Introduction to Bacteria

Structure and replication

 What are bacteria?
• Unicellular prokaryotes
• Can be aerobic or anaerobic; facultative or obligate
•

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an obligate aerobe

• Escherichia coli is a facultative anaerobe
• Clostridium perfringens is an obligate anaerobe
• Most common classification is into Gram positive or
negative (and acid-fast)
•

• They are also classified based on shape — cocci,

bacilli, spirochete, spirillum, etc.
• Can be motile (Salmonella) or non-motile (Shigella)
• Can be intracellular, facultatively intracellular or
extracellular
 Prokaryotic cell
structure
Cytoplasm

• Genetic material has no envelope

•

• Single circular chromosome

• Ribosomes are 70S instead of 80S
• Has genetic material (plasmids) outside
the chromosome
•

• Contain genes for virulence that can

be passed from one bacterium to
another
• Can also pass resistance genes
 Prokaryotic cell
structure
Membranes and walls

• Bacteria can be classified as either

Gram-positive or negative
•

• This pertains to its ability to maintain

crystal violet staining
• Membrane and wall structure has the
greatest effect on antibiotic usage
• Cell wall is needed to resist cell
expansion and lysis due to osmosis
 Gram-positive
bacteria
Membranes and walls
• The cell wall is made of peptidoglycan and
teichoic acid
• Peptidoglycan
•

• Consists of links of alternating NAG and

NAM
• NAM has a peptide side chain that
crosslinks to the peptide side chain of
another NAM via a pentaglycine bridge
• Can be disrupted by lysozyme
• Made by penicillin-binding proteins —
mechanism of penicillins
• Lipoteichoic acids help bind the PM to the
cell wall; also help in adhesion
 Gram-negative
bacteria
Membranes and walls
• Peptidoglycan is greatly reduced
•

• Situated in between two membranes:

inner and outer, and in the
periplasmic space
• Outer leaflet of the outer membrane is
composed of porins and
lipopolysaccharides, as well as secretion
systems
•

• Porins mediate entry of hydrophilic

molecules less than 700 Da
• Secretion systems (type III), found
only in Gram (-)s can be used to inject
toxins and infect cells
 Gram-negative
bacteria
Lipopolysaccharide

• Lipopolysaccharide is comprised of:

•

• Lipid A (endotoxin)— very toxic to

cells; elicits an intense inflammatory
response and is an important cause of
septic shock
• Polysaccharide chain
• O antigen — elicits immune response
against the bacteria
 Gram staining
Procedure

• The thick peptidoglycan of Gram

(+) bacteria retain the crystal
violet
• The thin peptidoglycan in Gram
(-) bacteria does not retain the
stain and can be easily
decolorized and replaced with a
counterstain
• POSITIVELY PURPLE
 Exceptions
• Acid-fast bacteria are weakly Gram (+)
•

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. leprae,

M. kansasii
• Contain mycolic acids,
arabinogalactans in the cell wall that
prevent the peptidoglycan from taking
in too much stain
• Stain with carbolfuschin
• Mycoplasma and Chlamydia do not have
cell walls
 Capsule

• External to the cell wall and outer

membrane
• Made of simple proteins or
polysaccharides; slime coat
• Major function is to prevent detection by
the immune system; antiphagocytic
•

• Streptococcus pneumoniae
• Neisseria meningitidis
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
 Flagella, fimbriae,
and pili
• Flagella aid mostly in locomotion, may
also elicit an immune response
•

• Attached from a basal body and moves

in a rotatory fashion
• Fimbriae aid in attachment, but may also
be used for retracting the cell along
surfaces
•

• May also be used to transfer genetic

material — sex pilus
 Biofilms
• Certain bacteria secrete polysaccharide
substances to protect them from immune cells
and antibiotics
• Through quorum sensing, bacteria produce an
inducer when the colony reaches a particular
size
•

• The inducer pushes the bacteria to perform a

certain task and to make more inducer
molecules
• Certain pathogenic bacteria will only release
virulence factors after quorum sensing
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus
mutans
Growth curve
 Replication
• Reproduce asexually via binary fission
• Formation of a septum that divides the
cell body in two after the chromosome
divides itself
• Incomplete division can lead to bacterial
linking or clumping
 Spore formation
• Some species form spores that stay
latent in extremes of heat, pH, and
radiation
•

• Clostridium botulinum, C. tetani, C.

perfringens
• Bacillus anthracis
• Calcium dipicolinate is an integral part
of the exosporium
 Genetic mutations
• Form an integral part of our understanding
of antimicrobial resistance
•

• Transformation — uptake of
homologous DNA from the
environment
• Transduction — “infection” with a
bacterial virus or a phage
• Conjugation — transfer of genetic
material via secretion systems or
plasmids
• Transposons — transfer of genes
between chromosomes
 Transformation
Transduction
 Diagnosis
• Stains, culture, microscopy are the most
popular tools
• Stains and culture media can be:
•

• Nonselective — used for most

organisms, just to check if bacteria or
fungi are there (chocolate agar,
Sabouraud dextrose agar)
• Differential — to differentiate between
bacteria (Gram stain; MacConkey agar)
• Selective — to suppress other types of
bacteria (MacConkey agar, Mannitol
salt agar, Lowenstein-Jensen agar)
• Specialized — used for fastidious
organisms or those with complex
requirements (Charcoal agar, TCBS
agar)
 Diagnosis
• Bacteria may also be identified based on their biochemical characteristics
•

• Hemolysis: alpha, beta, gamma

• Oxidation of carbohydrates
• Presence of catalase, coagulase, oxidase
• Some bacteria and most viruses require serology, PCR, or protein blotting for diagnosis, such
as:
•

• Sexually-transmitted diseases
• HIV, Neisseria