Classification of Bacterial
NSC 207
Definition of terms
• Taxonomy-The science of classification of living
organims
• Classification-the assignment of organisms into an
organized scheme of naming /arrangement of
organisms into groups , species-kingdom
• Taxon-A group or category of related organisms
• Nomenclature- Science of naming,
• Binomial nomenclature – naming of organisms
using the two lower levels of taxa (genus and
species)
Definition of terms
• Rules of Binomial nomenclature :
• Genus comes before species (e.g., Escherichia coli)
• Genus name is always capitalized (e.g., Escherichia)
• Species name is never capitalized (e.g., coli)
• Both names are always either italicized or underlined (e.g.,
Escherichia coli)
• The genus name may be used alone, but not the species
name (i.e., saying or writing "Escherichia," alone is
legitimate while saying or writing "coli" is not)
• The genus name may be abbreviated but
• It must be used first without abbreviation,
• If abbreviated it must be used with the species name (no E. all by itself
but E. coli)
Definition of terms
• Species- defined by the similarities found
among its members following examination of
a set of parameter. ( cf: a group of organism
capable of cross breeding)
• Strains- descendants of a bacterial cell, more
similar to each other than either is to an
individual that is a member of a different
strain, even if all three organisms are
members of the same species
Principles & Types of Classification
• Principles-
– necessary for identification and to avoid confusion
– Identifiable parameters are used to define level similarities/ relatedness
– Parameters used falls into 2 major groups: Phenotypic & Genotypic Features
– Highest similarity level is the species and lowest, the kingdom
• Types
• Artificial / Pragmatic Classification
• Un-weighted, arbitrary classification
• Presence or absence of a criteria
• Not evolutionary
• Numeric Classification Phylogenetic Classification
• Weighted system
• scoring of a set of identifiable criteria
• Numerical Taxonomy
• Reliable & evolutionary
• Responsible for recurrent taxonomic changes
• Backbone of modern taxonomy
• Basis of phylogenetic tree
Criteria for Classification of Bacteria
1. Phenotypic
2. Genotypic
Phenotypic Criteria for Bacterial Classification
1. Morphology of bacterial cell
2. Intracellular bacterial structures: Endospore, Inclusion
granules
3. Extracellular bacterial structures: Flagella (Motility), Pili,
Capsule (Antigenic component)
4. Chemical composition of bacterial cell: Sterols, Mycolic
acids
5. Cultural characteristics: haemolysis, swarming, size,
surface, consistency e. t. c
6. Staining Rxns: Gram
7. Biochemical reactions of bacterial cell groups
a. Catalase test
b. Coagulase test
c. Oxidase test
d. Sugar fermentation e. t. c
Phenotypic Criteria for Bacterial
Classification Contd
8. Nutritional requirements
a. Carbon source
b. Nitrogen source
c. Hydrogen source
d. Sulfur source
e. Fermentation
9. Growth condition/ Bacterial Physiology
I. pH
II. Temperature
III. Oxygen requirement
IV. Growth factors
10. Immunological features
serotyping: capsular, filamentous, cell wall antigens
Nutritional requirements
a. Carbon source
I. Autotrophs
II. Heterotrophs
b. Nitrogen source
I. Nitrogen fixing bacteria
II. Non-nitrogen fixing bacteria
c. Hydrogen source
I. hydrogen fixing bacteria
II. Non-hydrogen fixing bacteria
d. Sulfur source
I. Sulfur fixing bacteria
II. Non-sulfur fixing bacteria
e. Fermentation
I. Non-fermenters
II. Fermenters
A. Homofermenter
B. Heterofermenters
Growth Condition
I. pH
a. Alkalophiles
b. Neutrophiles
c. Acidophiles
II. Temperature
a. Psychrophilic < 200 C
b. Mesophilic 30-320 C
c. Thermophilic >320 C
III. Oxygen requirement
a. Aerobic
1. Microaerophilic
2. Obligate
3. Facultative
b. Anaerobic
1. aerotolerant
2. Obligate
3. Facultative
IV. Growth factors
a. Prototrophs
b. Auxotrophs
Genotypic Criteria for Bacterial
Classification
1. Base composition
a. A +T content
b. G + C content
c. A + T to G + C ratio
2. Nucleotide sequence
3. 16S rRNA gene sequencing
4. DNA hybridization, DNA-DNA Homology
Other criteria
• Bacteriophage typing
• Protein profile & Amino acid sequence
– Proteomics
– Polyacramyl gel electrophoresis
PHYLOGENETIC TREE
Relatedness of bacteria to other organisms define using 16S rRNA structure
Eucaryotes- red, Archeae- green & Bacteria- blue
Bergey's Manual
• Methods for distinguishing and identifying
bacteria
• Practical groupings of bacteria that make their
identification easy
• groupings were phenotypic initially
• do not present an accurate picture of
evolutionary relationships among bacteria