Civil and Envirnmental Engineering 114 ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

Assignment #3 Spring 2012 Due: Thur. Feb. 9

Required Reading: Brock, remaining Chap. 3, start on Chapters 4.0-4.1, 4.4-4.7, appendix 1 and bSpace handout on energy. 1. Calculate the surface-to-volume ratio of the following cells. Explain the consequences of these differences in surface-to-volume ratio for cell function. D = diameter L = length Coccoid Cell: V = 4/3*pi*(D/2)^3 A = 4*pi*(D/2)^2 A:V= 6/D Rod Cell: V = 4/3*pi*(D/2)^3 + pi*(D/2)^2*L A = 4*pi*(D/2)^2 + 2*pi*D*L V m3 A m2 A/V a. coccoid cell, 1 pi/6 pi 6 m diameter b. coccoid cell, 20 4000pi/3 400pi 0.3 m diameter c. bacillus (rod) 7pi/6 9pi 7.71 cell, 1 m diameter/4 m length d. bacillus (rod) 49pi/3 64pi 3.92 cell, 2 m diameter/ 15 m length 2. Answer Brock Review Question 4 in Chapter 3. Question: Describe a major chemical difference between membranes of Bacteria and Archaea (section 3.3). 3. Answer Brock Review Question 6 in Chapter 3. Question: Cells of Esherichia coli take up lactose via lac permease, glucose via the phosphotransferase system, and maltose via an ABC-transporter. For each of these sugars describe: (1) the components of their transport system and (2) the source of energy that drives the transport event (Section 3.5). 4. Answer Brock Review Question 8 in Chapter 3. Question: List several functions of the outer membrane in gram-negative Bacteria. What is the chemical composition of the outer membrane (Section 3.7) 5. Answer Brock Review Question 9 in Chapter 3.

Question: What cell wall polysaccharide common in Bacteria is absent from Archaea? What is unusual about S-layers compared to other cell walls of prokaryotes? What types of cell walls are found in Archaea (Section 3.8)? 6. Describe the structure and function of a bacterial pilus. How does it differ from a fibriae? 7. Answer Brock Review Question 11 in Chapter 3. Question: What types of cytoplasmic inclusions are formed by prokaryotes? How does an inclusion of poly-B-hydroxybutyric acid differ from a magnetosome in composition and metabolic role (Section 3.10)? 8. Answer Brock Review Question 12 in Chapter 3. Question: What is the function of gas vesicles? How are these structures made such that they can remain gas tight (Section 3.11)? 9. Answer Brock Review Question 13 in Chapter 3. Quesiton: In a few sentences, indicate how the bacterial endospore differs from vegetative cell in structure, chemical composition, and ability to resist extreme environmental conditions (Section 3.12)? 10. Answer Brock Review Question 15 in Chapter 3. Question: Describe the structure and function of a bacterial flagellum. What is the energy source for the flagellum? How do the flagella of Bacteria differ from those of Archaea in both size and composition (Section 3.13)? 11. Answer Brock Review Question 17 in Chapter 3. Question: In a few sentences, explain how a motile bacterium is able to sense the direction of an attractant and move toward it (Section 3.15). 12. Answer Brock Application Question 3 in Chapter 3. Question: Calculate the amount of time it would take a cell of Escherichia coli (1 2 m) swimming at maximum speed (60 cell lengths per second) to travel all the way up a 3-cm-long capillary tube containing a chemical attractant.