Groups of Microorganism - 062035

MCB121
GROUPS OF MICROORGANISMS
‘Microbiology’ should be an easy word to define: the science (logos) of small (micro) life
(bios), or to put it another way, the study of living things so small that they cannot be seen
with the naked eye.
Microorganisms are divided into the following five groups: Virus, Bacteria, Archae, Fungi
and Protists, Microbiology also involves the study of acellular agents like Viruses, Prions and
Viriods. Although virus is grouped with the five main groups, it is considered acellular and
classified as such.
Acellular Agents
Prions: A prion (proteinaceous infectious particle) is a self-replicating protein responsible for
a range of neurodegenerative disorders in humans and mammals. A decade after the
discovery of viroids, Stanley Prusiner made the startling claim that scrapie, a
neurodegenerative disease of sheep, was caused by a self-replicating agent composed solely
of protein. He called this type of entity a prion, and in the years which followed, other,
related, diseases of humans and animals were shown to have a similar cause. This include;
mad cow disease.
Fig 1: image of a prion

Viroids: A viroid is a plant pathogen that comprises only RNA. In 1971, Theodor Diener
proposed the name viroid to describe a newly discovered pathogen of potatoes. Viroids are
many times smaller than the smallest virus, and consist solely of a small circle of RNA. To
date, viroids have only been found in plants, where they cause a variety of diseases.
Fig 2: image of a viroid particle
1
MCB121
Virus: All viruses are obligate intracellular parasites. They are now known to differ radically
from the simplest true organisms, bacteria, in a number of respects: they cannot be observed
using a light microscope, they have no internal cellular structure, they contain either DNA or
RNA, but not both. They are incapable of replication unless occupying an appropriate living
host. When inside a host cell, viruses show some of the features of a living organism, such as
the ability to replicate themselves, but outside the cell they are just inert chemical structures,
An intact viral particle, or virion, has in just two components: a core of nucleic acid,
surrounded and protected by a protein coat or capsid, the combination of the two being
known as the nucleocapsid. In certain virus types, the nucleocapsid is further surrounded by a
membranous envelope. Most viruses are smaller than even the smallest bacterial cells. The
genetic material of a virus may be either RNA or DNA, and either of these may be single-
stranded or double-stranded, the genome may furthermore be circular or linear.
Fig 3: image a naked and enveloped virus

Cellular Groups
Bacteria: most bacteria fall into a size range of about 1–5µm, although some may be larger
than this. A bacteria cell contains bacterial chromosome or nucleoid, a cytoplasm (the fluid
inside the cell), ribosome (for protein synthesis), a plasma membrane surrounding the
cytoplasm (this regulates what enters and leaves the cell) and this is surrounded by a cell wall
(which gives the bacterial cell its characteristic shape). Depending on the type of bacterium,
there may be a further surrounding layer such as a capsule or slime layer and/or structures
external to the cell associated with motility (flagella) or attachment (pili/fimbriae).
2
MCB121
Fig 4: image of a bacterial cell

Archaea: these are special groups of bacteria that can exist in extreme environment, they are
also called extremophiles, they can be found in freezing conditions, super-hot environments
(100degree centigrade), acidic environments, salty environments (like the dead sea) etc.
Archaea are prokaryotes, just like bacteria, Archaea have three basic morphological forms:
bacilli (rod), coccus (spherical) and Spiral. They reproduce by binary fission like in bacteria.
Archaea are free living (harmless).
Fungi: Fungi were for many years classified along with bacteria, algae and the slime moulds
as members of the Kingdom Plantae. As recently as the 1960s it was possible to find fungi
being discussed under this heading, but in more recent times there has been universal
agreement that they should be assigned their own kingdom. This is because fungi differ from
plants in two quite fundamental respects: plants obtain energy from the sun, fungi do not,
plants utilise CO2 as a carbon source, fungi do not. plants are photoautotrophs, whereas fungi
are chemoheterotrophs. Some 80, 000 species are known and it is thought possible that at
least a million more remain to be described . Fungi are eukaryotic organism, they are of great
importance economically and socially, and may have beneficial or detrimental effects. Many
fungi, particularly yeasts, are involved in industrial fermentation processes. These include,
for example, the production of bread and alcohol, while other fungi are essential to the
cheese-making process. Many antibiotics, including penicillin, derive from fungi. Along with
bacteria, fungi are responsible for the decomposition and reprocessing of vast amounts of
complex organic matter. The other side of this coin is seen in the activity of fungi that
degrade and destroy materials of economic importance such as wood, paper and leather,
employing essentially the same biochemical processes. Additionally, some fungi may cause
disease; huge damage is caused to crops and other commercially valuable plants, while a
number of human diseases are also caused by fungi.
Fungi are divided into yeasts and mould forms. Yeasts are unicellular, do not have flagella
and reproduce asexually by budding or fission, or sexually by spore formation. Multicellular
forms such as moulds have long, branched, threadlike structures called hyphae, which
aggregate together to form a mycelium. One of the features that caused taxonomists finally to
remove fungi from the plant kingdom was the distinctive chemical nature of the fungal cell
wall. Whereas, plant and algal cells have walls composed of cellulose, the cell wall of fungi
is made up principally of chitin which is found in the exoskeleton of insects.
3
MCB121
Protist: the Protist represents a very diverse group of organisms, united by their possession
of eucaryotic characteristics, and failure to fit satisfactorily into the animal, plant or fungal
kingdoms. The Protista is a grouping of convenience, containing organisms not easily
accommodated elsewhere. It includes all unicellular and colonial eucaryotic organisms, but is
often expanded to include multicellular algae. Protists are divided into those with
characteristics that are plant–like (the Algae) and animal-like (the Protozoa).
‘The Protozoa’ The name Protozoa comes from the Greek, meaning ‘first animal’, and was
originally applied to single-celled organisms regarded as having animal-like characteristics.
Most protozoans are found in freshwater or marine habitats and represent an important link in
the food chain. Most protozoans have a heterotrophic mode of nutrition, typically ingesting
particulate food such as bacteria. They use (e.g. cilia, flagella) for locomotion. Most are
harmless while others are pathogenic that cause diseases in animals and humans. Certain
protozoa are free living while others are parasitic. Algae (those with plant like characteristics)
this can be unicellular or multicellular, their cells have cell wall made of cellulose, algae are
photosynthetic, they are the basis of food chain in marine and fresh water habitat.

Groups of Microorganism - 062035

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Groups of Microorganism - 062035

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Groups of Microorganism - 062035

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MCB121

Fig 1: image of a prion

Fig 2: image of a viroid particle

Fig 3: image a naked and enveloped virus

Fig 4: image of a bacterial cell

You might also like