Lecture 2: Cell structure and function Flashcards
What can be seen with the unaided human eye?
tick, human heart, dog
What can be seen with the compound light microscope?
Chlamydia, rickettsia, mitochondrion, bacteria, chloroplast, RBC, large protozoa, human egg, tick
What can be seen with the scanning electron microscope?
Ribosomes, viruses, chlamydia, rickettsia, mitochondrion, bacteria, chloroplast, RBC, Large protozoa, human egg, tick
What can be seen with a transmission electron microscope?
AA’s, diameter of DNA, proteins, ribosomes, viruses, chlamydia, rickettsia, mitochondrion, bacteria, chloroplast, RBC, large protozoa, human egg
Large protozoa
eukaryotic microbe
- has euk cell structure
- larger than a prok, but smaller than a plant
- light microscope
Red blood cells
- small because they need to single file in the capillaries
- at maturity they lose mitochondria and all organelles allowing them to be small
Chloroplast
- organelle
- according to endosymbiosis theory they were prokaryotes
Chlamydia
Bacteria
- OBLIGATELY INTRACELLULAR
- smaller than bacteria (bc cell provides a lot for it)
- doesn’t juts live free in the reproductive tract but goes into reproductive tract when you 1st get the infection and then into the cytoplasm of the cell where it grows
What is similar between chlamydia and viruses?
- both organisms that go into eukaryotic cells and cause infection
- obligate intracellular
BUT
- chlamydia still have ribosomes but viruses have none of that making them smaller
Why is chlamydia small?
anything that lives inside of a cell loses what it does not need bc cell provides it a lot
But it still will have ribosomes etc stuff which viruses wont have
What should you be given if you have chlamydia?
The Dr needs to choose antibiotics that don’t just go into intracellular fluid but that go into cytoplasm of the cell
- antibiotic goes from (blood –> tissue –> ECF –> cytoplasm to find target
- antibiotic is said to have good tissue penetration
- if you choose wrong antibiotic your not helping clear the inefction
If someone had chlamydia & got a swab. After its been spread on petri dish & incubated, will there be chlamydia growth the next day?
NO IN A LAB SETTING WE CANT GROW IT
- we haven’t been able to figure out the conditions to grow chlamydia
- they have to diagnose it by nucleic acid testing
rickettsia
an INTRACELLULAR ORGANISM
- ancestor of mitochondria
- goes into a cell
- may have got trapped to act like a mitochondria (replicated)
Compound light microscope
uses visible light to illuminate the sample
- just a light bulb is used which is a low energy source so there’s limitations
What are the many different types of light microscopy?
- Bright-field
- Phase-contrast
- Dark-field
- Fluorescence
Bright-field scope
• Specimens are visualized because of differences in contrast between specimen and surroundings (dark cells on bright background)
• Two sets of lenses form the image
• Objective lens (usually 10x -100x mag.)
& ocular lens (usually 10x – 20x mag.)
Maximum magnification is ~2,000✕
Total magnification
objective
magnification ✕ ocular magnification
Why do we call the bright-field scope a compound light microscope?
b/c it compounds the magn. that the 1st lens is giving you by further magnifying it through a 2nd lens
Condenser
creates a beam of light so it’s condensed/focused to be able to move through the microscope slide
Describe the magnification light path
- Light from light source
- Condenser - focuses it into a beam so it’s interacting with the specimen
- Once the specimen comes through the objective lens (10X, 40X, or 100X (oil)), it’s inverted in position & magnified to whatever you chose
- When the specimen comes through the ocular lens (10X) it is inverted again to OG position & magnified further, so even larger
- Then you see it at either 100X, 400X, 1000X
Magnification
the ability to make an object larger
Resolution
the ability to distinguish two adjacent objects as separate and distinct
• Limit of resolution for light microscope is about 0.2 μm
(light can only get thru spaces that are at least 0.2 μm)
minimum distance 2 objects need to be apart in order for microscope to show those 2 objects
-> if objects are LESS than minimum distance that you see a blurry image
If we had a better microscope, what would we expect the limit of resolution value to be?
SMALLER - b/c then those 2 objects can be even closer together & you can still see a clear image (ex: e- microscopes)
What is relationship between wavelength and energy?
INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL
- as one increases the other decreases
Resolution explained
- The ability of a lens to distinguish small objects that are close together
- Ex) resolving power of 0.2μm
- Two points can be distinguished if they are at least 0.2 μm apart
- Light must pass between two points for them to be viewed as separate objects (providing clarity)
What happens as wavelength decrease?
resolution improves
Longer wavelength=
↓ ENERGY
↓ RESOLUTION
Shorter wavelength =
↑ ENERGY
↑ RESOLUTION
Why is increased energy and shorter wavelengths dangerous?
DANGEROUS b/c energy it carries can be transferred all the way to DNA for ex & can result in damage/mutation that can lead to cancer
- ↑ energy radiation is dangerous b/c energy it carries will then be transferred to other objects its in contact with
↓ energy - longer wavelengths =
safer
If you have 2 microscopes, both with the same magnification, but diff. resolving powers. Will they provide the same image?
NO - bc as you magnify, it doesn’t mean the resolution maintains clarity
- ex: zooming on phone doesn’t mean it will still be clear
GREATER magnification…
DOESN’T mean/guarantee resolution will also increase; dependent on microscope you chose
Throw ink-covered objects at target (“E”):
- Basketballs - longest wavelength
- Tennis balls - slightly shorter wavelength
- Jelly beans
- Beads - shortest wavelength
- Cannot fit between arms, poor resolution
- Fit between arms, resolution improves
3 and 4. As diameter of objects thrown decreases, greater numbers pass between the arms & the resolution increases
What improves contrast what does this result in?
Improving contrast results in a better final image
• Staining improves contrast
How does staining improve contrast?
Dyes are organic compounds (carbon containing CH2-COO-) that bind to specific cellular materials (inside the cell)
What is resolution based on?
energy source
Name some common stains
methylene blue, safranin, and crystal violet
Simple staining
One dye used to color specimen
- just shows if something is THERE or NOT
“one size fits all”
Chromophore
colored portion of a dye
- colour your cell will appear as a conseq. of that dye adhering to portions of the cell or cellular structures
If a basic blue chromophore is used what colour will the cell be?
basic= +
cell is negatively charged so they attract and cell will be blue
Basic dye
positively charged chromophore
• Binds to negatively charged molecules on cell
surface
- (+) at pH=7
ex- crystal violet
What are the 2 types of simple stains/dyes?
- Basic dye
2. Acidic dye
A living cell, whether it’s a bacterial cell, fungal cell or human cell, will….
ALWAYS HAVE A NET (-) CHARGE
- if you apply a basic stain it will adhere
- if you apply an acidic stain it will repel
Acidic dye
negatively charged chromophore • Repelled by cell surface • Used to stain background • Negative stain (-) at pH=7
ex- nigrosin
How to prepare samples for staining
- Preparing a smear
Spread culture in thin film over slide
Dry in air - Heat fixing and staining (dehydrating sample so it is stuck on slide, therefore it doesn’t get rinsed off in next step)
- Pass slide through flame to heat fix
- Flood slide with stain; rinse and dry - Microscopy
- Place drop of oil on slide; examine with 100
objective lens
- NO DIFFERENTIATION, just can see that there’s pink circles
- details on cell shape size arrangement
Gram - & gram + cells will BOTH…
be negatively charged on their external surface
What is the difference between gram + & gram -?
architecture of their cell wall is different
The Gram Stain
a differential stain
Separates bacteria into 2 groups based on cell wall structure
What is a reason to perform the gram stain?
It is useful to know if organism is gram + or - bc some antibiotics target only certain + or - so its useful to know
If someone has a gram + infection
you take antibiotics that target gram + bacteria you leave the gram - bugs alone
- better toxicity
Gram positive
cells that retain a primary stain
• Purple
Gram negative
cells that
lose the primary stain
• Take color of counterstain
• Red or pink
Gram + general features
- plasma membrane
- THICK peptidoglycan
Gram - general features
- plasma membrane
- THIN peptidoglycan layer
- outer membrane
What is the Gram Stain procedure?
- Apply CRYSTAL VIOLET stain purple & basic:
Gram + = purple
Gram - = purple
Human cell = purple - Apply IODINE = a mordant - intensifies bound stain
-> bulkens up the stain molecules so they will stay trapped
Gram + = purple
Gram - = purple
Human cell = purple - Apply ALCOHOL = a decolourizer
Gram + = purple (trapped in cage like structure - alcohol bulked them up so they can’t get mordant & crystal violet out)
Gram - = colourless
Human cell = colourless (bc no cell wall) - Apply SAFRANIN (pink & basic) - sticks to any living cell
Gram + = purple (pink will stick but will stay purple b/c it never came off & its darker)
Gram - = pink
Human cell = pink
Gram stain but everything is mixed up
If in step 1 of this gram staining protocol, instead of crystal violet, a yellow basic stain is added & in step 4 instead of safranin, a black basic stain is added, what will be the outcome for that gram stain result/ For a gram +, - & euk?
everything will be BLACK bc the darker one was added after alcohol so it will trump yellow bc darker
Explain why gram negative cells appear pink in the gram stain?
gram negative have outer membrane so when you douce in crystal violet it will stick bc the cell has a net negative charges but when alcohol is added it will remove colour
Acid fast stain
differential stains
Detects mycolic acid in the cell wall of the genus Mycobacterium
- Mycobacterium – retains primary stain
• Fuchsia (pink)- carbol fusion sticks to mycolic acid
Anything else on slide – color of counterstain
• Blue
Mycobacterium genus
has plasma membrane, gram +, & MYCOLIC ACID (hydrophobic) as the outside of their peptidoglycan
Mycolic acid
- hydrophobic
- outside of their peptidoglycan
- unique to members of mycobacterium genus
- can engage with things ALSO hydrophobic
Mycobacterium CANNOT…
undergo a gram stain
- so has to do AFS
Will mycobacterium be able to engage with a basic or an acidic stain?
No
bc like dissolves like so they will engage with hydrophobic things
acidic and basic stains are charged meaning they are hydrophilic so these stains won’t work
What would be a positive result in a acid fast stain?
pink
- which shows mycobacterium everything else, all other cell types are blue
Methylene blue (basic stain) AFS
basic= positive charges
so it’ll stick to cells that aren’t acid fast
-> stick to other gram +/- , human cells, anything that has a net negative charge on outermost surface
What would be a negative result in an acid fast stain?
EVERYTHING is blue nothing is pink so you can perform a gram stain for further analysis
If a Dr suspects mycobacterium what should they do?
they want to collect enough of a sample for 2 tests
1) to do acid fast stain
2) gram stain