Bacterial Cell Structures - DR NBora - 19112018

CELL
STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTION IN
BACTERIA AND
EUBACTERIA
DR NAGAMANI BORA
Microbiology and its significance
Microbes, Diversity, Evolution

SO FAR…..
LAST
LECTURE Classification
Cell, shapes and sizes

RECAP……..
TYPES OF CELLS
INTENDED  Understand prokaryotic microbial cell
LEARNING architecture
OUTCOMES  Significance of cell organelles
BACTERIAL SUBCELLULAR STRUCTURES
 Cell wall
 Membrane
 Cytoplasm
 Surface structures
SURFACE STRUCTURES
 Glycocalyx
 polymers of sugars surrounding some bacterial
cells to form capsule or slime layer
 protects cell against dehydration
 promotes adhesion to inert surfaces
 pipelines
 teeth
 protects cells against macrophage attack

 protects cells against viral (bacteriophage) attack
Xanthan gum =
Images of cells stained
bacterial slime;
to show capsules
produced on
industrial scale
Xanthomonas campestris
SURFACE STRUCTURES
 Flagella
 large hair-like structures which rotate and allow
bacteria to swim
 not all bacteria have flagella
 cocci are rarely motile
 pmf across CM used to turn motor
 direction of swimming influenced by environment
 chemotaxis, phototaxis, aerotaxis
 Controlled by membrane “sensing” proteins
SURFACE STRUCTURES - PILI
 Many species of bacteria have pili
 singular, pilus
 also called fimbriae
 Small hair-like structures on outside of cell.
 Used for attaching to surfaces & other cells
 e.g. teeth, intestines and rocks
 Pili necessary for many pathogenic bacteria to
attach to host tissue & infect cells
 Specialized pili are used for transferring
plasmid DNA between cells
 Process of conjugation (bacterial sex)
Two Major
Divisions
Gram positives
Gram Negatives
IDENTIFICATION
THE GRAM STAIN
 Different chemical composition
of bacterial cell walls detected
by interaction with dyes
 Gram-positive bacteria retain
crystal violet/iodine complex
(purple)
 Stain removed by alcohol from
cell wall of Gram-negative
bacteria
 Counterstain (fuchsin) used to
colour cells (pink) so they are
visible
Peptidoglycan: major polymer
giving bacterial cell wall its
rigidity
synthesised by cells as dimers
and assembled OUTSIDE CM
PG = polysaccharide of
repeating sugar units linked by
β-1, 4 glycosidic bonds
polysaccharide chains cross-
linked via peptide bridges
Cell wall helps maintain cell

shape
 Drug Discovery-
Antibiotic Mechanism
of Action
Modifications of
peptidoglycan glycan chain
Pathogenic bacteria have

evolved with strategies to
resist the bacteriolytic
activity of lysozyme
Staphylococcus aureus
Listeria monocytogenes
Mycobacterium sps
Sukhithasri et al., 2013

Microbiological Research
GRAM-NEGATIVE CELLS
 PG only 10 -20 nm wide

 PG surrounded by a second membrane
 outer membrane
 anchored to PG by lipoproteins
 outer layer composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS )
 LPS is highly variable and antigenic
 Acts as an endotoxin* in humans
 Space between two membranes = PERIPLASMIC space (PERIPLASM)
Effects of Endotoxin: Interacts with cells and molecules of inflammation, immunity and
haemostasis.
 Fever is induced by interleukin-1, produced by the liver in response to endotoxin, acting on

the temperature-regulating hypothalamus.
 Septic shock occurs during severe infections with Gram-negative organisms when bacteria or
lipopolysaccharide enter the bloodstream.
 Ex: Aquatic water systems processing – LPS released
CYTOPLASMIC MEMBRANE
 CM – Thin barrier which separates the cytoplasm from the cell’s

environment
 Bacterial phospholipid bilayer
 7.5 nm wide (only visible by EM)
 hydrophobic core acts as barrier to most H O-soluble molecules
2
 protein permeases allow selective transport of small molecules into cell
 other proteins have specific functions
 energy production (e.g. electron transport chain)
 cell wall synthesis (outside the membrane)
 signal transduction (allow response to environment)
 Separates the cytoplasm of unicellular

organism from the environment
 prevents release of cell components
 allows uptake of nutrients
 allows excretion of by-products
 acts as a “sensor” of the environment
 Allows generation of a proton motive force (pmf)
• H+ ions are pumped across the
membrane as a result of electron
transport to create pmf
• Energy comes from catabolism
(break down of molecules) inside
cell
• Electron transport proteins

include the cytochromes
• Reduced NADH donates H; split
into H+ and electrons (e)
• Electrons are moved through e
transport and used to pump out
H+ ions
• Charge distribution across
membrane created
 Gases enter cell by simple diffusion

 CO & O
2, 2
 Water tends to move into cell by osmosis

 i.e. towards the highest solute concentration
 Cells are usually in a hypotonic medium
 High concentration of compounds found in the
cytoplasm
 Turgor pressure helps maintain cell shape
CYTOPLASM -INTRACELLULAR STRUCTURES
 Cytoplasm = ~80% H2O
 No membrane bound compartments: ALL
components contribute to the internal osmolarity
 DNA – in nucleoid
 RNA – primarily in area of nucleoid
 Proteins – coupled transcription & translation in cytoplasm
(no separation of events)
 Carbohydrates – also concentrated in storage granules
 Lipids
 Inorganic ions & small metabolites
CELL INCLUSIONS
 Carbon storage polymers

 Poly--hydroxybutyric acid (PHB)
 Glycogen: glucose polymer
 Polyphosphates: accumulations of inorganic phosphate

 Sulfur globules: composed of elemental sulfur
 Magnetosomes: magnetic storage inclusions
INTRACELLULAR STRUCTURES
 Macromolecular complexes formed

with various functions
 e.g. ribosomes for protein synthesis
replisome for DNA replication
 Inclusions bodies found containing

insoluble deposits of chemicals
 used as storage organs
 bounded by NON-UNIT membrane
 e.g. poly-β-hydroxybutyrate Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate granules
Used for making biodegradable plastic
MAGNETOSOMES
SURFACE APPENDAGES
 Surface appendages play an important role in the
spatial organization of cells, from initial surface
attachment to the development of mature
community structures.
 Very little is known about the morphology and
function of surface appendages of archaea, but
members of this domain have been frequently
detected in mixed communities in aggregates and
complex biofilms
 Thus, it is conceivable that these structures may
have roles in locally increasing the concentrations
of substrates around the cell, movement, and co-
aggregation with other microorganisms
Role of archaella in attachment of Archaea to
(Matarazzo et al. Domain Archaea in human mucosa surfaces and other cells.
adhesion to abiotic and biotic surfaces) Life (Basel). 2013 Mar; 3(1): 86–117.
Fig The distribution of human-associated archaea in the phylogenetic tree of the domain Archaea.
Lurie-Weinberger MN, Gophna U (2015) Archaea in and on the Human Body: Health Implications and Future Directions. PLOS Pathogens 11(6):
e1004833. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1004833
http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004833
CELL WALLS OF ARCHAEA
 No peptidoglycan Archaeal lipids lack fatty acids, have isoprenes instead

 Typically no outer membrane
 Pseudomurein
 Polysaccharide similar to peptidoglycan
 Composed of N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetyltalosaminuronic acid
 Found in cell walls of certain methanogenic Archaea
 Cell walls of some Archaea lack pseudomurein

 The cell membrane plays a crucial role in survival of bacteria
and archaea in extreme environments
 Thermophilic organisms are able to grow at high temperature
N-Acetyltalosaminuronic
acid
Lysozyme-insensitive
N-Acetyl
group
N-Acetylglucosamine
Differences
between
Peptide
cross-links
Archaea and
Bacteria
peptidoglycan
CELL WALLS OF ARCHAEA
S-Layers
 Most common cell wall
type among Archaea
 Consist of protein or
glycoprotein
 Paracrystalline structure
 Withstand osmotic
bursting
SUMMARY
 Bacterial cell structures

 Cell wall
 Membrane
 Cytoplasm
 Surface structures
 Cell inclusion bodies

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CELL

Microbes, Diversity, Evolution

Cell, shapes and sizes

 protects cells against macrophage attack

Cell wall helps maintain cell

Pathogenic bacteria have

Sukhithasri et al., 2013

 PG only 10 -20 nm wide

 Fever is induced by interleukin-1, produced by the liver in response to endotoxin, acting on

 CM – Thin barrier which separates the cytoplasm from the cell’s

 Separates the cytoplasm of unicellular

• Electron transport proteins

 Gases enter cell by simple diffusion

 Water tends to move into cell by osmosis

 Carbon storage polymers

 Polyphosphates: accumulations of inorganic phosphate

 Macromolecular complexes formed

replisome for DNA replication

 Inclusions bodies found containing

 No peptidoglycan Archaeal lipids lack fatty acids, have isoprenes instead

 Cell walls of some Archaea lack pseudomurein

 Bacterial cell structures

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