Lec. 1 Dr.

Fatima Malik

Microbiology: is the science that deals with the study of microorganisms

(M.O) which are a large and diverse group of microscopic organisms that
exist as single cells or cell clusters e.g, Bacteria, protozoa and fungi. It also
includes viruses, which are microscopic but not cellular.
The two oral infections caused by oral M.O are dental caries and
periodontal disease.
M.O divided to non-cellular (virus) &cellular which includes
1-prokaryotes(bacteria)
2- eukaryotes (alge, fungi and parasites
)
)

Eukaryote Prokaryote
1- have true nucleus 1- don’t have nucleus
2- DNA is complex with histone 2-chromosome, is a single,
proteins, have nuclear membrane. circular molecule of double-
stranded DNA, lacking a nuclear
membrane
3- Peptidoglycan is not present in 3-peptidoglycan is present in the
the cell wall. cell wall
4- divided by mitosis and meiosis 4- divided by binary fission.

5- 80S ribosomes 5-70S ribosomes

6- Have mitochondria and 6- not have mitochondria and

chloroplasts. chloroplasts

In prokaryotes the bacterial genome, or chromosome, is a single,

circular molecule of double-stranded DNA, lacking a nuclear
membrane.(smaller circular DNA molecules called plasmids may
also be present in bacteria) whereas the eukaryotic cell has a true
nucleus with multiple chromosomes surrounded by a nuclear
membrane. Bacteria comprise the vast majority of human pathogens.

Morphology (Shape and size)

The shape of a bacterium is determined by its rigid cell wall.
Bacteria are classified by shape into three basic groups
1. cocci (spherical)
2. bacilli (rod-shaped)
3. spirochaetes (helical).
Some bacteria with variable shapes, appearing both as coccal and
bacillary forms, are called pleomorphic (pleo: many;morphic:
shaped) in appearance

STAINING: stains combine chemically with the bacterial

protoplasm. The commonly used stains are salts.
Basic stains consist of a colored cation with a colorless anion (eg,
methylene blue+ chloride-); acidic stains are the reverse (eg,
sodium+eosinate-).
 Bacterial cells are rich in nucleic acid, has negative charges as
phosphate groups. These combine with the positively charged basic
dyes. Acidic dyes do not stain bacterial cells and hence can be used
to stain background material a contrasting color (Negative Staining).
The basic dyes stain bacterial cells uniformly
. Special staining techniques
can be used to differentiate flagella, capsules, cell walls, cell
membranes, granules, nucleoids, and spores.
The Gram Stain
The Gram-staining is a fundamental one because the Gram reaction
is correlated with many other morphologic properties
Gram-stain classified bacteria into two major subgroup according to
their cell walls. Gram-negative cells will appear red or pink color
while gram-positive cells appear purple

Gram-staining characteristics
In clinical microbiology, bacteria can be classified into two major
subgroups according to the staining characteristics of their cell
walls. The stain used, called the Gram stain (first developed by
physician, Christian Gram), divides the bacteria into Gram-positive
(purple) and Gram-negative (pink) groups. The Gram-staining
property of bacteria is useful both for their identification and in the
therapy of bacterial infections because, in general, Gram-positive
bacteria are more susceptible to penicillin than Gram-negative
bacteria.
Structures external to the cell wall

Bacteria cell include the following structures:

Flagella, Pili, Capsule, Plasma Membrane, Cytoplasm, Cell Wall,
Lipopolysaccharides, Teichoic Acids, Inclusions & Spores

Flagella
Flagella are whip-like filaments that act as motor and guide the
bacteria towards nutritional sources. The filaments are composed of
many subunits of a single protein, flagellin. Flagella may be located
At one end (monotrichous, a single flagellum; lophotrichous, many
flagella) or all over the outer surface (peritrichous).
Many bacilli (rods) have flagella, but most cocci do not and are
therefore non-motile.
Fimbriae and pili
Fimbriae and pili are fine, hair-like filaments, shorter than
flagella, that extend from the cell surface. Pili, found mainly on
Gram-negative organisms, are composed of subunits of a protein,
pilin, and mediate the adhesion of bacteria to receptors on the
human cell surface – a necessary first step in the initiation of
infection. A specialized type of pilus, (the sex pilus), forms the
attachment between the male (donor) and the female (recipient)
bacteria during conjugation, when genes are transferred from one
bacterium to another.
Capsule is gelatinous layer (usually more substantial than the
glycocalyx) surrounds the entire bacterium; it is composed of
polysaccharide, and sometimes protein (e.g.anthrax bacillus). The
sugar components of the polysaccharide vary in different bacterial
species and frequently determine the serological type within a
species.
Glycocalyx (slime layer) is a polysaccharide coating that covers the
outer surfaces of many bacteria and allows the bacteria to adhere
firmly to various structures, e.g. oral mucosa, teeth, heart valves and
catheters, and contribute to the formation of biofilms. This is
especially true in the case of Streptococcus mutans, a major
cariogenic organism, which has the ability to produce vast quantities
of extracellular polysaccharide in the presence of dietary sugars such
as sucrose.
Cell wall
The cell wall confers rigidity upon the bacterial cell. It is a
multilayered structure outside the cytoplasmic membrane. It is
porous and permeable to substances of low molecular weight. The
inner layer of the cell wall is made of peptidoglycan and is covered
by an outer membrane that varies in thickness and chemical
composition, depending upon the Gram staining property of the
bacteria. The term ‘peptidoglycan’ is derived from the peptides and
the sugars (glycan) that make up the molecule. (Synonyms for
peptidoglycan are murein and mucopeptide.)
The cell walls of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria have
important structural and chemical differences.
• The peptidoglycan layer is common to both Gram-positive and
Gram-negative bacteria but is much thicker in the Gram-positive
bacteria.
• In contrast, the Gram-negative M.On have a complex outer
membrane composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), lipoprotein and
phospholipid. These form porins, through which hydrophilic
molecules are transported in and out of the organism.
The O antigen of the LPS and the lipid A component are also
embedded in the outer membrane. The periplasmic space is Lying
between the outer membrane and the cytoplasmic membrane of
Gram-negative bacteria
• The LPS of Gram-negative bacteria, which is extremely toxic, has
been called the endotoxin. (Hence, by definition, endotoxins cannot
be produced by Gram positive bacteria as they do not have LPS in
their cell walls.
 Cell wall of G+ve and G-ve bacteria

The cytoplasm contains 70S ribosomes, and they do not have

mitochondria and chloroplasts.
• The major functions of the cell membrane of prokaryotic
cells are
(1) Selective permeability and transport of
Solutes
(2) Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation,
in aerobic species
(3) Excretion of hydrolytic enzymes and other proteins
(4) Bearing the enzymes and carrier molecules that function in the
biosynthesis of DNA, cell wall polymers.

• The formation of endospores is a characteristic of the genera

Bacillus and Clostridium and is triggered by near depletion of nutrients
in the environment. Endospores (spores) are resting cells, highly
resistant to desiccation, heat, and chemical agents; when returned to
favorable nutritional conditions and activated, the spore germinates to
produce a vegetative cell.