Bacteria Flashcards
what are the different bacterial morphologies?
- cocci
- rods
- curved
- spiral
- exotic - star-shaped cells
what is the cocci morphology of bacteria?
- simplest, round-shaped cells
- cell machinery at septum for elongation
- some form pairs = diplococci
- some form chains = streptococci
- division planes can be parallel or perpendicular
- form complex organisations like tetrads, sarcinae (multiple perpendicular divisions
- can form microcolonies (piles of cells)
what is the rod morphology of bacteria?
- elongated cells
- bacilli = 1 rod
- diplobacilli = 2 rods
- multiple chains of rods = streptobacilli
what is the name given to a bacteria with a mixture of round cocci and rods?
coccobacilli
what is the curved morphology of bacteria?
- governed by cytoskeleton proteins to create curved shape
- asymmetrical growth is maintained
what is the spiral morphology of bacteria?
spirillum:
- cell shape adapted to organism lifestyle
- helps bacteria move as a corkscrew and penetrate into mucus of epithelial cells
how can bacterial morphologies change during the cell cycle?
- in aquatic environment it forms swarmer cells - has flagella so can swim
- during life cycle, forms a stalk appendage so bacteria can adhere to surfaces
- as stalk grows, they divide asymmetricaly
- produce mobile form (swim) and immobile form (adhere)
what is the advantage of bacteria being small?
large SA:V ratio
- increases nutrient exchange and growth rate
- higher intracellular nutrient concentration
- rapid evolution due to high selection rate of mutations and faster divisions
why do bacteria appear to be different colours?
- they themselves aren’t coloured
- they produce pigments as colonies
- pigments fulfil roles in bacterial life cycles
- Prodigiosin = immunosuppressant
- staphyloaxanthin and violacein = antioxidant, detoxify ROS
- pyocyanin = cytotoxicity, neutrophil apoptosis, proinflammatory
why do bacteria have odours?
- they form biproducts from metabolism which aren’t necessity for life, but do produce odour
- contribution to human odours via degragation of aprocrine products
- conversion of leucine to isovaleric acid by Staph
- production of propanoic acid by propionibacteria - decarboxylation of amino acids to form polyamines
- putrescine, spermidine, cadaverine have role is ROS and signalling
what is the gram staining process?
- colony sample spread onto glass slide and stained with crystal violet, which is +ve charge and penetrates cell envelope
- iodine solution, -ve charge, penetrates cell envelope, and allows crystal violet to form large complexes
- crystal violet is either stuck in envelope or washed off
- counter stain safranin is applied and stains cells that had crystal violet washed off
what is gram positive in the gram stain?
- These bacteria retain methyl violet in their thick peptidoglycan cell walls
- contain no outer membrane
- Examples of Gram-positive bacteria are
Staphylococcus and Streptococcus
what is gram negative in the gram stain?
- These bacteria have only thin peptidoglycan cell walls
- contain an outer membrane
-Gram negative bacteria therefore appear pink-red. - Examples of Gram-negative
bacteria are Escherichia, Pseudomonas and Neisseria
what bacteria does the gram stain not work on?
Mycobacteria
- has a unique cell envelope composition where the lipids interfere with the staining process
what are S-layers?
- found in gram +ve and -ve
- non-covalently bound to cell surface- - facultative (don’t exist in most model organisms)
- proteinaceous crystalline arrays - self assembly products
- 20% of bacterial production
- not all bacteria have them
- function unknown
what are capsules?
- found in gram +ve and -ve
- made of polysaccharide
- some made of amino acids (poly-gamma-D-glutamate)
- covalently bound to peptidoglycan (gram +ve) or outer membrane (gram -ve)
- resistannt to phagocytes and bacteriophages
- keep environment hydrated
what are exopolysaccharides?
- homo- or heteropolysaccharides
- non-covalently bound to cell surface
- important for biofilm formation
- form aggregates to protect fom environment
- enables formation of colonies
- economic importance: xanthan gum
what are the key components of the outer membrane in gram negative bacteria?
- phospholipid bilayer
- innerface = phospholipids
- outerface = lipopolysaccharide, contains hydrophobic region
- variable-O-antigen polysaccharide determines antigen on cell surface
- contains porins for solute transport
- lipoproteins are covalently linked to peptidoglycan
- LPS endotoxin is a potent activator of the immune system: can trigger inflammation
what is peptidoglycan?
- made of murein
- maintains cell shape and forms exoskeleton
- acts as scaffold to display proteins
- protective role
- acts as a sieve to regulate dynamic exchanges with environment
- elastic 3D network
- present in almost all bacteria
- resistant to osmotic stress
what is the composition of peptidoglycan?
- made of murein
- glycan chains alternating N-acetylglucosamine G and N-acetylmuramic acid
- substituted via short peptides (L and D amino acids)
how is peptidoglycan assembled?
- transpeptidation reaction with enzymes which are covalently bound to the stem
what are the key components of the cytoplasmic membrane?
- phospholipid bilayer
- unsaturated fatty acids modulate membrane fluidity and permeability due to kinks in hydrocarbon chain
- amphipathic molecules for compartmentalisation
- hopanoids modulate membrane fluidity and permeability
- protein transporters make membrane selectively permeable for specific polar molecules
what is the bacterial chromosome made up of?
- dsDNA
- singular, circular chromosome
- 0.5-14.8mbp
- organised as a nucleoid: histone-like proteins enable supercoiling
what is the bacterial plasmid made up of?
- dsDNA
- variable copy number
- 2-600kbp
- self-transferable by horizontal transfer
- conjugation: physical contact between bacteria to transfer plasmid DNA
- carry resistance genes
what is the gene structure of bacteria?
- no introns
- continuous coding sequence via open reading frame (ORF)
- operons: one promoter, several ORFs
- genes are smaller than eukaryotic genes
how is gene transcription initiated?
- RNAP scans DNA forming a loose complex
- sigma factor binds to shine-dalgarno sequence upstream of start codon (-35 and -10)
- DNA is unwound to form an open complex
- transcription begins and sigma factor is released
what is rho-independent transcription termination?
- requires palindromic GC-rich region upstream of an AT-rich sequence
- once the GC-rich region has been transcribed, it forms a hairpin
- hairpin causes dissociation of RNAP, helped by the AT-rich sequence (few H-bonds)
what is rho-dependent transcription termination?
- rho proteins recognise and bind to 72 GC-rich residues
- RNA-dependent ATPase wraps the downstream RNA around itself
- once it reaches the polymerase, rho unwinds the RNA-DNA heteroduplex and releases RNAP
how is the genetic machinery different between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
- transcription site is cytoplasm for bacteria (nucleus for eukaryotes)
- 1 RNAP in bacteria, 3 RNAP eukaryotes
- termination involves palindromic GC-rich region (eukaryotes require AAUAAA)
- mRNA is modified in eukaryotes, but not in bacteria
how large are the ribosomes in bacteria compared to eukaryotes?
70S in bacteria
- 50S + 30S
80S in eukaryotes
- 60S + 40S
what are the differences in translation between bacteria and eukaryotes?
- bacterial 70S ribosomes interact with mRNA productively in presence of tRNA
- 30S subunit recognises SD sequence
- transcription and translation are coupled in bacteria
- eukaryotic 80s ribosomes bind mRNA efficiently in absence of tRNA
- 40S subunit is guided by 5’ cap on mRNA
- compartmentalised in eukarytoes
- translation inhibited by cycloheximide
what does bacterial growth require?
- temperature
- pH
- osmotic pressure
- nutrients
- oxygen
what are the cardinal temperatures for bacteria?
Minimum: below this, no growth ca occur as the membranes gel and transport processes are too slow to maintain metabolism
Optimum: an increased enzymatic activity so that reactions occur at the maximal possible rate
Maximum: after this point, proteins become denatured, cytoplasm collapses and cell lysis occurs, causing metabolic reactions to halt
name 4 bacteria and their optimal temperatures:
- P. vacuolata = 4C
- psychrophile - E. coli = 37C
- mesophile - T. aquaticus = 70C
- thermophile - P. fumarii = 106C
- extreme thermophile
how are psychrophiles adapted to cold temperatures?
- increased membrane fluidity
- more unsaturated and polyunsaturated methyl-branched fatty acids
- limit membrane cohesion - production of anti-freeze proteins
- AFPs bind to ice crystals to inhibit their growth by covering water-accessible surfaces of ice - production of cryoprotectants
- trehalose and exopolysaccharides lowers freezing temp of water to preserve fluids - production of cold-adapted enzymes
- more a-helices and less weak bonds to combat low enthalpy
how are thermophiles adapted to high temperatures?
- genome protection
- by DNA-binding proteins stabilise DNA
- reverse DNA genes form supercoils - harder to pull apart
- high GC% - difficult to denature - modify membrane composition
- stable ether-linked phosolipids
- single lipid layer: glycerol tetraethers - thermostable proteins
- more ionic and hydrophobic interactions to form stronger bonds - thermostable chaperonins
- maintain protein folding
- thermosome in Pyrodictium abyssi
how are acidophile metabolisms adapted to their environment?
- increased membrane impermeability
- use protons as currency
- ATP depends on oxidative phosphorylation and needs H+ for this
- use H+ to import/export Na+
- H+ powers motility: when pumped in, H+ triggers conformational change to move flagella
- H+ secretion systems via antiporters
- DNA/protein repar mechanisms
- reverse membrane potential and increased osmolarity (K+ ions)
how are alkaliphile metabolisms adapted to their environment?
- Na+ as currency
- use Na+ to make ATP
- used for motility, imports/exports etc
- high affinity transporters for Na+