PROKARYOTES

Prokaryotic Diversity
• A brief history of microbiology.
– Microbiology grew out of the study of infectious disease, and was aided by
technology to view the unseen world.
• Spontaneous generation was disproved by experimentation, and
Koch’s postulates provide guidelines to assign a causative agent to a
disease.
– 1. The microorganism must be present in every case of the disease and
absent from healthy individuals.
– 2. The putative causative agent must be isolated and grown in pure culture.
– 3. The same disease must result when the cultured microorganism is used
to infect a healthy host.
– 4. The same microorganism must be isolated again from the diseased host.
• Archaea and bacteria are the oldest, structurally
simplest, and most abundant forms of life. They are also
the only organisms with prokaryotic cellular organization.
• Prokaryotes are ubiquitous and live everywhere
eukaryotes do; they are also able to thrive in places no
eukaryote could live.
Prokaryotes are fundamentally different from eukaryotes.

• Prokaryotic features include: unicellularity ,

small circular DNA, division by binary fission,
lack of internal compartmentalization, a
singular flagellum, and metabolic diversity.
 Unicellularity
• In their natural environments, most bacteria
appear to be capable of forming a complex
community of different species called a biofilm.
Cell size
Nucleoid
Cell division and genetic recombination
Internal compartmentalization
Flagella
 Metabolic diversity
• Photosynthetic bacteria have two basic
patterns of photosynthesis: (1) oxygenic,
producing oxygen; and (2) anoxygenic,
nonoxygen producing.
Despite similarities, bacteria and archaea differ fundamentally.

• Bacteria and archaea differ in four key areas:

plasma membranes, cell walls, DNA
replication, and gene expression.
 Plasma membranes

• Archaeal lipids have ether instead of ester

linkages and can form tetraether monolayers.
 Cell wall
• The cell walls of bacteria contain
peptidoglycans, but those of archaea do not.
 Most prokaryotes have not been
characterized.
• Nine clades of prokaryotes have been found
so far, but many bacteria have not been
studied.
 Prokaryotic Cell Structure
• Prokaryotes have three basic forms: Rods,
cocci, and spirals
 Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria
• Two types of bacteria can be identified using a staining process
called the Gram stain, hence their names. Gram-positive bacteria
have a thicker peptidoglycan wall and stain a purple color,
whereas the more common gram-negative bacteria contain less
peptidoglycan and do not retain the purple-colored dye.
 Prokaryotic Genetics
• Conjugation is the horizontal gene transfer when genes
move from one cell to another.
• DNA can be exchanged by conjugation, which depends
on the presence of conjugative plasmids like the F
plasmid in E. coli. The F+ donor cell transfers the F
plasmid to the F- recipient cell.
 Viruses transfer DNA by transduction
• In generalized transduction, virtually any gene
can be transferred between cells; in
specialized transduction, only a few genes are
transferred.
 Transformation is the uptake of DNA directly from the
environment.

• Transformation occurs when cells take up DNA

from the surrounding medium. It can be
induced artificially in the laboratory.
 Variation can also arise by mutation.

• Mutations can occur spontaneously in bacteria

due to radiation, UV, and various chemicals.
 Prokaryotic Metabolism

• Prokaryotes acquire carbon and energy in

four basic ways.
– Photoautotrophs carry out photosynthesis and
obtain carbon from carbon dioxide.
– Chemolithoautotrophs obtain energy by oxidizing
inorganic substances.
– Photoheterotrophs use light for energy but obtain
carbon from organic molecules.
– Chemoheterotrophs, the largest group, obtain
carbon and energy from organic molecules.
 Human Bacterial Disease
• Bacterial diseases are spread through mucus
or saliva droplets, contaminated food and
water, and insect vectors.
• Tuberculosis has infected humans for all of
recorded history.
– Tuberculosis continues to be a major public health
problem. It is caused by Mycobacterium
tuberculosis. Treatment requires a long course of
antibiotics.
• Bacterial biofilms are involved in tooth decay.
• Bacteria can cause ulcers.
– Most stomach ulcers are caused by infection with
Helicobacter pylori.
 Many sexually transmitted diseases are
bacterial.
• Gonorrhea
– Caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, gonorrhea can be
transmitted through sexual intercourse or any other sexual contact
in which body fluids are exchanged, such as oral or anal intercourse.
• Syphilis
– Syphilis is caused by a spirochete bacterium, Treponema pallidum,
transmitted during sexual intercourse or through direct contact with
an open syphilis chancre sore.
• Chlamydia
– Chlamydia is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. The bacterium is
transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse with an
infected person.