
How Do Bacteria Reproduce? • Not Mitosis • Not Meiosis • No Spindle Fibers Formed • Prokaryotes Reproduce By Binary Fission
How Do Prokaryotes Reproduce? • The cell doubles in mass • DNA replicates and the two strands separate • Cytokinesis is an inward pinching of the cell membrane and cell wall to separate the cell into two genetically identical cells Figure 5.2a, page 139
E. Coli Growth Rate ~5 hours growth condensed into 7 seconds
Prokaryotes Reproduce Asexually • The generation time is the interval of time between successive binary fissions • Asexual reproduction = no difference between cells (a generalization which we will clarify later) • In pathogens, a shorter generation time means a shorter incubation period of disease Figure 5.3, page 140
Population Growth Curve Figure 5.4, page 142
Prokaryotic Growth • A Bacterial Growth Curve Illustrates the Dynamics of Growth • During the lag phase, no cell division occurs while bacteria adapt to their new environment • Exponential growth of the population occurs during the logarithmic (log) phase • Human disease symptoms usually develop during the log phase • When reproduction rate = death rate, the population enters the stationary phase • The accumulation of waste products and scarcity of resources causes the population to enter the decline (exponential death) phase
Endospores Are a Response to an Environmental Limitation • Endospores are a highly resistant structure formed by species of Bacillus and Clostridium when nutrient supplies are low • Endospores often begin to form at the beginning of the decline phase Figure 5.6, page 144
A stressed cell undergoes asymmetrical cell division, creating a small prespore and larger mother cell • The prespore contains: • Cytoplasm • DNA • dipicolinic acid, which stabilizes proteins and DNA • The mother cell matures the prespore into an endospore, then disintegrates, freeing the spore • Endospores: • are resistant to desiccation, heat, alcohol • undergo very few chemical reactions
Vegetative and Sporulation Cycle Vegetative Cycle
When environmental conditions are again favorable, protective layers break down and the spore germinates into a vegetative cell Figure 5.6c, page 144
Spore-forming Bacteria That Cause Serious Diseases Include: • Bacillus anthracis – Anthrax • Bacillus cereus – Bacillus cereus food poisoning • Clostridium botulinum – Botulism • Clostridium perfringens – Gas Gangrene • Clostridium tetani - Tetanus
Remember that sporulation is not cell reproduction; It is cell replacement
Environmental Factors that Affect Prokaryotic Growth • Temperature • Gasses • pH • Hydrostatic Pressure • Salt
Environmental Factors that Affect Prokaryotic Growth • Temperature • Each prokaryotic species has an optimal temperature for growth and about a 30° range of acceptable temperatures
Psychrophiles • grow optimally below 15°C, and make up the largest portion of all prokaryotes on Earth
Psychrotrophs - cold tolerant • Psychrotrophs do not favor cold conditions, but can tolerate them
Mesophiles ~10-40o C • Thrive at the medium temperature range of 10° to 45°C, including pathogens that thrive in the human body
Thermophiles • Multiply best around 60°C, living in compost heaps and hot springs
Hyperthermophiles • Are Archaea that grow optimally above 80°C, found in seafloor hot-water vents
Gasses • Oxygen • Many prokaryotes are obligate aerobes, which require oxygen to grow • Anaerobes do not or cannot use oxygen; aerotolerant species are insensitive to oxygen, but obligate anaerobes are inhibited or killed by oxygen • Facultative prokaryotes grow either with oxygen, or in reduced oxygen environments
Gasses, cont: • Microaerophiles require <21% atmospheric oxygen • Thioglycollate broth can be used to test an organism’s oxygen sensitivity • Carbon Dioxide • Capnophiles require an atmosphere low in oxygen and rich in carbon dioxide
Capnophiles can be grown in the lab in candle jars and “gas pak” containers
pH • The majority of species grow optimally at neutral (~7.0) pH • The pH of human body fluids is ???? • Therefore …. • Acidophiles are acid-tolerant prokaryotes • For example, those used to turn milk into buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt • Alkalophiles tolerate basic environments • For example, soda lakes
Hydrostatic Pressure • Barophiles can tolerate high amounts of pressure • e.g., psychrophiles that live at the bottom of the ocean
Salt • Halophiles can tolerate high amounts of salt
Culture Media = What Microbes Are Grown On Or In • Supply required nutrients to maintain culture • 2 basic types: • General purpose media • Enriched media
General Purpose Medium– Will Grow Most Bacteria • We usually start with these: • Nutrient Broth = Meat broth + Peptone • Add agar = Nutrient Agar OR • Tryptic Soy Broth – Soy protein + Tryptone • Add agar = Tryptic Soy Agar
Some Bacteria Can Not Grow On General Purpose Media • Have Specific Nutrient Requirements – Enriched Media • “picky eaters” = “Fastidious” • Examples: • Blood Agar • Chocolate Agar
Some Media Aid in the Identification of Prokaryotes • Selective Media– Inhibits the Growth of Certain Species and Facilitates the Growth of Others (Bacillus anthracis On a Selective Medium)
Differential Media • Differentiates Between Species By Employing Chemical Indicators • Usually Cause a Color Change
Streak Plate Technique is Used to Isolate and Identify Species – What Does the Patient Have? • There are many streak plate techniques • They are all a form of serial dilution of the specimen
Quantification Techniques Can Be Used To Quantify Bacteria – How Sick Is the Patient? • Pour Plate Technique
Population Growth Can Be Measured in Several Other Ways • Coulter Counter • Turbidity can be measured using a spectrophotometer • Direct count using a counting chamber
A Direct Microscopic Count Figure 5.13, page 157
Other Terms: • Pure Culture= Only one species of bacteria, and you know what it is • Mixed Culture= More than one species of bacteria, and you know what they are • ? What is a Culture called when you don’t know what it is?
Other Terms, cont: • Natural Medium– uses all natural ingredients • Ex: Blood agar plate • Synthetic Medium– Is made in the lab using chemicals (shown is synthetic sea fog)