Morphology of bacteria

Lab.2
 Introduction :

 Bacteria are unicellular, free-living, microscopic microorganisms

capable of performing all the essential functions of life. •

 They possess both deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and

Ribonucleic acid (RNA). •

 Bacteria are prokaryotic microorganisms that do not contain

chlorophyll.

 They occur in water, soil, air, food, and all natural environment. •

 They can survive extremes of temperature, pH, oxygen, and

atmospheric pressure.
Basic shapes of bacteria:

1. Coccus (pl. cocci) round or spherical

2. Bacillus (pl. bacilli) rod shaped or cylindrical
3. Spirillum (pl. spirlli) spiral (twisted)
Shapes of bacteria:
• Cocci :are small spherical or oval cells.
e.g. Staphylococcus sp. , micrococcus sp.
• Bacilli : they are rod cells
 Straight and cylindrical rods, e.g. Bacillus spp.
 long, thin filamentous form, e.g. Actinomycetes
• Spirillum
 comma-shaped (vibrio), e.g. Vibrio, Campylobacter
 spiral-shaped, loosely coiled (spirochete), e.g. Spirochetes
 elongated, tightly coiled (spirillum), e.g. Azospirillum spp)
• Pleomorphic – variable shape
 BACTERIAL SHAPES

Sarcina lutea Pediococcus

 BACTERIAL SHAPES

Vibrio cholera Staphylococcus aureus

Size of bacteria

• Bacteria are very small microorganisms which are visible

with the aid of microscope.

• They are having the size range in microns.

• Bacteria are stained by staining reagents and then visualized

under high power of magnification (1000X) of compound
microscope.

• An electron microscope is used for clear visualization of

internal structure of bacteria.
Arrangement of bacteria

The arrangement of bacteria is important. For example,

certain cocci occur in pairs (diplococci), some in chains
(streptococci), and others in grapelike clusters
(staphylococci).
Arrangement of bacteria
• Bacilli
 Smear preparation:

If the organism is taken from a broth culture medium:

1. Place 2 or 3 loops of the culture on a clean slide. Do not use
water.
2. Using the loop, spread the suspension over the entire slide to
form a thin film.
3. Allow this thin suspension to completely air dry.
4. Pass the slide through the flame of the bunsen burner 3 or 4
times to heat-fix.
Smear preparation :

If the culture is taken from solid (agar) medium:

1. Place a small droplet of distilled water at the center of slide.
2. Take a small amount of growth culture with the help of a loop
3. Mix these solids to form an emulsion and spread it in the form of
a thin film using the loop until it turns cloudy.
4. Burn the remaining bacteria off of the loop.
5. Dry this film by passing it through the flame of a burner 3 to 4
times. This is called smear fixing. After fixing the smear,
perform staining.
Simple (Direct) Staining with Methylene Blue

1. Prepare a heat fixed smear of the culture you wish to examine

2. Cover the smear with methylene blue.
3. Allow the dye to remain on the smear for approximately 1
minute.
4. By Using the distilled water wash bottle, gently wash off the
excess methylene blue from the slide .
5. Blot off excess stain using bibulous paper. Paper will absorb
excess dye (do not wipe the slide).
6. Examine the slide under the microscope.
7. Record the shape and arrangement of the organisms.