Introduction

In the recent past, scientists grouped living things into five kingdoms—animals, plants, fungi, protists, and prokaryotes—based on several criteria, such as the absence or presence of a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles, the absence or presence of cell walls, multicellularity, and so on. In the late 20th century, the pioneering work of Carl Woese and others compared sequences of small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA), which resulted in a more fundamental way to group organisms on Earth. Based on differences in the structure of cell membranes and in rRNA, Woese and his colleagues proposed that all life on Earth evolved along three lineages, called domains. The domain Bacteria comprises all organisms in the kingdom Bacteria, the domain Archaea comprises the rest of the prokaryotes, and the domain Eukarya comprises all eukaryotes—including organisms in the kingdoms Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, and Protista.

Two of the three domains—Bacteria and Archaea—are prokaryotic. Prokaryotes were the first inhabitants on Earth, appearing 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago. These organisms are abundant and ubiquitous; that is, they are present everywhere. In addition to inhabiting moderate environments, they are found in extreme conditions: from boiling springs to permanently frozen environments in Antarctica; from salty environments like the Dead Sea to environments under tremendous pressure, such as the depths of the ocean; and from areas without oxygen, such as a waste management plant, to radioactively contaminated regions, such as Chernobyl. Prokaryotes reside in the human digestive system and on the skin, are responsible for certain illnesses, and serve an important role in the preparation of many foods.

Prokaryotic Diversity

Prokaryotes existed for billions of years before plants and animals appeared. Hot springs and hydro-thermal vents may have been the environments in which life began. Microbial mats are thought to represent the earliest forms of life on Earth. A microbial mat is a multi-layered sheet of prokaryotes that grows at interfaces between different types of material, mostly on moist surfaces. Fossilized microbial mats are called stromatolites and consist of laminated organo-sedimentary structures formed by precipitation of minerals by prokaryotes. They represent the earliest fossil record of life on Earth.

During the first two billion years, the atmosphere was anoxic and only anaerobic organisms were able to live. Cyanobacteria evolved from early phototrophs and began the oxygenation o the atmosphere. The increase in oxygen concentration allowed the evolution of other life forms.

Bacteria and archaea grow in virtually every environment. Those that survive under extreme conditions are called extremophiles (extreme lovers). Some prokaryotes cannot grow in a laboratory setting, but they are not dead. They are in the viable-but-non-culturable (VBNC) state. The VBNC state occurs when prokaryotes enter a dormant state in response to environmental stressors. Most prokaryotes are colonial and prefer to live in communities where interactions take place. A bio-film is a microbial community held together in a gummy-textured matrix.

Structure of Prokaryotes: Bacteria and Archaea

Prokaryotes (domains Archaea and Bacteria) are single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus. They have a single piece of circular DNA in the nucleoid area of the cell. Most prokaryotes have a cell wall that lies outside the boundary of the plasma membrane. Some prokaryotes may have additional structures such as a capsule, flagella, and pili. Bacteria and Archaea differ in the lipid composition of their cell membranes and the characteristics of the cell wall. In archaeal membranes, phytanyl units, rather than fatty acids, are linked to glycerol. Some archaeal membranes are lipid monolayers instead of bilayers.

The cell wall is located outside the cell membrane and prevents osmotic lysis. The chemical composition of cell walls varies between species. Bacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan. Archaean cell walls do not have peptidoglycan, but they may have pseudopeptidoglycan, polysaccharides, glycoproteins, or protein-based cell walls. Bacteria can be divided into two major groups: Gram positive and Gram negative, based on the Gram stain reaction. Gram-positive organisms have a thick peptidoglycan layer fortified with teichoic acids. Gram-negative organisms have a thin cell wall and an outer envelope containing lipopolysaccharides and lipoproteins.

Prokaryotes can transfer DNA from one cell to another by three mechanisms: transformation (uptake of environmental DNA), transduction (transfer of genomic DNA via viruses), and conjugation (transfer of DNA by direct cell contact).

Prokaryotic Metabolism

As the oldest living inhabitants of Earth, prokaryotes are also the most metabolically diverse; they flourish in many different environments with various energy and carbon sources, variable temperature, pH, pressure, oxygen and water availability. Nutrients required in large amounts are called macronutrients, whereas those required in trace amounts are called micronutrients or trace elements. Macronutrients include C, H, O, N, P, S, K, Mg, Ca, and Na. In addition to these macronutrients, prokaryotes require various metallic elements for growth and enzyme function. Prokaryotes use different sources of energy to assemble macromolecules from smaller molecules. Phototrophs obtain their energy from sunlight, whereas chemotrophs obtain energy from chemical compounds. Energy-producing pathways may be either aerobic or anaerobic.

Prokaryotes play roles in the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Producers capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it to organic compounds. Consumers (animals and other chemo-organotrophic organisms) use organic compounds generated by producers and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by respiration. Carbon dioxide is also returned to the atmosphere by the microbial decomposers of dead organisms. Nitrogen also cycles in and out of living organisms, from organic compounds to ammonia, ammonium ions, nitrite, nitrate, and nitrogen gas. Prokaryotes are essential for most of these conversions. Gaseous nitrogen is transformed into ammonia through nitrogen fixation. Ammonia is anaerobically catabolized by some prokaryotes, yielding N2 as the final product. Nitrification is the conversion of ammonium into nitrite. Nitrification in soils is carried out by bacteria. Denitrification is also performed by bacteria and transforms nitrate from soils into gaseous nitrogen compounds, such as N2O, NO, and N2.

Bacterial Diseases in Humans

Some prokaryotes are human pathogens. Devastating diseases and plagues have been among us since early times and remain among the leading causes of death worldwide. Emerging diseases are those rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range. They can be new or re-emerging diseases (previously under control). Many emerging diseases affecting humans originate in animals (zoonoses), such as brucellosis. A group of re-emerging bacterial diseases recently identified by WHO for monitoring include bubonic plague, diphtheria, and cholera. Food-borne diseases result from the consumption of food contaminated with food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites.

Some bacterial infections have been associated with bio-films: Legionnaires’ disease, otitis media, and infection of patients with cystic fibrosis. Bio-films can grow on human tissues, like dental plaque; colonize medical devices; and cause infection or produce food-borne disease by growing on the surfaces of food and food-processing equipment. Bio-films are resistant to most of the methods used to control microbial growth. The excessive use of antibiotics has resulted in a major global problem, since resistant forms of bacteria have been selected over time. A very dangerous strain, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has wreaked havoc recently across the world.

Beneficial Prokaryotes

Pathogens are only a small percentage of all prokaryotes. In fact, prokaryotes provide essential services to humans and other organisms. Nitrogen, which is not usable by eukaryotes in its plentiful atmospheric form, can be “fixed,” or converted into ammonia (NH3) either biologically or abiotically. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is exclusively carried out by prokaryotes, and constitutes the second most important biological process on Earth. Although some terrestrial nitrogen is fixed by free-living bacteria, most BNF comes from the symbiotic interaction between soil rhizobia and the roots of legume plants.

Human life is only possible due to the action of microbes, both those in the environment and those species that call us home. Internally, they help us digest our food, produce vital nutrients for us, protect us from pathogenic microbes, and help train our immune systems to function properly.

Microbial bio-remediation is the use of microbial metabolism to remove pollutants. Bio-remediation has been used to remove agricultural chemicals that leach from soil into groundwater and the subsurface. Toxic metals and oxides, such as selenium and arsenic compounds, can also be removed by bio-remediation. Probably one of the most useful and interesting examples of the use of prokaryotes for bio-remediation purposes is the cleanup of oil spills.

• Key Terms

Mary Ann Clark. (n.d.). Biology 2e. Houston, Texas: OpenStax.