Prokaryotes

1. Introduction

Prokaryotes are some of the most abundant and important organisms on Earth. All
prokaryotic organisms are unicellular but can occur as filaments or as masses of cells
called colonies. Identification is based on biochemical and nutritional properties,
responses to the physical environment, whether or not they are pathogenic (disease
causing), and their shape. They were the first living organisms to evolve, dating back
3.5 billion years. They outnumber all other organisms, play important ecological
roles, and significantly influence human lives. They are currently classified into two
distinct domains, the Archaea and the Bacteria.

2. Bacteria

Bacterial cell shape is one of the characteristics used to identify specific groups of
bacteria. The three most common shapes are coccus (spheres), bacillus (rods), and
spirillum (spirals). Another method used to identify bacteria is by the use of a gram
stain. Depending on the composition of their cell walls, this staining technique will
either stain the bacteria purple or red. Gram-positive bacteria have a single wall with
a thick layer of peptidoglycan, a polymer of amino sugars (polysaccaridepolypeptide). Gram negative bacteria have a thinner peptidoglycan layer, but it is
covered by an additional lipo-polysaccaride layer. This additional layer makes gramnegative bacteria more resistant to many antibiotics.

Exercise 1 Obtain a slide of 3 bacterial types. View the slide under high power
and look for the three bacterial shapes. Draw the three shapes on the same page for
your lab notebook.

3. Cyanobacteria
These organisms can be floating masses on still water, smears on rocks, trees, and
soils, or as marine phytoplankton. They may be symbionts with protozoa, diatoms,
algae, higher plants, fungi, and lichens. They have often been confused with the
algae due their blue-green color. This color is due to different photosynthetic
pigments such as chlorophyll a and accessory pigments such as phycobiliproteins, cphycocyanin, phycoerythrin, and carotenes. The varying amounts of accessory
pigments give the diversity to these organisms, as well as different colors such as
black, brown, or red. Food reserves are stored as a glycogen-like substance called
myxophycean (or cyanophycean starch). Individuals may be held together by a
mucilaginous layer, which can be clear or have various pigments; these characters
also set them apart from bacteria. Some forms have specialized cells called
heterocysts used for nitrogen fixation, as well as cells to resist drying out. The
nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria are important to agriculture in rice-producing areas and
can be indicator species for different types of pollution. You will be looking at a
variety of cyanobacteria to get an idea of their diversity and morphology.

Exercise 1 Anabaena:
Anabaena is a symbiotic
cyanobacteria associated with the
aquatic fern Azolla. Anabaena is able

to convert atmospheric nitrogen into

nitrogenous organic compounds and
thus is considered an important
agricultural species.

Prepare a wet mount of a small piece of the living aquatic plant Azolla. With a
toothpick, crush the leaf to release the chains of Anabaena. Look for the chains of
spherical cells, with frequent larger heterocysts. Some chains may be broken up due
to the crushing. Make two drawings of Anabaena chains, including heterocysts (which
I would like for you to label), for your lab notebook from the live specimen and from
the prepared slide.

Exercise 2 Nostoc: Nostoc is a common species found in freshwater lakes,

ponds, and streams. This organism is a colony of many filaments and thousands of
cells. Obtain a prepared slide of Nostoc and look for gelatinous balls of tangled
filaments that look similar to Anabaena. Nostoc have heterocysts and maybe gas
vacuoles (which are hard to see). Make two drawing of Nostoc for your lab notebook
from the live specimen and from the prepared slide.

Exercise 3 Oscillatoria: This organism is also commonly found in water and on

moist substrates. The cells occur in filaments but lack the heterocysts seen in Nostoc
and Anabaena and also lack the gelatinous sheath seen in Nostoc. The cells within
the filaments are disc-shaped. Make a wet mount of live Oscillatoria and obtain a
prepared slide and draw both for your lab notebook.