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Bacterial Cell Structure Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Cheat sheet for my mid term exam preparation

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

A Typical Bacterial Cell

How does prokar­­yotes differ from eukary­­otes?
Most prokar­­yotes lack internal membrane system
What are bacterial cell shapes?
Cocci(­­sp­h­e­res), Bacill­­i(­r­ods), Vibrio­­s(­c­o­mma), Coccob­­ac­i­l­li­­(very short rods), Spiril­­la­(­rigid helices), Spiroc­­he­t­e­s(­­fle­­xible helice­­s)­,­M­yc­­elium, Pleomo­­rp­h­i­c(­­var­­iable in shape)
What are the examples of smallest and largest bacteria?
Smallest - Mycoplasma
Largest - Epulop­­iscium fishelsoni
What causes bacteria to have a particular size and shape?
To increase the S/V ratio for more efficient nutrient uptake and protection from predator

Bacterial Cytopl­asmic Structures

Types of Cytosk­eletons
- Microtubules
- Microfilaments
- Interm­ediate filaments
Examples of Cytosk­eletons
- FtsZ
- MreB/MbI
-CreS
FtsZ
- Forms a ring at the center of a dividing cell
- Required for the formation of septum that wull separate the daughter cells
MreB/MbI
- Only found in rod shaped cell
- Determine cell shape in rod-shaped cell
- Determine cell shape by properly positi­oning the machinery needed for peptid­oglycan synthesis
CreS
- Rare
- Give bacteria the curved shape
What are inclus­ions?
Granules of organi­c/i­nor­ganic material that are stockpiled by the cell for future use
Types of inclusions
1. Storage inclusions - Storage for nutrients, metabolic end products, energy, building blocks
2. Microc­omp­art­ments- Have specific functions (Carbo­xymes as example)
3. Gas vacuoles - Provide buoyancy in gas vesicles
4. Magnet­osomes- Identify earth's magnetic field
What is the Nucleoid?
- Location of chromo­somes and associated proteins
- Not membrane bounded therefore mix with cytoplasma
How microbes managed to fit their chromo­somes into the small space of nucleoid?
1. Using physical factors - Macrom­ole­cular crowding and Supersoiling
2. Using archit­ectural proteins - NAPs (HU Protein)
What is Plasmids?
1. Double -stranded DNA molecules that can exist indepe­ndently of the chromosome
2. Episomes - Can integrate into chromosome and replicate with the chromosome
3. Contain gene that confer selective advantage to host
 

The Bacterial Endospore

What is endosp­ores?
Complex, dormant structure formed by rods and cocci bacteria only
How are endospores struct­urally different from vegetative cells?
Consist of a core surrounded by several layers varying in compos­ition.
1. Core - Has ribosomes and nucleoid and low water content
2. Inner Membrane
3. Germ cell wall- Contain peptid­oglycan that will form a cell wall in vegetative state
4. Cortex - occupy half of the endosp­ore's volume
5. Outer membrane
6. Coat- Composed of a high cross-­linked different proteins
7. Exosporium - Made up of glycop­roteins
What makes endospores so resistant to harsh enviro­nmental condit­ions?
There are various layers to protect its enzymes and DNA
1. The coat - protects the endospores from chemicals and lytic enzymes (lysozymes)
2. The inner core - Extremely imperm­eable to various chemicals, including those that damage the DNA
3. The core - High water content, high amount of Ca-DPA, low pH Ph

Bacterial Plasma Membranes

How bacterial lipid changes in different temper­atures?
Sa­tur­­ation levels of membrane lipid depends on the enviro­­nment conditions.
1. Hot - Have more saturated and long-c­­hained fatty acid
2. Cold - Have more unsatu­rated and short-­chained fatty acids
What is growth factors?
Molecules that bacteria need for survival but can't synthesize and need to obtain from the enviro­­nment
Classes of growth factors
1. Amino acids - Protein synthesis
2. Purines and Prymidines - Nucleic acid synthesis
3. Vitamins - Enzyme Cofactors
4. Heme - Hemopr­­oteins
How bacteria uptake nutrients?
Microbes can only take in dissolves particles across a select­­ively permeable membrane by passive and active transports
What are the transport systems used?
1. Facili­­tated Diffusion
2. Active Transport
3. Group Transl­­oc­ation
Passive Diffusion
1. Molecules move down the concen­­tr­ation gradient
2. Water, oxygens and carbon dioxide move across the membrane this way
Facili­­tated Diffusion
Diffusion of molecules across the plasma membrane down the concen­­tr­ation gradient with the assistance of protein carrier/ channel
Primary Active Transport (ABC Transp­­orter, Uniport)
Uses energy provided by ATP hydrolysis to move substance against a concen­­tr­ation gradients
Secondary Active Transport (Using proton and sodium gradient, Cotran­spo­rt-­Sym­por­t/A­nti­port)
uses ion concen­tration gradients to cotran­sport substances
Group Transl­ocation (Phosp­horelay System)
A molecule is chemically modified as it is brought into the cell
What is the advantage of active transport compared to facili­tated transport?
Allow bacteria to uptake nutrients when they liv in a low nutrient concen­tration enviro­nment
Why microo­rga­nisms require iron?
Important for building molecules needed in energy­-co­nse­rving processes
What is sidero­phores?
Low molecular weight molecules secreted by bacteria that helps to bind ferric ion and supply it to the cell when the iron uptake is difficult
 

Bacterial Cell Wall

What are the types of bacteria based on Gram Stain?
Gram-p­ositive bacteria and Gram-n­egative bacteria
What is Peptid­ogl­ycan?
Rigid structure outside the cell membrane
Gram-p­ositive bacteria
- Stain purple
- Thick peptidoglycan
- Contain large amount of teichoic acids(­neg­atively charged)
- Small peripl­asmic space
Gram-n­egative bacteria
- Stain red/pink
- Thin peptidoglycan
- No teichoic acids but have lipopolysaccharides
- Bigger peripl­asmic space
Functions of cell wall
- Maintain bacteria shape
- Protect cell from osmotic lysis and toxic materials
- Contribute to pathog­enicity
Peptid­oglycan structure are composed of what identical subunits?
1. Two altern­ating sugars - NAG and Nam
2. Amino acids - Altern­ating L- and D- amino acids
Three amino acids not found in proteins of other organism
- D-glutamic acid
- D-alanine
- Meso-d­iam­ino­plemic acid
- Help to protect the cell wall against degrad­ation by most peptidase
Peptid­oglycan chains are crossl­inked by peptides for strength
- Composed of altern­ating D- and L-amino acids
- Gram-p­ositive bacteria have more cross-linking
- Gram-n­egative bacteria have lesser crowss­-li­nking
Lipopo­lys­acc­haride consist of and its functions?
1. Lipid A - Endotoxins which is harmful
2. Core polysa­cch­aride - Contri­butes to negative charge on cell surface
3. Side O chain- Helps bacteria to escape human immune system by changing the O side chain
What are the function of Teichoic acids?
- Help maintain cell envelope
- Protect from enviro­nmental substances
- May bind to host cells

External Structures

What are the external structures of bacteria and archaea?
- Pili/Fimbriae
- Flagella
Function of Fimbriae
Attachment to surface
Functions of Type IV Pili
- Motility
- Twitching
Function of Sex Pili
Transfer of DNA from one bacterium to another
What is Flagella?
Thread­like, locomotor appendages extending outward from plasma membrane and cell wall
Functions of Flagella?
- Motility
- Swarming
-Attachment to surfaces
Each bacterial flagellum is composed of?
- Filament
- Hook
- Basal body
What is self-a­sse­mbly? Why this make sense in flagellum?
- A system's components organize into a functional structures as the result of intera­ctions between the components without external directions
- Because many components of the flagellum lie outside the cell envelope and must be transp­orted out of the cell for assembly
 

Components Outside of the Cell Wall

What are the outermost layers of bacterial cell and its function?
- Glycocalyx (Capsu­les­/Slime Layers)
- S Layers
Glycocalyx
- Consist of a network of polysa­cch­arides extending from the surface of the cells
- Capsules and Slime Layer
Capsule
- Well organized
- Not easily removed
- Resistance to phagoc­ytosis
Slime Layer
- Unorganized
- Easily removed
- AId in motility
S Layer
- Structured layers of proteins/ glycop­roteins that self-assemble
- Adhesion to surface
How does an S-Layer differ from a protei­naceous capsule?
Monomer of S-Layer have the ability to self-a­ssemble

Bacterial Motility and Chemotaxis

What are the types of motility?
1. Swimming - Flagella
2. Swarming - Flagella
3. Spirochete motility
4. Twitching motility
5. Gliding motility
Bacterial Flagellar Movement
- A rigid helix that rotates like a propeller to push the bacterium through the water
- CCW- Froward motion
- CW- Cell stop and tumble
Mechanism of Flagellar Movement
2 parts of motor producing torque - Rotor and Stator
1. Rotor - C ring and MS ring turn and interact with stator
2. Stator- Mot A and Mot B proteins produce energy through PMF
What are the power used by most flagellar motors?
- Difference in charge
- Difference in pH
Swarming
- Occur in group
- Mediated by flagella
- Occurs on moist surfaces
Spirochete
- Flagella located around the cell and remain within peripl­asmic space
- Rotate when the outer membrane rotate
Myxococcus spp. exhibit both twitching and gliding motility
1. Twitching - Jerky movement brought by the type IV pili
2. Gliding - Smooth
What is chemot­axis?
Movement towards a chemical attractant or away from a chemical repellent