微生物学微生物学 (31).docVIP

Afterlearningthissection,youshouldbeableto:

?Compilealistofthestructuresfoundinallthelayersofbacterialcellenvelopes,notingthefunctionsandthemajorcomponentmoleculesofeach.

showthebacterialenvelopeasconsistingsolelyoftheplasmamembraneandcellwall.However,manybacteriahaveanotherlayerintheircellenvelopesthatliesoutsidethecellwall.Thislayerisgivendifferentnamesdependingonitsmakeupandhowitisorganized.

Thetermglycocalyxreferstoalayerconsistingofanetworkofpolysaccharidesextendingfromthesurfaceofthecell.Thetermcanencompassbothcapsulesandslimelayersbecausetheyusuallyarecomposedofpolysaccharides.

CapsulesandSlimeLayers

Capsulesarelayersthatarewellorganizedandnoteasilywashedoff(figure3.29).Theyaremostoftencomposedofpolysaccharides,butsomeareconstructedofothermaterials.

Forexample,BacillusanthracishasaproteinaceouscapsulecomposedofpolyD-glutamicacid.Capsulesareclearlyvisibleinthelightmicroscopewhennegativestainsorspecificcapsulestainsareemployed;theyalsocanbestudiedwiththeelectronmicroscope.

Althoughcapsulesarenotrequiredforgrowthandreproductioninlaboratorycultures,theyconferseveraladvantages

whenbacteriagrowintheirnormalhabitats.Theyhelppathogenicbacteriaresistphagocytosisbyhostphagocytes.

Streptococcuspneumoniaeprovidesadramaticexample.Whenitlacksacapsule,itisphagocytosedeasilyanddoesnotcausedisease.Ontheotherhand,thecapsulatedvariantquicklykillsmice.

Capsulescanalsoprotectagainstdesiccationbecausetheycontainagreatdealofwater.

Theyexcludevirusesandmosthydrophobictoxicmaterialssuchasdetergents.

Aslimelayerisazoneofdiffuse,unorganizedmaterialthatisremovedeasily.Itisusuallycomposedofpolysaccharidesbutisnotaseasilyobservedbylightmicroscopy.

Glidingbacteriaoftenproduceslime,whichinsome