HABB 101 KINGDOM MONERA

PROF DZ MOYO
 Introduction

• The Kingdom Monera includes all prokaryotic

organisms and has the most ancient origin of
any group still present today
• They had a common ancestor but followed
separate evolutionary paths.
• The Monera are divided into the following 3
divisions; Archaebacteria, Eubacteria and
Cyanobacteria
 1. ARCHAEBACTERIA
• Also called ancient bacteria
• Prefix “archae’ means ancient
• Are considered ancient because they probably
resemble the first forms of life we talked
about in the origins of life lecture.
• Archaebacteria are a group of prokaryotes
that live in unusually harsh environments.
• Archaebacteria are chemically distinct from
other prokaryotes in the following ways:
 Archaebacteria cont’d
The cell walls, cell membranes, and ribosomal
RNA are different from those of other
bacteria. The absence of peptidoglycan, a
protein-carbohydrate found in the cell walls of
Eubacteria
They can live where no other organisms can
survive. They live in extreme environments
such as acidic hot springs, near undersea
volcanic vents, and highly salty water.
 Archaebacteria cont’d
• These bacteria are phylogenetically related
and occupy very challenging habitats and are
classified into 4 groups; methanogens,
extreme halophiles, sulphur reducers and
thermoacidophilic bacteria
 Methanogens

• Live in oxygen free environment (anaerobic conditions

and produce methane gas.
• They are named for their unique method of harvesting
energy by converting Hydrogen and carbon dioxide into
methane gas.
• Because oxygen is poisonous to them, methanogens
can only live in anaerobic conditions, such as the
bottom of swamps and in sewage.
• Methane produced in the digestive tract of animals
including man is called intestinal gas and that produced
in swamps or sewage is swamp gas.
 Methanogens cont’d
• In the digestive tract of cows they break down
cellulose, enabling cows to use nutrients in
grass and plants.
• They are used in industry to treat sewage and
to help purify water
• An example of a methanogen is
Methanogenium
 Extreme halophiles
• Live in extremely salty conditions and are found
in the Great Sal Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea
• They can survive in water that is up to ten times
saltier than sea water
• High salt concentrations would kill most bacteria
but this high concentration is beneficial to the
growth of extreme halophiles, and these
organisms use salt to generate ATP.
• Example - Halococcus
 Sulphur reducers
• These bacteria use hydrogen and inorganic
sulphur as energy source.
• Are found in volcanic vents or pools and
produce hydrogen sulphide gas
• E.g. Sulfolob
• us
 Thermoacidophilic bacteria
• Can live in water that is extremely hot (110
degrees Celsius !) and acidic (pH less than 2),
two conditions that would kill other
organisms.
• Thermoacidophiles are found in around
hotsprings like those in Yellow Stone National
Park.
• They also live near volcanic vents on land or in
cracks in the ocean floor. E.g. Thermococcus
 2. Cyanobacteria

• Also known as blue-green algae bacteria that

are aquatic and photosynthetic
• Small and usually uncicellular, though they can
grow in colonies large enough to see with
naked eye.
• Are the oldest known fossils more than 3
billion years old
• Photosynthesize using chlorophyll a and
produce oxygen
 Cyanobacteria cont’d

• Provide food for other organisms and therefore

play an important role in many ecosystems
• Cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen on a large scale
• Exists as free-living, colonial or filamentous forms
• Filamentous forms have 3 different cells types;
vegetative, spore and heterocyst
• The heterocyst is thick walled and is anaerobic.
 Cyanobacteria cont’d

• It contains nitrogenase enzyme that is

involved in the fixation of nitrogen
• Cyanobacteria that form heterocysts make
nitrogen that is available to plants in a form
that plants can use.
• Certain cyanobacteria (Anabaena) thrive on
phosphates and nitrates that accumulate in
water bodies.
 Cyanobacteria cont’d
• Sudden increase in the number of
cyanobacteria due to high availability of
nutrients is called Eutrophication or
population bloom and is used as a pollution
indicator.
 3. EUBACTERIA
• Eubacteria account for most bacteria
• Occur in many shapes and sizes and have
distinct biochemical and genetic
characteristics
• Prefix “Eu” means TRUE
• The so called true bacteria are all the
organisms known as bacteria or ‘germs’.
• These bacteria are gram positive and gram
negative and have a peptidoglycan cell wall
 EUBACTERIA cont’d
• Examples are Escherichia coli (E. coli),
Salmonella (causes food poisoning) and
Neisseria (a sexually transmitted disease)
 Classification of bacteria
• Based on the following:
(i) Shape- bacteria can take shapes such as; rod, cocci or
spiral
- Eubacteria that are rod shaped are called bacilli
- Sphere shaped eubacteria are called cocci. When
cocci occur in chains they are called streptococci.
Grapelike clusters of cocci are called staphyllococci
- Spiral shaped eubacteria are called spirilla
(ii) Cell wall- presence or absence of cell wall as well as
cell wall chemistry are important in classification of
bacteria.
 Classification of bacteria cont’d
• Most species of bacteria can be grouped into 2
categories based on their response to a
laboratory technique call Gram staining that was
developed by Hans Christian, a Danish
microbiologist in 1884
• Technique involves staining bacteria with a purple
dye (crystal violet), and iodine, and rinsed with
alcohol, then re-stained with a pink dye
(Safranin). Depending on structure of their cell
wall, the bacteria absorb either purple or pink
dye.
 Classification of bacteria cont’d
• Gram-positive bacteria will retain the PURPLE
dye and appear purple. Gram-negative
bacteria will appear PINK from the pink dye.
• Taxonomists divide bacteria into Gram-
positive and Gram-negative groups.
• Gram-positive bacteria have a thicker layer of
peptidoglycan in their cell wall that are made
of protein-sugar complex that takes on the
purple colour during Gram staining
 Classification of bacteria cont’d
• Gram negative bacteria have an extra layer of
lipid on the outside of the cell wall and appear
pink after Gram staining. The extra lipid layer
stops the purple stain from entering the cell
wall.
• They do not absorb the purple stain, so they
are easily distinguishable with a microscope as
pink stained cells.
 Classification of bacteria cont’d
• Mycoplasma – lack cell walls. These are the
smallest living cells ever discovered and are
believed to have a minimum amount of DNA
needed to code for cell functions
• They lack cell wall characteristic of the other
types of bacteria.
• Most mycoplasma exist as intracellular plant or
animal parasites, a life history that protects them
from environmental osmotic stresses as long as
the host cell is functioning properly.
 Classification of bacteria cont’d
• Penicillin, an antibiotic lethal to most bacteria
because it interferes with cell wall formation,
is not effective against the naked little
mycoplasma.
 Reproduction in bacteria
• Reproduction is mainly asexual. The following
types of asexual reproduction occur:
 Binary fission- formation of two equalised
progeny cells. Is the most common mode of
reproduction. The nuclear body elongates and
divides into two, the attachment points separate
as the cell expands. The cell envelope grows
inwards between the nuclear bodies. A cross wall
forms between the two cells and the cells finally
separate
 Reproduction in bacteria cont’d
 Budding- this type of division is characterised by
an unequal division of cellular material
 A daughter cell develops when a cross wall
forms, segregating a portion of the cytoplasm
containing a duplicate genome. Each daughter
cell is smaller than the parental ‘mother’ cell
 In addition to binary fission and budding, some
bacteria produce spores such as the endospores,
cysts and myxospores
 Reproduction in bacteria cont’d
• These spores are normally produced during
adverse conditions and are resting structures,
not reproductive ones.
• An example of a spore forming bacteria is
Bacillus that causes anthrax in animals.
• Sexual reproduction also occurs in some
bacteria and involves transformation,
conjugation and transduction
 Reproduction in bacteria
• Transformation- mechanisms for transfer of
genetic material in bacteria in which pure DNA
extracted from bacteria of one genotype is taken
in through the cell surface of a different genotype
and incorporated into the chromosome of the
recipient cell
• Conjugation- exchange of genetic material
through a tube between two bacteria
• Transduction- transfer of genetic material from
one bacterium to another with a bacteria virus
acting as the carrier of genes.