Dr. Richa Roy, Faculty, Biotech. Dept., T.N.B. College,BGP.

MICROBIAL NUTRITION

(Biotech. Prt 1)
A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an
organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment. They are used to build
and repair tissues, regulate body processes and are converted to and used as energy.

Organic nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, proteins (or their building blocks, amino acids),
and vitamins. Inorganic chemical compounds such asdietary minerals, water, and oxygen may
also be considered nutrients. A nutrient is said to be "essential" if it must be obtained from an
external source, either because the organism cannot synthesize it or produces insufficient
quantities. Nutrients needed in very small amounts are micronutrientsand those that are
needed in larger quantities are called macronutrients.

Nutritional Requirements of Cells

Every organism must find in its environment all of the substances required for energy
generation and cellular biosynthesis. The chemicals and elements of this environment that are
utilized for bacterial growth are referred to as nutrients or nutritional requirements. Many
bacteria can be grown the laboratory in culture media which are designed to provide all the
essential nutrients in solution for bacterial growth. Bacteria that are symbionts or obligate
intracellular parasites of other cells, usually eucaryotic cells, are (not unexpectedly) difficult to
grow outside of their natural host cells. Whether the microbe is a mutualist or parasite, the
host cell must ultimately provide the nutritional requirements of its resident.

Major elements/essential nutrient: At an elementary level, the nutritional requirements of a

bacterium such as E. coli are revealed by the cell's elemental composition, which consists of C,
H, O, N, S. P, K, Mg, Fe, Ca, Mn, and traces of Zn, Co, Cu, and Mo. These elements are found in
the form of water, inorganic ions, small molecules, and macromolecules which serve either a
structural or functional role in the cells. An essential nutrient is a nutrient required for normal
body functioning that either cannot be synthesized by the body at all, or cannot be synthesized
in amounts adequate for good health (e.g. niacin, choline), and thus must be obtained from
a dietary source. Essential nutrients are also defined by the collective physiological evidence for
their importance in the diet. Some categories of essential nutrients include vitamins, dietary
minerals, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. The mnemonic C. HOPKiN'S CaFe Mg
(to be used as C. Hopkins coffee mug) is used by some students to remember the list
 as: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus,potassium, nitrogen, sulfur, calcium, iron,
and magnesium.

Table 1. Major elements, their sources and functions in bacterial cells.

% of dry
Element Source Function
wt.
organic
Carbon 50 compounds or Main constituent of cellular material
CO2
H2O, organic
Constituent of cell material and cell water; O2 is electron
Oxygen 20 compounds, CO2,
acceptor in aerobic respiration
and O2
NH3, NO3, organic Constituent of amino acids, nucleic acids nucleotides, and
Nitrogen 14
compounds, N2 coenzymes
H2O, organic
Hydrogen 8 Main constituent of organic compounds and cell water
compounds, H2
inorganic Constituent of nucleic acids, nucleotides, phospholipids, LPS,
Phosphorus 3
phosphates (PO4) teichoic acids
SO4, H2S, So,
Constituent of cysteine, methionine, glutathione, several
Sulfur 1 organic sulfur
coenzymes
compounds
Main cellular inorganic cation and cofactor for certain
Potassium 1 Potassium salts
enzymes
Inorganic cellular cation, cofactor for certain enzymatic
Magnesium 0.5 Magnesium salts
reactions
Inorganic cellular cation, cofactor for certain enzymes and a
Calcium 0.5 Calcium salts
component of endospores
Component of cytochromes and certain nonheme iron-
Iron 0.2 Iron salts
proteins and a cofactor for some enzymatic reactions

Micronutrients are nutrients required by humans and other organisms throughout life in small
quantities to orchestrate a whole range of physiological functions, but which the organism itself
cannot produce. The microminerals or trace elements include at least iron, cobalt, chromium,
copper, , iodine, manganese, selenium, zinc and molybdenum. Micronutrients also
include vitamins, which are organic compound required as nutrients in tiny amounts by an
 organism. As metal ions, the trace elements usually act as cofactors for essential enzymatic
reactions in the cell. One organism's trace element may be another's required element and
vice-versa.

Growth Factors

This simplified scheme for use of carbon, either organic carbon or CO2, ignores the possibility
that an organism, whether it is an autotroph or a heterotroph, may require small amounts of
certain organic compounds for growth because they are essential substances that the organism
is unable to synthesize from available nutrients. Such compounds are called growth factors.

Growth factors are required in small amounts by cells because they fulfill specific roles in
biosynthesis. The need for a growth factor results from either a blocked or missing metabolic
pathway in the cells. Growth factors are organized into three categories.

1. purines and pyrimidines: required for synthesis of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA)

2. amino acids: required for the synthesis of proteins

3. vitamins: needed as coenzymes and functional groups of certain enzymes

Table: Common vitamins required in the nutrition of certain bacteria.

Vitamin Coenzyme form Function

p-Aminobenzoic acid
- Precursor for the biosynthesis of folic acid
(PABA)
Transfer of one-carbon units and required for synthesis of
Folic acid Tetrahydrofolate thymine, purine bases, serine, methionine and
pantothenate
Biotin Biotin Biosynthetic reactions that require CO2 fixation
Lipoic acid Lipoamide Transfer of acyl groups in oxidation of keto acids
Mercaptoethane-sulfonic
Coenzyme M CH4 production by methanogens
acid
NAD (nicotinamide
Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide) Electron carrier in dehydrogenation reactions
and NADP
Coenzyme A and the Oxidation of keto acids and acyl group carriers in
Pantothenic acid
Acyl Carrier Protein metabolism
 (ACP)
Transamination, deamination, decarboxylation and
Pyridoxine (B6) Pyridoxal phosphate
racemation of amino acids
FMN (flavin
mononucleotide) and
Riboflavin (B2) Oxidoreduction reactions
FAD (flavin adenine
dinucleotide)
Thiamine
Thiamine (B1) Decarboxylation of keto acids and transaminase reactions
pyrophosphate (TPP)
Cobalamine coupled
Vitamin B12 to adenine Transfer of methyl groups
nucleoside
Quinones and
Vitamin K Electron transport processes
napthoquinones

*Environmental Factor/Physical conditions that influence Microbes:

Niche- totality of adaptations organisms make to their habitat.

Adaptation to Temperature: Microbial cells are unable to control their temperature and
therefore assume
the ambient temperature of their natural habitats.
They have a Minimum Temperature, Maximum Temperature, and an Optimal Temperature.
Psychrophile: a microorganism that has an optimum temperature blow 15 degrees Celcius and
is
capable of growth a O degrees celius.
Mesophiles: grow at intermediate temperatures.
Thermophiles: grows optimally at temperatures greater than 45 degrees Celcius.

Gas Requirements: Atmospheric gases that most affect microbial growth are oxygen and
carbon dioxide.
Processing oxygen: as oxygen enters into cellular reactions, it is transformed into several
toxins.
To protect themselves from damage, most cells have developed enzymes that go about the
business of
scavenging and neutralizing these toxins.
Aerobe- an aerobic organism can use oxygen in its metabolism and possesses the enzymes
needed to process toxic oxygen products.
obligate aerobes cannot grow without oxygen.
facultative anaerobe- is an aerobe that doesn't require oxygen for its metabolism and is
capable of growth in the absence of it.
microaerophile- doesn't grow at normal atmospheric concentrations of oxygen but requires
a small amount of it in metabolism.
Anaerobe- Lacks the metabolic enzyme systems for using oxygen in respiration.

pH effects:
The majority of organisms live or grow in habitats between pH 6 and 8 because strong acids and
bases can be
highly damaging to enzymes and other cellular substances.

Osmotic Pressure:
Most microbes exist under hypotonic or isotonic conditions. Osmophiles live in habitats with a
high solute concentration. An osmotolerant microbe can adapt to a wide concentration in
solutes.

Isotonic: no net movement of water

Hypotonic: Water moves into the cell and may cause the cell to burst if the wall is weak or
damaged. Has lower osmotic pressure / soluet.
Hypertonic: Water moves oout of the cell, casuing it's cytoplasm to shrink. Has higher osmotic
pressure / solute.