Chapter 5: Environmental Influences Flashcards
Organisms growing outside normal growth conditions.
Extremophiles
What are “normal” growth conditions:
- Sea level (1 atm)
- Temperature 20-40 C
- Neutral pH
- 0.9% salt, and ample nutrients
The main criterion that a microbe’s environmental habitat is based on.
The tolerance of that organism’s proteins and macromolecular structures
Do bacteria regulate temp?
No. They match their immediate environment.
Each organism has an _______ temperature, as well as _______ and _______ temperatures that define its growth limits.
Optimum; minimum; maximum
Microbes that grow at higher temps typically achieve….
Higher rates of growth
The growth rate doubles for every…
10 degrees Celsius rise in temp.
The typical temp growth range usually spans an organism’s optimal growth temp by…
30-40 degrees
Live in 0-20 degrees
Psychrophiles
Live in 15-45 degrees
Mesophiles
Live in 40-80 degrees
Thermophiles
Live in 65-121 degrees
Hyperthermophiles
Heat-shock response is the result of…
Rapid temperature change during growth activities
What does the heat shock response activate and what do these produce?
Activates - stress response genes
Produces - chaperones and enzymes that change membrane lipid composition
What kind of organisms have the heat shock response?
All organisms do
Barophiles or piezophiles are adapted to…
Grow at very high pressures
_______ organisms grow well over the range of 1-50 MPa, but their growth falls off thereafter
Barotolerant
Many barophiles are also-
Psychrophiles
Water activity
A measure of how much water is available for use
Water activity is measured as…
The ratio of the soln’s vapor pressure relative to that of pure water
Most bacteria require water activity levels of
Greater than 0.91
Fungi can tolerate water activity levels of
Greater than 0.86
A measure of the number of solute molecules in a solution
Osmolarity
Osmolarity is ________ related to water activity
Inversely
Aquaporins
Membrane-channel proteins that allow water to traverse the membrane much faster than by diffusion
Aquaporins help protect from
Osmotic stress
Microbes’ 2 mechs to minimize osmotic stress:
- In hypertonic media they protect internal water by synthesizing or importing compatible solutes (eg proline or K+)
- In hypotonic media, pressure-sensitive or mechanosensitive channels can leak solutes out of the cell
Require high salt conc
Halophiles
Salt conc for halophiles
2-4 M NaCl
To achieve a low internal conc of Na+ halophilic microbes…
Use special ion pumps to excrete sodium and replace it with other cations, such as K+
All enzyme activities exhibit______________ with regard to pH
Optima, minima, and maxima
Do bacteria regulate internal pH?
Yes
______ _______ pass through membranes and disrupt ____ homeostasis, thus killing cells
Weak acids; pH
3 classes of organisms differentiated by the pH of their growth range:
- Neutralophiles
- Acidophiles
- Alkaliphiles
______ _____ lakes have high salt conc and pH values as high as pH 11
Saline soda
Saline soda lakes contain
Alkalophiles such as the archaeon Halobacterium salinarium and cyanobacterium Spirulina (flamingos)
Most alkaliphiles use a ______ motive force in addition to a ______ motive force to do much of the work in the cell.
Sodium; proton
-also rely heavily on Na/H antiporters to bring protons into the cell
When cells are placed in pH conditions below the optimum….
Protons can enter the cell and lower internal pH to lethal levels
Microbes can prevent the unwanted influx of protons by..
exchanging extracellular K+ for intracellular H+ when the internal pH becomes too low
Under extremely alkaline conditions, cells use…
Na/H antiporter to bring protons into the cell in exchange for Na
Many microbes posses an emergency global response system called
Acid tolerance or acid resistance
TEA
Terminal electron acceptor
TEA in aerobic respiration
oxygen
Oxygen is toxic to cells that lack
enzymes capable of efficiently destroying the reactive oxygen species (ROC)
Only grow in oxygen
Strict aerobes
Grow in oxygen while retaining a fermentation-based metabolism
Aerotolerant anaerobes
Facultative anaerobes
Can live with or without oxygen
Grow only at lower O2 levels
Microaerophiles
3 oxygen removing techniques
- Special reducing agents (thioglycolate) or enzyme systems (oxyrase) can be added to ordinary liquid media
- An anaerobe jar
- An anaerobic chamber with glove ports
Starvation response
Enzymes are produced to increase the efficiency of nutrient gathering and tk protect cell macromolecules
Usually triggered by accumulation of small signal molecules like cAMP
Eutrophication
the sudden infusion of large quantities of a formerly limiting nutrient
Ways humans have caused nutrient pollution:
- Runoff from agricultural fields, urban lawns, and golf courses
- Untreated or partially treated domestic sewage
Killing or removal of pathogens from inanimate objects
Disinfection
Sterilization
Killing of all living organisms
Killing or removal of pathogens from the surface of living tissues
Antisepsis
Reducing the microbial population to “safe” levels
Sanitation
Decimal reduction time
The length of time it takes an agent or a condition to kill 90% of the population
Steam autoclave
121 C at 15 psi for 20 minutes
LTLT
Low temp/ long time pasteurization (63 C for 30 min)
HTST
High temp/ short time pasteurization (72 C for 15 sec)
Pasteurization kills
Coxiella burnetii, the cause of Q fever
Temp for food preservation
4-8
Long term storage of cultures:
- -70 in glycerol
2. Lyophilization or freeze-drying
Filters that can remove microbial cells
Micropore filters (0.2 um)
Force air through HEPA filters removing >99.9% of airborne particulate material 0.3 um in size or larger
Laminar air flow biological safety cabinets
Used for surface sterilization for has poor penetrating power
Ultraviolet light
Used to irradiate foods and other heat-sensitive items. Has high penetrating power.
Gamma rays, e- beams, and x-rays
Factors influencing the efficacy of a given chemical agent:
- The presence of organic matter
- Kinds of organisms present
- Corrosiveness
- Stability, odor, and surface tension
Phenol coefficient test
Compares the effectiveness of disinfectants
Commercial disinfectants and antiseptics
- ethanol
- iodine
- chlorine
- ethylene oxide
Mechanisms of resistance to disinfectants:
- Altering fatty acid synthesis protein normally targeted by triclosan
- Producing membrane-spanning, multidrug efflux pumps
- Forming multispecies biofilms, which offer collaborative protection
The use of one microbe to control the growth of another
Biocontrol
Aims to treat infectious diseases with a virus targeted to the pathogen
Phage therapy