they multiply within the

 Other Acellular particles
• Viroids
• are infectious agents composed only of ribonucleic acid (RNA).

• They cause numerous plant diseases

• Without any protein coat

• Prions
• infectious agents composed only of protein, are responsible for triggering normally healthy proteins in the
brain to fold abnormally causing a variety of spongiform encephalopathies such as scrapie and “mad cow
disease.

• pathogenic agents that are transmissible and are able to induce abnormal folding of specific normal cellular
proteins that are found most abundantly in the brain.

• Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)

 Review questions
• Question 1:
• In which bacterial reproduction method does a
bacteriophage is required?

• A. Conjugation
• B
• B. Transformation
• C
• C. Binary fission
• D
• D. Transduction
Question 2
Halophiles are organisms that require________.
a.a salt concentration of at least 0.2 M
b.high sugar concentration
c.the addition of halogens
d.all of the above
Question 3
Cyanobacteria are classified under
a. Protista
b. Plantae
c. Monera
d. Algae
 Question 4:
• A bacterial cell divides by splitting into two halves from
the middle. What type of reproduction is this?