Structure and function of microorganisms

Dr. David Moyes

Microbiology

molecular and
cellular biology "Paul Nurse portrait" by Not specified in the OTRS submission -
OTRS submission by Ryoko Mandeville on behalf of Paul Nurse.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
via Wikimedia Commons -
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 Why study Microbiology?

 Microbes cause most common dental diseases (caries,

periodontal disease),

 We need to understand infection to enable effective

prevention & treatment.

 By understanding the basic processes of microbes we can

develop future treatments
 Lecture Objectives
1. Distinguish between eukaryotes and prokaryotes and characterise micro-
organisms into bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa.

2. Describe the basic structure of viruses, their method of replication and list
the characteristics used for classification.

3. Define the basic structure of bacteria and methods for bacterial

identification and classification, including morphology and nucleic acid
methods.

4. Define the basic structure of fungi and protozoa.

5. Define normal flora, opportunist infections, and pathogenic bacteria.

6. Be aware of the role of the host in pathogenesis

 Definition
Biology of organisms too small to be seen by naked eye

• TSEs “scrapie-like” agents (Transmissable

Spongiform Encephalopathies.
• Viruses.
• Bacteria.
• Eukaryotic microbes: fungi and protozoa.
 TSEs
• ‘infective’ proteins
• Examples – Kuru, Scrapie, Creutzfeld-Jacob,
Scrapie
• Cause sponge-like lesions in the brain.
Bacteria, eukaryotes and viruses
 Differentiation of Microbes
Bacteria Eukaryotes Viruses

Visible in light microscope + + -

Capable of free growth +/- + -

Cell division makes new cells + + n/a

Metabolically active + + -

Genes separated from

cytoplasm by membrane - + n/a

Genome DNA DNA DNA/RNA

 What are viruses?
infect bacteria, plants and animals

small - only “visible” in electron microscope - 10 to 200 nm

coronavirus bacteriophage

Copyright 1994 Veterinary Sciences Division, QUB

obligate intracellular parasite - are they alive???

 Viral structure
nucleic acid packaged in protein: icosohedral or helical

Genome:
DNA or RNA
single or double stranded

naked or enveloped
Viral replication

reverse transcription
integration
 Viral genomes

Examples
• envelope DNA ds herpes, pox
• non-envelope DNA ds adeno, papova
• envelope DNA ss parvo
• non- envelope RNA ds reo
• envelope RNA ss picorna
• non- envelope RNA ss ortho, paramyxo
retro
 Bacterial structure
not to scale!!

membrane proteins
lipid bilayer
ribosomes
cell wall

mRNA

DNA in chromosome
plasmids

Bacteria replicate by binary fission

 Naming of Bacteria

Example Named after:

Streptococcus Listeria
Streptococcus mutans Pasteurella
S. mutans Yersinia
streptococci

Genus, species and strain

 Identification and Taxonomy
Range of complexity:
from groups of bacteria to individual isolates

*• shape and size

*•• arrangement
Gram stain
of growing bacteria

• culture requirements typing

• biochemical reactions
• antigenic structure
• nucleic acid technologies
 Shape and arrangement

bacilli cocci spirochaetes curved

E. coli S. aureus B. Burgdorferi V. cholerae
Lyme’s disease Cholera

streptococci staphylococci
S. pyogenes
S. aureus
Tonsilitis
 Gram stain differentiation
capsule LPS
Outer membrane
lipoprotein

peptidoglycan
periplasmic space
Gram + cytoplasmic Gram -
membrane

cw – peptidoglycan cell wall

cm – cell/plasma membrane
 Colony characteristics
haemolysis
surface texture
colony morphology and size
indicator dyes
different nutrients
S. pyogenes
β-haemolysis

S. pneumoniae
α-haemolysis Haemolysis types
 Identification and Taxonomy

• shape and size

• arrangement
• Gram stain
• culture requirements
• biochemical reactions
• antigenic structure
• nucleic acid technologies
 Biochemical Tests
• sugar fermentation profiles KITS
- gas?
- acid?

• enzyme profiles
eg coagulase

www.jlindquist.com
 Antigenic structure

based on specificity of antibody-protein interactions

proteins on bacterial surface unique to that bacterium

 Agglutination

+
 Typing

• serotyping using antisera

• phage typing using phage (bacterial viruses) that
recognise surface proteins
• genetic typing using sequence properties of DNA
 Genetic typing
All characteristics encoded by DNA
•• plasmid profile
– Salmonella
• sequence and RFLP
• probes
• polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

useful for all pathogens

Plasmids
 Other analyses

• antimicrobial sensitivity

• serum antibody
 Prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic
no internal membranes DNA encased in nucleus
rigid cell wall mitochondria - energy metabolism
70s ribosomes Some have no rigid cell wall
larger than bacteria
80s ribosomes

Fungi and protozoa

fungi: single or multi-cellular
digest food with extracellular enzymes
some dimorphic such as:
Candida albicans – yeast forms or hyphae

protozoa single cellular

 Fungi
• Yeasts
– Grow as single cells, but can be dimorphic (grow
as single cells and as hyphae
– e.g. Candida spp, Cryptococcus spp

• Moulds
– Grow as hyphae (filamentous) only
– e.g. Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp, Fusarium spp
Fungal Cell Wall
49,000x mag

Manoproteins

β-Glucan layer

Chitin layer

Cell membrane
 Pasteur
Koch

500 1700 1800 1900 2000

BC
Louis Pasteur

germ theory of life

diseases of wine & beer

anthrax vaccine

rabies vaccine
 Robert Koch

linkage of bacterium
(anthrax) with disease

discovery of M. tuberculosis

postulates

discovery of V. cholerae

"Robert Koch BeW" by Unknown - http://ihm.nlm.nih.gov/images/B16692. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Koch_BeW.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Robert_Koch_BeW.jpg
 Koch’s Postulates
• The bacteria must be present in every case of
the disease.

• The bacteria must be isolated from the host

with the disease and grown in pure culture.

• The specific disease must be reproduced

when a pure culture of the bacteria is
inoculated into a healthy susceptible host.
 Microbiology and disease

• pathogenic bacteria – cause disease

• commensals, normal flora – harmless,
“good bacteria”
competitive exclusion, eg Salmonella
– nutrient competition
– pH
– immune system
synthesis of nutrients
Commensals or opportunistic pathogens

• antibiotics
– Salmonella
– C. difficile
• HIV
– TB
– Candida
• trauma
– S. aureus
 Microbiology and disease

• commensals, normal flora - “good bacteria”

• opportunistic bacteria - Pathobionts
• pathogenic bacteria
 Host parasite relationship

complex
unstable

Parasite Host
virulence health

disease
 Host parasite relationship

• Escherichia coli O157: humans and cattle

hamburger disease
• Salmonella typhimurium: humans and chickens
 Lecture Objectives
1. Distinguish between eukaryotes and prokaryotes and characterise micro-
organisms into bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa.

2. Describe the basic structure of viruses, their method of replication and list
the characteristics used for classification.

3. Define the basic structure of bacteria and methods for bacterial

identification and classification, including morphology and nucleic acid
methods.

4. Define the basic structure of fungi and protozoa.

5. Define normal flora, opportunist infections, and pathogenic bacteria.

6. Be aware of the role of the host in pathogenesis