MICROBIAL DIVERSITY:

ACELLULAR AND PROCARYOTIC MICROBES

INTRODUCTION cancer, including human cancers such as

lymphomas, carcinomas, and some types of
 Anton van Leeuwenhoek is the first to gaze leukemia.
through his tiny glass lenses and became
the first person to see live microbes.  Viruses are said to have five specific
 Microbes can be divided into: properties that distinguish them from living
 Those that are truly cellular cells:
(bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa,  Most viruses possess either DNA or
and fungi) RNA, unlike living cells, which
 procaryotic (bacteria and possess both.
archaea)  They are unable to replicate
 eucaryotic (algae, protozoa, (multiply) on their own; their
and fungi). replication is directed by the viral
 Those that are acellular (viruses, nucleic acid once it has been
viroids, and prions). introduced into a host cell.
 Acellular microorganisms are not  Unlike cells, they do not divide by
considered by most scientists to be living binary fission, mitosis, or meiosis.
organisms. Rather than using the term  They lack the genes and enzymes
microorganisms to describe them, viruses, necessary for energy production.
viroids, and prions are more correctly  They depend on the ribosomes,
referred to as acellular microbes or enzymes, and metabolites (“building
infectious particles. blocks”) of the host cell for protein
and nucleic acid production.
 Except in very rare cases, a particular virus
ACELLULAR MICROBES contains either DNA or RNA—not both.
 The simplest of human viruses consists of
VIRUSES nothing more than nucleic acid surrounded
 Virions is a complete virus particle that are by a protein coat (the capsid). The capsid
very small and simple in structure. plus the enclosed nucleic acid is referred to
 Scientists were unable to see viruses until as the nucleocapsid.
electron microscopes were invented in the  A typical virion consists of a genome of
1930s. either DNA or RNA, surrounded by a capsid
 The first photographs of viruses (protein coat), which is composed of many
were obtained in 1940. small protein units called capsomeres.
 A negative staining procedure, developed in  The capsomere is a subunit of the
1959, revolutionized the study of viruses, capsid, an outer covering of protein
making it possible to observe unstained that protects the genetic material of
viruses against an electron-dense, dark a virus.
background.  The nucleic acid and the capsid are referred
 Viruses are not alive. To replicate, viruses must to as the nucleocapsid.
invade live host cells  Bacterial viruses may also have a tail,
sheath, and tail fibers.
 Viruses are classified by the following
 Some viruses—called oncogenic viruses or characteristic:
oncoviruses—cause specific types of
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 Type of genetic material (either DNA BACTERIOPHAGES

or RNA).
 Shape of the capsid  The viruses that infect bacteria are known
 Number of capsomeres as bacteriophages (or simply, phages).
 Size of the capsid  There are three categories of
 Presence or absence of an envelope bacteriophages, based on their shape:
 Type of host that it infects  Icosahedron bacteriophages: an
almost spherical shape, with 20
 Type of disease it produces
triangular facets; the smallest
 Target cell
icosahedron phages are about 25
 Immunologic or antigenic properties
nm in diameter.
 There are four categories of viruses, based  Filamentous bacteriophages: long
on the type of genome they possess.
tubes formed by capsid proteins
 The genome of most viruses is assembled into a helical structure;
either double-stranded DNA or they can be up to about 900 nm
single-stranded RNA long.
 A few viruses possess single-  Complex bacteriophages:
stranded DNA or double-stranded icosahedral heads attached to
RNA. helical tails; may also possess base
 Polyhedral capsids have 20 sides or facets; plates and tail fibers.
geometrically, they are referred to as  Bacteriophages can be categorized by the
icosahedrons. events that occur after the invasion of the
 Each facet consists of several bacterial cell:
capsomeres; thus, the size of the  Some are virulent phages, whereas
virus is determined by the size of others are temperate phages.
each facet and the number of  Phages in either category do not
capsomeres in each. actually enter the bacterial cell—
rather, they inject their nucleic acid
ORIGIN OF VIRUSES into the cell.
 Virulent bacteriophages always cause what
 Two main theories to explain the origin of is known as the lytic cycle, which ends with
cells the destruction (lysis) of the bacterial cell.
 One theory state that viruses existed  Once it enters a host cell, a virulent
before cells, but this seems unlikely bacteriophage always initiates the
since viruses require cells for their lytic cycle, which results in the
replication. destruction of the cell.
 The other theory states that cells  Steps in the lytic cycle:
came first, and those viruses  Attachment (adsorption) of the
represent ancient derivatives of phage to the surface of the bacterial
degenerate cells or cell fragments. cell. The phage can only attach to
 Most scientists agree that viruses lack most bacterial cells that possess the
of the basic features of cells; thus, they appropriate receptor—a protein or
consider viruses to be nonliving entities. polysaccharide molecule on the
They are referred to as acellular microbes surface of the cell that is recognized
or infectious particles.
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by a molecule on the surface of the  Animal viruses may consist solely of nucleic acid
phage. surrounded by a protein coat (capsid), or they
 The second step in the lytic cycle is may be more complex.
called penetration. In this step, the  Steps in the multiplication of animal viruses:
phage injects its DNA into the bacterial  The first step in the multiplication of
cell, acting much like a hypodermic animal viruses is the attachment (or
needle. adsorption) of the virus to the cell.
 This is sometimes described as  Like bacteriophages, animal
the phage DNA taking over the viruses can only attach to and
host cell’s “machinery.” invade cells bearing appropriate
 Third step in the lytic cycle is called surface receptors.
biosynthesis. It is during this step that  Viruses can only attach to and
the phage genes are expressed, invade cells that bear a
resulting in the production receptor that they can
(biosynthesis) of viral pieces. It is also recognize.
during this step that the host cell’s  The second step in the multiplication of
enzymes (e.g., DNA polymerase and animal viruses is penetration, but,
RNA polymerase), nucleotides, amino unlike bacteriophages, the entire virion
acids, and ribosomes are used to make usually enters the host cell, sometimes
viral DNA and viral proteins. because the cell phagocytizes the virus
 In the fourth step of the lytic cycle,  This necessitates a third step that was
called an assembly, the viral pieces are not required for bacteriophages—
assembled to produce complete viral uncoating—whereby the viral nucleic
particles (virions). It is during this step acid escapes from the capsid.
that viral DNA is packaged up into  The fourth step is biosynthesis,
capsids. whereby many viral pieces (viral nucleic
 The final step in the lytic cycle, called acid and viral proteins) are produced.
release, is when the host cell bursts This step can be quite complicated,
open, and all the new virions escape depending on what type of virus-
from the cell. infected the cell (i.e., whether it was a
 Lysis is caused by an enzyme that is singlestranded DNA virus, a double-
coded for by a phage gene. stranded DNA virus, a single-stranded
 The other category of bacteriophages— RNA virus, or a double-stranded RNA
temperate phages (also known as virus).
lysogenic phages)—do not immediately  The fifth step—assembly— involves
initiate the lytic cycle, but rather, their fitting the virus pieces together to
DNA remains integrated into the produce complete virions.
bacterial cell chromosome, generation
after generation.  After the virus particles are
assembled, they must escape from
ANIMAL VIRUSES
the cell—a sixth step called release.
 Viruses that infect humans and animals are
collectively referred to as animal viruses.
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 Some animal viruses escape  Viruses that cause or give rise to tumors.
by destroying the host cell,  Viruses that cause cancer are known as
leading to cell destruction oncogenic viruses or oncoviruses.
and some of the symptoms  The first evidence that viruses cause
associated with infection with cancers came from experiments with
that virus. chickens.
 Although the causes of many (perhaps
 Animal viruses escape from most) types of human cancers remain
their host cells either by lysis unknown, it is known that some human
of the cell or budding. cancers are caused by viruses
Viruses that escape by  Epstein-Barr virus (a type of
budding become enveloped herpesvirus) causes infectious
viruses. mononucleosis (not a type of
cancer), but also causes three types
of human cancers: nasopharyngeal
LATENT VIRUS INFECTION
carcinoma, Burkitt lymphoma, and
 A latent viral infection usually does not B-cell lymphoma.
cause any noticeable symptoms and can  Kaposi sarcoma, a type of cancer common
last a long period of time before becoming in AIDS patients, is caused by human
active and causing symptoms. herpesvirus.
 Herpes virus infections, such as cold sores  Human papillomaviruses (HPV; wart
(fever blisters), are good examples of latent viruses) can cause different types of cancer,
virus infections. including cancers of the cervix and other
parts of the genital tract.
 A retrovirus that is closely related to human
ANTIVIRAL AGENTS immunodeficiency virus or HIV
 human T-lymphotropic virus type 1
 It is very important for healthcare (HTLV-1) – RNA virus
professionals to understand that antibiotics  causes a rare type of adult T-cell
are not effective against viral infections. leukemia
 Drugs used to treat viral infections are
called antiviral agents
 In recent years, a relatively small number of
chemicals—called antiviral agents—have
been developed to interfere with virus-
specific enzymes and virus production by
either disrupting critical phases in viral
cycles or inhibiting the synthesis of viral HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS
DNA, RNA, or proteins.
 Antibiotics are used to treat infections  Human immunodeficiency virus, the cause
caused by bacteria, whereas antiviral of AIDS, is an enveloped, single-stranded
medications are effective against viruses. RNA virus.
 It is a member of a genus of viruses called
lentiviruses, in a family of viruses called
Retroviridae (retroviruses)
ONCOGENIC VIRUSES
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 HIV infections destroy the important cells of  Infectious RNA molecules that cause a
the immune system which are the CD4, variety of plant diseases.
CD4+, and the helper Tcell.  Viroids and prions are even smaller and
 HIV is able to invade certain cells that do less complex infectious agents.
not possess CD4 receptors, but do possess  Can interfere with the metabolism of plant
other receptors that HIV is able to cells and stunt the growth of plants,
recognize. sometimes killing the plants in the process.
 Transmitted between plants in the same
manner as viruses.
MIMIVIRUS
 Plant diseases thought or known to be
 An extremely large double-stranded DNA caused by viroids:
virus, called Mimivirus, has been recovered  Potato spindle tuber (producing
from amebas. small, cracked, spindle-shaped
 Given the name Mimivirus because it potatoes).
“mimics” bacteria.  Citrus exocortis (stunting of citrus
 Can be observed using a standard trees)
compound light microscope.  Diseases of chrysanthemums,
 Its genome is at least 10 times larger than coconut palms, and tomatoes
that of the large viruses in the smallpox  No animal diseases have been discovered
family and larger than the genome of some that are caused by viroids.
of the smallest bacteria.
 Contains several genes for sugar, lipid, and
amino acid metabolism. PRIONS
 Contains some RNA molecules.
 Cause of some cases of human pneumonia.  Infectious protein molecules that cause a
variety of animal and human diseases.
 Small infectious proteins that apparently
PLANT VIRUSES cause fatal neurological diseases in
animals, such as:
 Diseases of citrus trees, cocoa trees, rice,
 scrapie in sheep and goats
barley, tobacco, turnips, cauliflower,
 infected animals scrape
potatoes, tomatoes, and many other fruits,
themselves against fence
vegetables, trees, and grains that result to
posts and other objects in an
huge economic losses.
effort to relieve the intense
pruritus (itching) associated
 Transmitted via insects (e.g., aphids,
with the disease.
leafhoppers, whiteflies); mites; nematodes
 Kuru
(round worms); infected seeds, cuttings,
 where women and children
and tubers; and contaminated tools (e.g.,
ate human brains as part of a
hoes, clippers, and saws).
traditional burial custom
(ritualistic cannibalism).
 If the brain of the deceased
VIROIDS person contained prions,
then persons who ate that
brain developed kuru.
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 Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker, categories based on their physical

Kuru, and GSS disease. categories:
 involve loss of coordination  those that are Gram-negative and
and dementia. have a cell wall
 fatal familial insomnia in humans.  those that are Gram-positive and
 difficulty sleeping have a cell wall
 The 1997 Nobel Prize for Physiology  those that lack a cell wall
or Medicine was awarded to Stanley  Many characteristics of bacteria are
B. Prusiner, the scientist who coined examined to provide data for identification
the term prion and studied the role of and classification.
these proteinaceous infectious  These characteristics include cell
particles in disease. shape and morphological
 Of all pathogens, prions are believed arrangement, staining reactions,
to be the most resistant to motility, colony morphology,
disinfectants. atmospheric requirements,
 According to Bergey’s Manual, the nutritional requirements, biochemical
Domain Bacteria contains 23 phyla, and metabolic activities, specific
32 classes, 5 subclasses, 77 orders, enzymes that the organism
14 suborders, 182 families, 871 produces, pathogenicity (the ability
genera, and 5,007 species. to cause disease), and genetic
 Many scientists remain unconvinced composition.
that proteins alone can cause
disease.
CELL MORPHOLOGY
THE DOMAIN BACTERIA  relates to the size and shape of bacteria
 With the compound light microscope, the
CHARACTERISTICS
size, shape, and morphologic arrangement
 There are two domains of procaryotic of various bacteria are easily observed.
organisms:  Three Basic Shapes of Bacteria:
 Domain Bacteria  round or spherical bacteria—the
 Domain Archaea cocci
 The bacteriologist’s most important  rectangular or rod-shaped bacteria—
reference (sometimes referred to as the the bacilli
bacteriologist’s “bible”) is a five-volume set  curved and spiral-shaped bacteria
of books entitled Bergey’s Manual of
Systematic Bacteriology (Bergey’s Manual  Bacteria reproduce by binary fission. The
for short). time it takes for one bacterial cell to split into
 Some authorities believe that this number two cells is referred to as that organism’s
represents only from less than 1% to a few generation time.
percent of the total number of bacteria that  Bacteria divide by binary fission—one cell
exist in nature. splits in half to become two daughter cells.
 Organisms in the domain bacteria are The time it takes for one cell to split into two
broadly divided into three phenotypic cells is referred to that organism’s
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generation time. After binary fission, the  Bacteria that exist in a variety of shapes
daughter cells may separate completely are described as being pleomorphic or
from each other or may remain connected, the ability to exist in a variety of shapes
forming various morphologic arrangements. is known as pleomorphism.
 Because they have no cell walls,
 Pairs of cocci are known as
mycoplasmas are resistant to antibiotics
diplococci. Chains of cocci are
that inhibit cell wall synthesis.
known as streptococci. Clusters of
cocci are known as staphylococci.
 Bacilli (often referred to as rods) may be
short or long, thick or thin, and pointed or STAINING PROCEDURES
with curved or blunt ends.
 As they exist in nature, most bacteria are
 They may occur singly, in pairs colorless, transparent, and difficult to see.
(diplobacilli), in chains Therefore, various staining methods have
(streptobacilli), in long filaments, or been devised to enable scientists to
branched. Some rods are quite examine bacteria.
short, resembling elongated cocci;
 In preparation for staining, the bacteria are
they are called coccobacilli.
smeared onto a glass microscope slide
 Some bacilli stack up next to each (resulting in what is known as a “smear”),
other, side by side in a palisade air-dried, and then “fixed.”
arrangement, which is characteristic
 Two most common methods of fixation:
of Corynebacterium diphtheriae (the
o Heat Fixation
cause of diphtheria) and organisms
 Heat fixation is usually
that resemble it in appearance
accomplished by passing the
(called diphtheroids).
smear through a Bunsen
 Curved and spiral-shaped bacilli are
burner flame. If not
placed into a third morphologic
performed properly, excess
grouping
heat can distort the
 Curved bacteria usually
morphology of the cells.
occur singly, but some
species may form pairs.
 Spiral-shaped bacteria are o Methanol Fixation
referred to as spirochetes.  Methanol fixation, which is
 Different species of spirochetes vary in accomplished by flooding the
size, length, rigidity, and the number smear with absolute
and amplitude of their coils. methanol for 30 seconds, is a
 Some bacteria may lose their more satisfactory fixation
characteristic shape because adverse technique.
growth conditions (e.g., the presence of o Fixation serves three purposes:
certain antibiotics) prevent the  It kills the organisms.
production of normal cell walls also  It preserves their morphology
known as cell wall deficient bacteria. (shape).
 Bacteria in the genus Mycoplasma do  It anchors the smear to the
not have cell walls; thus, when slide
examined microscopically, they appear  Specific stains and staining techniques are
in various shapes. used to observe bacterial cell morphology.
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o size, shape, morphologic dye), they will be pink to red

arrangement, composition of cell at the conclusion of the Gram
wall, capsules, flagella, endospores. staining procedure; such
o A simple stain is sufficient to bacteria are said to be
determine bacterial shape and “Gramnegative.”
morphologic arrangement. o If a bacterium is blue to purple at the
 pairs, chains, clusters end of the Gram staining procedure,
 In 1883, Dr. Hans Christian Gram it is said to be Gram-positive. If, on
developed a staining technique that bears the other hand, it ends up being pink
his name—the Gram stain or Gram staining to red, it is said to be Gram-
procedure. negative.
 become the most important  Mycobacterium species are more often
staining procedure in the identified using a staining procedure called
bacteriology laboratory the acid-fast stain.
because it differentiates o The acid-fast stain is of value in the
between “Gram-positive” and diagnosis of tuberculosis. Acidfast
“Gram-negative” bacteria. bacteria are red at the end of the
 The organism’s Gram acid-fast staining procedure
reaction serves as an o In this procedure, carbol fuchsin (a
extremely important “clue” bright red dye) is first driven into the
when attempting to learn the bacterial cell using heat since cell
identity (species) of a walls of mycobacteria contain
particular bacterium. waxes, which prevent the stain from
 The color of the bacteria at penetrating the cells.
the end of the Gram staining o The heat softens the waxes,
procedure depends on the enabling the stain to penetrate. A
chemical composition of their decolorizing agent (a mixture of acid
cell wall. and alcohol) is then used to remove
the red color from the cells.
o Gram positive o Because mycobacteria are not
 If the bacteria were not decolorized by the acid–alcohol
decolorized during the mixture (again owing to the waxes in
decolorization step, they will their cell walls), they are said to be
be blue to purple at the acid-fast.
conclusion of the Gram  The acid-fast stain is especially useful in the
staining procedure; such tuberculosis laboratory (“TB lab”) where the
bacteria are said to be acid-fast mycobacteria are readily seen as
“Gram-positive.” red bacilli (referred to as acid-fast bacilli or
o Gram negative AFB) against a blue or green background in
 If, on the other hand, the a sputum specimen from a tuberculosis
crystal violet was removed patient
from the cells during the  The Gram and acid-fast staining procedures
decolorization step, and the are referred to as differential staining
cells were subsequently procedures because they enable
stained by the safranin (a red
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microbiologists to differentiate one group of  Colony morphology also includes the results
bacteria from another. of enzymatic activity on various types of
culture media.
MOTILITY
ATMOSPHERIC REQUIREMENTS
 If a bacterium can “swim,” it is said to be
motile.  With respect to oxygen, a bacterial isolate
 Bacteria unable to swim are said to be can be classified into one of five major
nonmotile groups: obligate aerobes, microaerophilic
 Bacterial motility is most often associated aerobes (microaerophiles), facultative
with the presence of flagella or axial anaerobes, aerotolerant anaerobes, and
filaments, although some bacteria exhibit a obligate anaerobes
type of gliding motility on secreted slime.  In a liquid medium such as thioglycollate
 A flagella stain can be used to demonstrate broth, the region of the medium in which the
the presence, number, and location of organism grows depends on the oxygen
flagella on bacterial cells. needs of that species
 Motility can be demonstrated by stabbing  Obligate aerobes and microaerophiles
the bacteria into a tube of semisolid agar or require oxygen. Obligate aerobes require an
by using the hanging drop technique. atmosphere containing about 20% to 21%
o In the hanging-drop method (Fig. 4- oxygen, whereas microaerophiles require
33), a drop of a bacterial suspension reduced oxygen concentrations (usually
is placed onto a glass coverslip. around 5% oxygen).
 Nonmotile organisms will grow only along  Anaerobes can be defined as organisms
the stab line (thus, turbidity will be seen only that do not require oxygen for life and
along the stab line), but motile organisms reproduction
will spread away from the stab line.  The terms obligate anaerobe, aerotolerant
anaerobe, and facultative anaerobe are
used to describe the organism’s relationship
COLONY MORPHOLOGY to molecular oxygen.
o An aerotolerant anaerobe does not
 A mound or pile of bacteria on a solid
culture medium is known as a bacterial require oxygen, grows better in the
colony. absence of oxygen, but can survive
in atmospheres containing molecular
 Bacterial Colony is a single bacterial cell
oxygen
that lands on the surface of a solid culture
o Facultative anaerobes are capable
medium that cannot be seen, but after it
divides repeatedly it produces a mound or of surviving in either the presence or
pile of bacteria. absence of oxygen; anywhere from
0% O2 to 20% to 21% O2.
 The colony morphology (appearance of the
colonies) of bacteria varies from one NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
species to another
 Colony morphology includes the size, color,  All bacteria need some form of the elements
overall shape, elevation, and the carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur,
appearance of the edge or margin of the phosphorus, and nitrogen for growth.
colony.  Special elements, such as potassium,
calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium,
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cobalt, copper, zinc, and uranium, are  The composition of the genetic material
required by some bacteria. (DNA) of an organism is unique to each
 Organisms with especially demanding species.
nutritional requirements are said to be  DNA probes make it possible to identify an
fastidious; think of them as being “fussy. isolate without relying on phenotypic
 The nutritional needs of a particular characteristics.
organism are usually characteristic for that  A DNA probe is a single-stranded DNA
species of bacteria and sometimes serve as sequence that can be used to identify an
important clues when attempting to identify organism by hybridizing with a unique
the organism. complimentary sequence on the DNA or
rRNA of that organism.
BIOCHEMICAL AND METABOLIC
ACTIVITIES UNIQUE BACTERIA

 As bacteria grow, they produce many waste  Rickettsias, chlamydias, and mycoplasmas
products and secretions, some of which are are bacteria, but they do not possess all the
enzymes that enable them to invade their attributes of typical bacterial cells. Thus,
host and cause disease they are often referred to as “unique” or
 some bacteria are characterized by the “rudimentary” bacteria. Because they are so
production of certain gases, such as carbon small and difficult to isolate, they were
dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, or formerly thought to be viruses.
methane.
 To aid in the identification of certain types of
bacteria in the laboratory, they are
inoculated into various substrates (e.g.,
RICKETTSIAS, CHLAMYDIAS, AND
carbohydrates and amino acids) to
determine whether they possess the CLOSELY RELATED BACTERIA
enzymes necessary to break down those  Rickettsias and chlamydias are bacteria
substrates. with a Gramnegative–type cell wall.
PATHOGENECITY  They are obligate intracellular pathogens
that cause diseases in humans and other
 Many pathogens are able to cause animals.
disease because they possess  The genus Rickettsia was named for
capsules, pili, or endotoxins Howard T. Ricketts, a U.S. pathologist;
(biochemical components of the cell these organisms have no connection to the
walls of Gramnegative bacteria), or disease called rickets, which is the result of
because they secrete exotoxins and vitamin D deficiency.
exoenzymes that damage cells and  Because they appear to have leaky cell
tissues membranes, most rickettsias must live
 Pathogenicity (the ability to cause inside another cell to retain all necessary
disease) is tested by injecting the cellular substances.
organism into mice or cell cultures.  All diseases caused by Rickettsia species
are arthropod-borne, meaning that they are
GENETIC COMPOSITION
transmitted by arthropod vectors.
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 Arthropods such as lice, fleas, and ticks  The absence of a cell wall prevents
transmit the rickettsias from one host to mycoplasmas from staining with the Gram
another by their bites or waste products. stain procedure.
 The term “chlamydias” refers to Chlamydia
spp. and closely related organisms ESPECIALLY LARGE AND ESPECIALLY
 Chlamydias are referred to as “energy SMALL BACTERIA
parasites.” Although they can produce
 Most bacteria are microscopic, requiring the
adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules,
use of a microscope to be seen.
they preferentially use ATP molecules
produced by their host cells  Perhaps the largest of all bacteria—large
enough to be seen with the unaided human
 Chlamydias are obligate intracellular
eye—is Thiomargarita namibiensis, a
pathogens that are transferred by inhalation
colorless, marine, sulfide-oxidizing
of aerosols or by direct contact between
bacterium.
hosts—not by arthropods.
o Medically important chlamydias  Another enormous bacterium, named
Epulopiscium fishelsonii, has been isolated
include Chlamydia trachomatis,
from the intestines of the reef surgeonfish
Chlamydophila pneumoniae, and
Chlamydophila psittaci.  Nanobacteria sizes are expressed in
nanometers because these bacteria are
less than 1 m in diameter; hence the name,
nanobacteria.
o Nanobacteria have been found in
soil, minerals, ocean water, human
and animal blood, human dental
MYCOPLASMAS calculus (plaque), arterial plaque,
and even rocks (meteorites) of
 Mycoplasmas are the smallest of the
extraterrestrial origin.
cellular microbes.
o Some scientists believe that these
 Because they lack cell walls, they assume
tiny structures were formed by
many shapes, from coccoid to filamentous;
geological, rather than biological,
thus, they appear pleomorphic when
processes. They feel that
examined microscopically.
nanobacteria are smaller than the
 Mycoplasmas were formerly called
minimum possible size for a living
pleuropneumonia-like organisms (PPLO),
cell.
first isolated from cattle with lung infections.
o They may be free-living or parasitic
and are pathogenic to many animals PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA
and some plants.
 They may be free-living or parasitic and are  Photosynthetic bacteria are bacteria
pathogenic to many animals and some capable of converting light energy into
plants. chemical energy. Cyanobacteria are
 Because they have no cell wall, they are examples of photosynthetic bacteria.
resistant to treatment with penicillin and  Photosynthetic bacteria include purple
other antibiotics that work by inhibiting cell bacteria, green bacteria, and cyanobacteria
wall synthesis (erroneously referred to in the past as
bluegreen algae). Although all three groups
 MICROBIAL DIVERSITY:
ACELLULAR AND PROCARYOTIC MICROBES

use light as an energy source, they do not  Procaryotic organisms in the Domain
all carry out photosynthesis in the same way Archaea were discovered in 1977.
 In photosynthetic eucaryotes (algae and  Although they were once referred to as
plants), photosynthesis takes place in archaebacteria (or archaeobacteria), most
plastids scientists now feel that there are sufficient
 In cyanobacteria, photosynthesis takes differences between archaea and bacteria
place on intracellular membranes known as to stop referring to archaea as bacteria.
thylakoids.  Archae means “ancient,” and the name
o Thylakoids are attached to the cell archaea was originally assigned when it
membrane at various points and are was thought that these procaryotes evolved
thought to represent invaginations of earlier than bacteria.
the cell membrane.  Genetically, even though they are
 Attached to the thylakoids, in procaryotes, archaea are more closely
orderly rows, are numerous related to eucaryotes than they are to
phycobilisomes—complex bacteria; some possess genes otherwise
protein pigment aggregates found only in eucaryotes
where light harvesting  Many scientists believe that bacteria and
occurs. archaea diverged from a common ancestor
 Many scientists believe that cyanobacteria relatively soon after life began on this
were the first organisms capable of carrying planet. Later, the eucaryotes split off from
out oxygenic photosynthesis and, thus, the archaea.
played a major part in the oxygenation of  According to Bergey’s Manual of Systematic
the atmosphere. Bacteriology, the Domain Archaea contains
o Fossil records reveal that 2 phyla, 8 classes, 12 orders, 21 families,
cyanobacteria were already in 69 genera, and 217 species.
existence 3.3 to 3.5 billion years  Many archaea are extremophiles, meaning
ago. that they live in extreme environments, e.g.,
o Many cyanobacteria are able to environments that are extremely hot, dry, or
convert nitrogen gas (N2) from the salty.
air into ammonium ions (NH4) in the  Other archaea, called methanogens,
soil or water; this process is known produce methane, which is a flammable
as nitrogen fixation gas.
o Some cyanobacteria produce toxins  Although virtually all archaea possess cell
(called cyanotoxins) that can cause walls, their cell walls contain no
disease and even death in animals peptidoglycan. In contrast, all bacterial cell
and humans. walls contain peptidoglycan.
o These cyanotoxins can cause
disease and even death in wildlife
species and humans that consume
contaminated water.

THE DOMAIN ARCHAEA