Structure & functions of

prokaryotic cell.
Bacteriophages.
Lecture 3 Session II

Lecturer: Dr. Sergei V. Redkozubov PhD .

• Explain functions of different bacterial cell organoids;

• Describe the structure and function of the prokaryotic cell

wall;
• Classify bacterial according to staining properties,
nutritional requirements and morphology;
• Distinguish Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria;
• Describe various drug targets in the bacterial cell for
antibiotic therapy;
• Describe viral-host-cell interaction and replication of
bacteriophages.
Size and shape of bacterial cell
Size and shape of bacterial cells

Cocci:
Single
Pairs (diplococci)
Tetrads
Irregular clusters
Chains (streptococci)
Cubical packet (sarcina)
Bacilli: less varied
Single
Pairs (diplobacilli)
Chain (streptobacilli)
Row of cells oriented side
by side (palisades)
Spirilla
Occasionally found in
short chains
Size and shape of
bacterial cell
Common stricture of bacterial cell
 Cell wall

Majority of bacteria have a cell envelope:

Lies outside of the cytoplasm, composed of two or three basic layers
Cell membrane
Cell wall
In some bacteria, the outer membrane
Peptidoglican
structure
 Peptidoglycan (murein) structure
 Peptidoglycan is a huge polymer
of interlocking chains of identical
peptidoglycan monomers.

 Provides rigid support while freely

permeable to solutes.

 Backbone of peptidoglycan
molecule composed of two
derivatives of glucose:
- N-acetylglucosamine (NAG)
- N-acetlymuramic acid (NAM)

 NAG / NAM strands are

connected by inter-
peptide bridges
Peptidoglican (murein) structure
Cell envelop morphology
Coloring:
Gram+/
Gram-
 Examples: Gram+/ Gram-

Gram+ Gram+ Gram-/+

Gram+/- Gram- ??????

 Function of the prokaryotic cell wall
Support - the cell wall provides mechanical strength and support. It also controls the
direction of cell growth.​
Withstand turgor pressure - turgor pressure is the force exerted against the cell wall as
the contents of the cell push the plasma membrane against the cell wall. This pressure helps
a plant to remain rigid and erect, but can also cause a cell to rupture.​
Regulate growth - sends signals for the cell to enter the cell cycle in order to divide and
grow.
Regulate diffusion - the cell wall is porous allowing some substances, including proteins,
to pass into the cell while keeping other substances out.​
Communication - cells communicate with one another via plasmodesmata (pores or
channels between plant cell walls that allow molecules and communication signals to pass
between individual plant cells).​
Protection - provides a barrier to protect against plant viruses and other pathogens. It also
helps to prevent water loss.​
Storage - stores carbohydrates for use in plant growth, especially in seeds.
 Cell envelop morphology

Some bacteria have an additional layer

outside of the cell wall called the
glycocalyx.
This additional layer can come in one of
two forms:
1- Glycoproteins loosely associated with
the cell wall. Slime layer causes bacteria
to adhere to solid surfaces and helps
prevent the cell from drying out. The slime
layer of Gram+ Streptococcus mutans
allows it to accumulate on tooth enamel
(yuck mouth and one of the causes of
cavities).
Other bacteria in the mouth become
trapped in the slime and form a biofilm &
eventually a buildup of plaque.
 Cell envelop morphology

2.Polysaccharides firmly attached to the cell wall.

Capsules adhere to solid surfaces and to nutrients in the environment.
Adhesive power of capsules is a major factor in the initiation of some bacterial
diseases.
Capsule also protect bacteria from being phagocitized by cells of the hosts immune
system.
Membrane structure
Flagella
Flagella
Flagella
Flagella
 Pili & Fimbriae

A pilus (Latin for 'hair'; plural : pili) is a hair-like appendage found on the surface of many
bacteria. The terms pilus and fimbria (Latin for 'fringe'; plural: fimbriae) can be used
interchangeably, although some researchers reserve the term pilus for the appendage
required for bacterial conjugation. All pili in the latter sense are primarily composed of pilin
proteins, which are oligomeric.
Dozens of these structures can exist on the bacteria. Some bacterial viruses or
bacteriophages attach to receptors on pili at the start of their reproductive cycle.
Pili are antigenic. They are also fragile and constantly replaced, sometimes with pili of
different composition, resulting in altered antigenicity. Specific host responses to old pili
structure are not effective on the new structure.
 Fimbriae

The fimbriae of a bacterial cell adheres to specific proteins called receptors, found on the outer
membrane of the host cell. They do this through a specific interaction between the receptors of
the host cell and the perfectly matched adhesions found on the bacteria’s fimbriae. This
process of adhering bacterial cells to a host cell, can lead to the colonization of that host cell
as more and more bacterial cell collect around them, and is integral to the continued survival
of the bacteria as it goes on to infect tissues and entire organs.
Axial Filaments

AKA periplasmic flagella

In Spirochetes
A type of internal flagellum that
is enclosed in the space
between the cell wall and the
cell membrane
Ribosomes
 Inclusions

Granules
Spores
Inclusions - also known as inclusion bodies.
Some bacteria lay down nutrients in these inclusions during periods of nutrient
abundance.
Serve as a storehouse when nutrients become depleted.
Some enclose condensed, energy-rich organic substances.
Some aquatic bacterial inclusions include gas vesicles to provide buoyancy and
flotation.
Sporulation
Nutritional requirements
 Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria: the Blue-Green Bacteria
For many years, called Blue-Green Algae
Gram-negative cell wall
General prokaryotic structure
Can be unicellular or can occur in colonial or filamentous groupings
Specialized adaptation- thylakoids
Chlorophyll a. Other photosynthetic pigments
Gas inclusions.Widely distributed in nature
 Sulfur Bacteria
Green and Purple
Photosynthetic
Contain pigments
Different chlorophyll than cyanobacteria- bacteriochlorophyll
Do not give off oxygen
Live in areas deep enough for anaerobic conditions but yet where their
pigments can absorb light
Sulfur springs
Freshwater lakes
Swamps
 Infectious bacteria -
Rickettsias parasites
Very tiny
Gram-negative
Atypical in lifestyle and other adaptations
Most-pathogens that alternate between a
mammalian host and blood-sucking arthorpods.
Cannot survive or multiply outside a host cell.
Cannot carry out metabolism completely on
their own.
 Auxotrophy

Auxotrophy (Ancient Greek: αὐξάνω "to increase"; τροφή "nourishment") is the

inability of an organism to synthesize a particular organic compound required for its
growth. An auxotroph is an organism that displays this characteristic; auxotrophic is
the corresponding adjective. Auxotrophy is the opposite of prototrophy, which is
characterized by the ability to synthesize all the compounds needed for growth.
 Bacteriophages

A bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacteria. The term is commonly shortened to phage.
Bacteriophages are among the most common and diverse entities in the biosphere. Like viruses that
infect eukaryotes (plants, animals, and fungi) there are many different phage structures and functions.
Phages are typically made of an outer protein hull that has genetic material inside it.
The genetic material may be single-stranded (ssRNA or ssDNA), or double-stranded (dsRNA or
dsDNA). It may be between 5 and 500 kilobase pairs long with either circular or linear arrangement.
Bacteriophages are usually between 20 and 200 nanometers in size.
Bacteriophages’
structure
 Bacteriophages’ genetic
In 1952 Hershey and Chase
showed that only DNA is the molecule
responsible for heredity in every
biological object.
To prove it they inserted the
radioactive elements into the
bacteriophages by adding the isotopes
of sulfur S35 in virus's protein and
radioactive phosphorus P32 into DNA
of bacteriophage. When the
bacteriophages infected the bacteria,
its progeny contained only P32
radioactive isotopes in the structures.
And no radioactive sulfur S32.
Hershey and Chase, confirmed
Martha Chase Alfred Hershey
that DNA was the only biomolecule that
carried genetic information.
Bacteriophages’ genetic
Bacteriophages’ life cycle
Bacteriophages’
receptors to the
host’s cell wall
components
Self-assembling Stages
Bacteriophages’ Specificity
 Bacteriophage
conversion

Lysogenic conversion. Prophage can confer new properties on cell.

Infected cells have new characteristics:
Streptococcus pyogenes manufactures toxin resulting in scarlet fever and oral
Corynebacteria infected by specific phage becomes Corynebacterium diphtheria
Bacteriophages are good genetic vectors
Bacteriophages are good genetic vectors
Bacteriophages are good genetic vectors
Insulin biotechnology
Antibiotic Classification
 Penicillins

Mechanism: interfer with bacterial cell wall synthesis

Subclassification and tested examples
natural
penicillin G
penicillinase-resistant
methicillin (Staphcillin)
aminopenicillins Penicillium griseofulvum
ampicillin (Omnipen, Polycillin)
Mechanism Cephalosporins
• disrupts the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer
of bacterial cell walls
• does so through competitive inhibition on PCB
(penicillin binding proteins)
• same mechanicsm of action as beta-lactam
antibiotics (such as penicillins)
Subclassification and tested examples:
first generation cefazolin (Ancef, Kefzol)
second generation cefaclor (Ceclor)
third generation cefriazone (Rocephin)
fourth generation cefepime (Maxipime)

Acremonium
(Cephalosporium)
 Cephalosporins & Penicillins

The cell wall lost can be induced artificially by treatment with Cephalosporins
& Penicillins.
When this occurs with gram-positive cells, the cell becomes a protoplast.
With gram-negative cells, the cell becomes a spheroplast.
Spheroplast & protoplast are less vitable than intact cells.
 Protein Synthesis Inhibition:
Tetracyclines Anti-30S ribosomal subunit Aminoglycosides

Bactericidal Mechanism:
inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis Streptomycin
work by binding to the 30s ribosome
subunit, leading to the misreading of
mRNA. This misreading results in the
synthesis of abnormal peptides that
accumulate intracellularly and eventually
lead to cell death. These antibiotics
arebactericidal.
Subclassification and tested examples
gentamicin (Garamycin)
Streptomyces griseus
 Protein Synthesis Inhibition:
Chloramphenicol Anti-50S ribosomal subunit Erythromycin

Bactericidal Mechanism:
inhibition of bacterial protein
synthesis.
Work by binding to the 50s ribosome
subunit, leading to the ceasing of
translation (stopping of protein
synthesis).
Streptomyces venezuelae
 Other Inhibitors

DNA Synthesis Inhibitors: Mycolic Acids Synthesis Inhibitors

Ciprofloxacin Isoniazid
Norfloxacin
Enoxacin
Ofloxacin
Levofloxacin
Folic acid Synthesis Inhibitors
RNA Synthesis Inhibitors
Sulfamethoxazole (SMX)
Rifampin
Sulfisoxazole
Sulfadiazine
Conclusion