Structure of a
Bacteria
Dr Sadaf Razzak
Learning objectives of this lecture
•Difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes
•The different parts of a bacteria.
•Structure of a virus
•Difference between Gram positive and Gram
negative bacteria.
Eukaryotes & Prokaryotes
Cells
Eukaryotic Prokaryotic.
Fungi and Protozoa Bacteria
What is a bacteria?
•Extremely small living organisms.
•Invisible to the naked eye.
•Measured in microns(1/1000 mm).
•0.5- 10 microns.
•We use a microscope to visualize them.
Shapes
• Cocci
• Rods (bacilli)
• Coccobacilli
• Spiral shaped
( spirochetes)
• Pleomorphic
(many shaped)
Structure of a bacterium
Essential components Non essential
components
• Cell wall • Capsule
• Plasma membrane • Pilus/ fimbriae
• Ribosomes • Flagellum
• Nucleoid • Spore
• Mesosomes • Plasmid
• Periplasm • Granules
• Glycocalyx
What is Gram staining?
• Most important and basic procedure in
Microbiology.
• Developed in 1884.
• Danish physician Christian Gram.
• It separates most bacteria into
two groups:
• The gram-positive bacteria,
which stain blue.
• The gram-negative bacteria,
which stain red.
Cell wall
•Made of peptidoglycan sugar backbone with peptide
side chains cross linked with each other.
•Gives rigid support.
•Protects against osmotic pressure.
•It is the site of action of penicillins and
cephalosporins.
Peptidoglycan
Peptide+sugar
•Network that surrounds the entire bacteria.
•It is found only in bacterial cell walls.
•It provides rigid support for the cell.
•It is important in maintaining the characteristic
shape of the cell.
•Allows the cell to withstand media of low osmotic
pressure, such as water.
Comparison of the cell wall of bacteria
Gram positive bacteria Gram negative bacteria
•Thick peptidoglycan • Outer membrane
layer • Thin peptidoglycan layer
• Periplasmic space
•Cell membrane
• Cell membrane
Comparison of the cell wall of bacteria
Gram positive bacteria Gram negative bacteria
• Thick peptidoglycan layer • Outer membrane
• Cell membrane • Thin peptidoglycan layer
• Periplasmic space
• Cell membrane
Cell wall properties Gram positive Gram negative
Peptidoglycan Thick Very thin
Techoic acids Present Absent
Outer membrane Absent Present
Periplasmic space Absent Present
Endotoxins Absent Present
Cytoplasmic Membrane
•Composed of a phospholipid bilayer.
•The membrane has four important functions:
(1) active transport of molecules into the
cell,
(2) energy generation by oxidative
phosphorylation,
(3) synthesis of cell wall.
(4) secretion of enzymes and toxins.
Periplasmic Space
•It is between plasma membrane and
outer membrane.
•Contains many hydrolytic enzymes,
including β –lactamases.
Ribosomes
•They are the site of protein synthesis.
•They are 70S in size, with 50S and 30S
subunits.
•Selective action of several antibiotics.
Cytoplasm
• It has two distinct areas:
1. An amorphous matrix that contains
ribosomes,
nutrient granules,
metabolites
plasmids.
2. An inner, nucleoid region composed of DNA.
Nucleoid
•It is the area of the cytoplasm in which DNA is
located.
•It is a single , circular molecule.
•It contains about 2000 genes. (By contrast,
human DNA has approximately 100,000
genes.)
•It does not contains nuclear membrane,
nucleolus and no mitotic spindle.
Plasmids
•They are extrachromosomal, double-stranded,
circular DNA molecules.
•They are capable of replicating independently of the
bacterial chromosome.
•They can be integrated into the bacterial
chromosome.
•It can replicate independently.
Transposons (Jumping Genes)
•They are pieces of DNA that move readily
from one site to another either within or
between the DNAs of bacteria, plasmids, and
bacteriophages.
•Code for drug resistance.
•It cannot replicate independently.
Capsule
•Gelatinous layer covering the entire bacterium.
•Composed of polysaccharide.
•Importance
1. It limits the ability of phagocytes to engulf
the bacteria.
2. Specific identification of an organism can be
made.
3. They are used as the antigens in certain
vaccines because they are capable of eliciting
protective antibodies.
4. It sticks bacteria to human tissues.
Flagella
•They are long, whiplike appendages that move the
bacteria toward nutrients.
•One or many.
•At one end or they are all over the outer surface.
•Flagella are medically important for two reasons:
1. propelling the bacteria
2. identification purpose
Pili (Fimbriae)
•Pili are hair like filaments that extend from the
cell surface.
•They are shorter and straighter than flagella.
•They mediate the attachment of bacteria to
specific receptors on the human cell surface.
Glycocalyx (Slime Layer)
•It is a coating that is secreted by many
bacteria.
•It covers surfaces like a film and allows
the bacteria to adhere firmly to various
structures, e.g., skin, heart valves, and
catheters.
Viruses
•Much smaller than bacteria (0.01-0.3µ)
•Contain only one nucleic acid- DNA or RNA
•Cannot multiply outside living host cells
What is a virus?
•Viruses are not cells.
•They cannot replicate themselves
independently.
•They cannot synthesize their own energy or
their own proteins.
•They are too small to be seen in the light
microscope.
What are they made up of?
• INTERNAL CORE → DNA or RNA.
• CAPSID → protein covering or coat.
• ENVELOPE → Outer lipoprotein membrane (external to the coat).
• Viruses do not have a nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria,
or ribosomes.
• Cannot replicate independently ( Obligate intracellular parasites) but
invades a cell and redirecting it to produce virus particles.
• No binary fission or mitosis but produce hundreds of progeny viruses.
Nutritional requirement of bacteria
• Amino acids
• Proteins
• Sugars
• Some bacteria are able to grow only in the absence of oxygen
→ Anaerobes
• Some bacteria will grow only with oxygen→ Obligate Aerobes
• Some in both→ Facultative Anaerobes
Thank you
