Introductory Microbiology

Structure and organization of bacteria

 
Prokaryotes: Pro=Primitive Karyote=Nucleus
• Are those microorganisms which lack distinct nucleus and plastids. Among the major characteristics of bacterial cells are their size, shape, structure and arrangement. These characteristics constitute the morphology of cells. Depending on the species, individual cells are spherical, rod like or helical, although many variations of these three basic shapes occur.
• The bacterial cell possess a detailed internal structure. The discovery of this internal structure was made possible by the development of electron microscope techniques and of instruments for slicing a bacterial cell into extremely thin sections. The terms microbial cytology and bacterial anatomy have become common place in microbiological literature.
• The various structure of a bacterial cell differ from one another not only in their physical features but also in their chemical characteristics and in their functions. Thus biologists today seek to integrate the structure, chemical and functional properties of the bacterial cell.
  A Typical prokaryotic bacterial cell

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