Prokaryotes

rokaryotes
O Prokaryotes communicate with chemical signals.
O Quorum sensing
4 acteria can monitor the size of the population by sensing the
amount of chemical signals present.
4 hen numbers are large enough, activities such as biofilm
formation can begin.
O $ome bacteria emit light by bioluminescence.
O ften the bacteria only emit light when a quorum has been sensed.
4 ample Vibrio colonies emit light to attract fish to eat them
- they thrive best in the guts of fish.
4 'ibrio in the Indian cean can be visible from space.
rokaryotes Nutr|ent Acqu|s|t|on
O ygen-sensitive prokaryotes are obligate anaerobes - molecular
oygen will kill them.
O acultative anaerobes can shift their metabolism between aerobic
and anaerobic modes, such as fermentation.
O erotolerant anaerobes do not conduct cellular respiration, but
are not damaged by oygen if it is present.
O bligate aerobes cannot survive in the absence of oygen.
O !otoautotrops perform photosynthesis. Cyanobacteria use
chlorophyll a, and

is a byproduct.
4 ther bacteria use bacteriochlorophyll, and dont release

.
$ome use H

$ instead of H

as the electron donor, and

produce particles of pure sulfur.
acteriochlorophyll absorbs longer wavelengths than
chlorophyll; these bacteria can live underneath dense
layers of algae.
O !otoeterotrops use light as an energy source, but get carbon
from compounds made by other organisms.
4 ample purple non-sulfur bacteria
4 $unlight provides ATP through photophosphorylation.
O emolitotrops (chemoautotrophs) get energy by oidizing
inorganic compounds
4 Ammonia or nitrite ions to form nitrate ions, H

, H

$, $, and
others.
4 any archaea are chemolithotrophs.
4 eep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems are based on
chemolithotrophs that oidize H

$ and other compounds

released from volcanic vents.
4 The ecosystems include large communities of crabs, mollusks,
and giant tube worms, at depths of ,500 m.
O emoeterotrops obtain both energy and carbon from organic
compounds - most known bacteria and archaea, all animals, all
fungi, and many protists.
4 This is what we are
O itrogen fixers convert N

gas into ammonia.

4 This vital process is carried out by many archaea and
bacteria, including cyanobacteria.
|vers|ty of Archaea
O ost known Crenarcheota are both thermophilic and acidopilic
(acid-loving).
O Sulfolobus lives in hot sulfur springs (70-75C, pH to 3).
O ne species of Ferroplasma lives at pH near 0.
4 They can still maintain an internal pH of near 7.
O $ome uyarcheota are metanogens - produce methane (CH
4
) by
reducing C - obligate anaerobes.
4 ethanogens release billion tons of methane per year. any
live in the guts of grazing mammals.
4 Increased cattle farming and rice growing contributes
methane to the atmosphere.
O ethanopyrus lives in deep-ocean hydrothermal vents.
O xtreme alopiles (salt lovers) have pink carotenoid pigments,
making them easy to see.
4 Have been found at pH up to 11.5. They live in the most
salty, most alkaline environments on arth.
4 $ome have a light-absorbing molecule bacteriorhodopsin, and
can form ATP by a chemiosmotic process.
a|oto|erance
O %hermoplasma is thermophilic and acidophilic, has aerobic
metabolism, and lives in coal deposits.
4 Has the smallest genome of the Archaea; genome size is
comparable to mycoplasmas.
O The Korarchaeota are known only by evidence from NA isolated
from hot prings.
O Nanoarchaeota are so called because of their small size. iscovered
in deep sea vents off Iceland; they live attached to cells of the
crenarcheota nicoccus.
O H$ is used by (hyperthermophilic) lithotrophic archaea around
deep sea vents.
O The base of hydrothermal vent food chains is hyperthermophilic,
lithotrophic archaea.
Adaptat|on of prote|ns to h|gh temperatures
O $ome proteins are protected by inducible, heat stable chaperonins
(fluctuations)
O $ome proteins are naturally resistant (constant high temperatures)
4 Heat stable enzymes have industrial applications.
O coli and other "non-etremophiles can survive and adapt to
temperature fluctuations.
O hat about the effect of pH on protein structure?

hanges |n charge on am|no ac|d s|de cha|ns determ|ne changes |n 3 structure
O The pH of the cytoplasm is buffered
O $ome proteins are protected by inducible acid or alkali-stable
chaperonins. (fluctuations)
O $ome proteins are naturally resistant (stable instead of
labile).(constant pH etremes)
4 Acid and alkali stable enzymes are industrially important
O Alkali stable lipases and proteases are additives to many detergents

nly certain bacteria and archaea are capable of a lithotrophic life style
O This makes them especially critical to the cycling of certain
elements (e.g. Fe, $) in the biosphere
rokaryotes as symb|onts
ow does a prokaryote surv|ve w|thout organe||es?
O any functions that occur in the organielles of eukaryotes occur in
the plasma membrane of the prokaryotes
O .g. lipid synthesis, protein secretion, energy generation
O ther structures; pilli, flagella
O A few bacteria are way bigger than an average eukaryotic cell!
O ukaryotic cells are up to 10 times larger than prokaryotes.
O ukaryotic cells have membrane-enclosed compartments called
organelles.
O A small number of protists live in etreme environments
O The nucleus is surrounded by two membranes - the nuclear
envelope
O #oug endoplasmic reticulum (RR) ribosomes are attached
4 RR segregates newly made proteins - they enter the lumen
and can be modified and transported
O $moot endoplasmic reticulum ($R) more tubular, no
ribosomes
4 Chemically modifies small molecules such as drugs and
pesticides
4 Hydrolysis of glycogen in animal cells
4 $ynthesis of lipids and steroids
O The olgi apparatus
4 Receives proteins from the R - can further modify them
4 Concentrates, packages, sorts proteins
4 In plant cells, polysaccharides for cell walls are synthesized