bacterial structure I and II - notes and lecture Flashcards
why are bacteria readily visible in large numbers?
they make a turbid suspension
what is aseptic technique?
laboratory technique that allows the manipulation of sterilized material without bacteriological contamination
how are pure cultures made today?
(means culture with only one species of bacteria present)
prepared on medium solidified with agar - mixed bacterial suspension spread on the agar to yield isolated individual bacterial cells which grow into colonies
what determines bacterial taxinomy?
DNA sequence homology
determine using PCR
what are the most important bacterial characteristics for routine laboratory diagnosis?
1: morphology of colonies on appropriate agar medium
2: microscopic morphology and staining of individual bacteria
3: simple biochemical characteristics such as the ability to ferment a given carbohydrate
4: specific antigens detected by known antisera
what are Koch’s postulates? what are they used to determine?
used to establish the bacterial etiology of infectious diseases
postulates=
a: find the bacteria in all cases of disease
b: grow the bacteria in pure cultures
c: reproduce the disease in animals using the pure culture
d: reisolate the bacteria in pure culture from the experimental infection
note that some infectious pathogens won’t meet all of these but are still the agent responsible for the disease
what are koch’s molecular postulates used for? what are they?
used to define the molecular basis by which a specific infectious disease is caused
postulates =
a: phenotype under investigation should be associated significantly more often with a pathogenic organism than with a nonpathogenic member or strain
b: specific inactivation of a gene (or genes) associated with the suspected virulence trait should lead to a measurable decrease in virulence
c: restoration of full pathogenicity should accompany replacement of the mutated gene with the wild type original
what are the “higher” microorganisms?
in the eukarya domain: fungi, protozoa, algae
what does eukaryotic mean?
true nucleus
what are the “lower” microorganisms?
bacteria - bacterial domain - prokaryotic cells
what are the chromosomal characteristics of eukaryotic versus prokaryotic cells?
in eukaryotic cells, each cell has a number of different linear chromosomes within the nuclear membrane
in prokaryotic cells, each cell generally contains one circular chromosome that is not bound by a nuclear membrane
what are the differences in reproduction between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells?
eukaryotic cells undergo mitosis, whereas prokaryotic cells undergo binary fusion
what are the differences in mitochondria between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells?
eukaryotic cells have mitochondria with oxidative enzymes that carry out oxidative phosphorylation
prokaryotic cells don’t have mitochondria - rather, their oxidative membranes are associated with the cytoplasmic membrane o the cell
what is the difference in membrane bound structures between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
eukaryotes have many membrane-bound structures including vacuoles, peroxisomes, etc. whereas prokaryotes have no membrane bound structures within the cell (with a few exceptions)
what are the differences between mechanism of movement between eukaryotes and prokaryotes?
eukaryotes move by cytoplasmic streaming of by contraction of flagella or cilia
prokaryotes don’t do cytoplasmic streaming or amoeboid movement, some have flagella
how are prokaryotic flagella different from eukaryotic flagella?
prokaryotic flagella are composed of a long helical filament composed of repeating protein subunits with a hollow tube down the middle
no microtubules and typically no membrane coat
what is unique about the cytoplasm of bacteria?
it’s usually very dense due to high content of ribosomes necessary for rapid growth
how do the cell walls in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms differ?
animal cells don’t have cell walls
higher plants and green algae have wall of polysaccharide cellulose
fungi cell wall of chitin
in prokaryotes wall composed of peptidoglycan polymer with muramic acid, D-AA and other components
what are the differences in RNA transcription and translation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes?
in eukaryotes, rna is transcribed in nucleus, spliced, transported to ER for translation
in prokaryotes nascent RNA is translated as it’s transcribed - no RNA splicing
what are the groups of prokaryotic cells? (2)
bacteria and archaea
those of medical importance are all bacteria
how do prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells differ in chemical composition? (sterols and muramic acid)
prokaryotic cells don’t have sterols (except for mycoplasma, which may) whereas eukaryotic cells do
most prokaryotic cells have muramic acid whereas eukaryotic cells don’t
what is the general diameter of coccus?
.8 to 1.0 um
how can the shape of bacillus vary?
rod can be long and slender or short and thick
ends of rod can be square, rounded, or tapered
what is different about the cell wall in spirochetes?
not rigid so they’re classified differently from rod or spheres
how does binary fission occur?
formation and subsequent joining of a central transverse wall
what can happen if daughter cells do not separate in binary fission?
get many-celled aggregates = filaments
more commonly occurs among the cocci
what determines the form of aggregates formed in binary fission?
the pattern of successive division:
a: successive divisions of cocci along the same axis result in chain (streptococci)
b: successive divisions that take place at right angles create tetrads or extensive flat plates of cells
c: three successive divisions at right angles to one another result in cuboid
d: get irregular clusters if successive divisions of cocci occur in any direction
in rod-shaped bacteria, division always takes place at right angles to the long axis so can only form chains
except in corynebacterium where rods stick together at ends so that get stack of rods or variety of groupings
describe the chemical composition of the cytoplasmic membrane of bacterial cells. (lipids)
similar to that of mammalian cells
20-30% lipid, 60% protein
phospholipid bilayer
describe the permeability of bacterial membranes
semi-permeable - if put in hypertonic media, contracts
water freely permeable but ions and non-ionized molecules larger than glycerol penetrate slowly except by transporters
what is a protoplast and how is it formed?
stable form of bacteria once cell wall has been digested
rod-shaped bacteria will assume spherical shape
cells will now burst if placed in hypotonic media because cell wall absent
what are the functions of the cytoplasmic membrane in bacteria?
1: contains oxidative enzymes - resembles inner membrane of mitochondria in both structure and function
2: contains enzymes which function in external cell wall synthesis
3: can pump nutrients from dilute external media
4: mechanisms for secreting toxins and certain enzyme
what components of bacterial cells would you see in the cytoplasm in EM? (list)
ribosomes
cytoplasmic granules
how do bacterial ribosomes compare with mammalian?
bacterial are smaller = 70S
mammalian are 80S except for mitochondrial, which are 70S
what are cytoplasmic granules?
storage bodies formed in bacteria under conditions where excess food is available
can be high molecular weight lipid or glycogen or metachromatic granules = polymerized phosphate (stains deeply with basic dyes)
how would you identify diphteria microscopically?
have metachromatic granules that will stain deeply with basic dyes
why are cytoplasmic granules important?
allow for storage of nutrients in large quantities without increasing osmolarity of the cytoplasm
what is the size of the cell wall in bacteria?
makes up approximately 20-35% of cell weight
what molecules are contained in all bacterial cell walls?
polymer of NAG linked to muramic acid by a glycosidic bond
short peptide consisting of 4 AA is linked to the lactic acid residue (these AA can vary across species)
what is muramic acid made of?
NAG linked to lactic acid