Structure of a prokaryotic cell : E. coli

Bacterial cells share certain common structural features, but also show group-specific specializations (fig). E. coli is a usually harmless inhabitant of the intestinal tract of human beings and many other mammals. The E. coli cell is about 2 μm long and a little less than 1 μm in diameter. It has a protective outer membrane and an inner plasma membrane that encloses the cytoplasm and the nucleoid. Between the inner and outer membranes is a thin but strong layer of peptidoglycans

Figure: Common structural features of bacterial cells. Because of differences in cell envelope structure, some eubacteria (gram-positive bacteria) retain Gram's stain, and others (gram-negative bacteria) do not. E. coli is gram-negative. Cyanobacteria are also eubacteria, but are distinguished by their extensive internal membrane system, in which photosynthetic pigments are localized

(sugar polymers cross-linked by amino acids), which gives the cell its shape and rigidity. The plasma membrane and the layers outside it constitute the cell envelope. Differences in the cell envelope account for the different affinities for the dye Gentian violet, which is the basis for Gram's stain; gram-positive bacteria retain the dye, and gram-negative bacteria do not. The outer membrane of E. coli, like that of other gram-negative eubacteria, is similar to the plasma membrane in structure but is different in composition. In gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, for example) there is no outer membrane, and the peptidoglycan layer surrounding the plasma membrane is much thicker than that in gram-negative bacteria. The plasma membranes of eubacteria consist of a thin bilayer of lipid molecules penetrated by proteins. Archaebacterial membranes have a similar architecture, although their lipids differ from those of the eubacteria.

The plasma membrane contains proteins capable of transporting certain ions and compounds into the cell and carrying products and waste out. Also in the plasma membrane of most eubacteria are electron-carrying proteins (cytochromes) essential in the formation of ATP from ADP. In the photosynthetic bacteria, internal membranes derived from the plasma membrane contain chlorophyll and other light-trapping pigments.

From the outer membrane of E. coli cells and some other eubacteria protrude short, hairlike structures called pili, by which cells adhere to the surfaces of other cells. Strains of E. coli and other motile bacteria have one or more long flagella, which can propel the bacterium through its aqueous surroundings. Bacterial flagella are thin, rigid, helical rods, 10 to 20 nm thick. They are attached to a protein structure that spins in the plane of the cell surface, rotating the flagellum.

The cytoplasm of E. coli contains about 15,000 ribosomes, thousands of copies of each of several thousand different enzymes, numerous metabolites and cofactors, and a variety of inorganic ions. Under some conditions, granules of polysaccharides or droplets of lipid accumulate. The nucleoid contains a single, circular molecule of DNA. Although the DNA molecule of an E. coli cell is almost 1,000 times longer than the cell itself, it is packaged with proteins and tightly folded into the nucleoid, which is less than 1 μm in its longest dimension. As in all bacteria, no membrane surrounds the genetic material. In addition to the DNA in the nucleoid, the cytoplasm of most bacteria contains many smaller, circular segments of DNA called plasmids. These nonessential segments of DNA are especially amenable to experimental manipulation and are extremely useful to the molecular geneticist. In nature, some plasmids confer resistance to toxins and antibiotics in the environment.

There is a primitive division of labor within the bacterial cell. The cell envelope regulates the flow of materials into and out of the cell, and protects the cell from noxious environmental agents. The plasma membrane and the cytoplasm contain a variety of enzymes essential to energy metabolism and the synthesis of precursor molecules; the ribosomes manufacture proteins; and the nucleoid stores and transmits genetic information. Most bacteria lead existences that are nearly independent of other cells, but some bacterial species tend to associate in clusters or filaments, and a few (the myxobacteria, for example) demonstrate primitive social behavior. Only eukaryotic cells, however, form true multicellular organisms with a division of labor among cell types.