CLASSIFICATION OF
MICROORGANISMS
• Classification:- Orderly arrangement of unit under study into groups of larger
units.
• Taxonomy: Classification of living organisms into groups
• Phylogenetic Classification System: Groups reflect genetic similarity and
evolutionary relatedness
• Phylogeny versus Taxonomy
• Phylogeny and taxonomy are not synonyms
• Taxonomy – classification, systematics of extant species
• Phylogeny – the history of evolution since the origin of species
• One should not contradict the two with each other
Objectives of Taxonomy
• Classification of organisms
• To establish relationship
• It provides a common reference
• Act as universal language of communication
• Two kingdom
• Carllus linnoeus (1707-1778)- First used classification system. Two
kingdom, Plant and animals.
• Three kingdom
• Haeckel (1866):- Suggested third kingdom – Protista which included
unicellular microorganism (bacteria, fungi, algae & protozoa) that are
neither plant nor animals.
Five Kingdoms System
Living organisms are classified in five kingdoms (Whittaker,1969):
Based on nutrition requirement.
• Monera: bacteria, originally classified as plants because they have cell
walls. Bacteria and cyanobacteria classified into kingdom Monera.
• Protista: algae, slime molds, protozoa (have a cell wall, not cellulose)
• Fungi: mold, mildew, mushrooms. In past were classified as plants
because they
have cell walls and are ‘rooted’ in ground
• Plantae: Complex multicellular eukaryotes, obtain nutrients by
photosynthesis
• Animalia: Complex multicellular eukaryotes, obtain food by ingestion
The Five-Kingdom System
Plantae Fungi
Animalia
Protista aryotes
Euk
ar yotes
Prok
Monera
• Later on based on electron microscopy study cells are divided into
two kingdom, Procaryotic cells (Bacteria) and Eucaryotic cells (Fungi,
algae and protozoa).
Prokaryotic cell Eukaryotic cells
1 Nucleus
Nuclear membrane Absent Present
Nucleolus Absent Present
Chromosome Single circular Many
chromosome
Nuclear division Binary fission Mitosis
2 Cytoplasm
Mitochondria Absent Present
Golgi apparatus Absent Present
Endoplasmic Absent Present
Reticulum
Lysosomes Absent Present
Pinocytosis Absent Present
Prokaryotic cell Eukaryotic cells
3 Chemical structure
Plasma membrane No carbohydrates, Contain carbohydrates,
No sterols Contain sterols
Muramic acid Present Absent
4 Structures
Cells wall Include Chemically simple
peptidoglycan
Chemically complex
Eg Bacteria Fungi, algae and protozoa
• The difference between a domain and a kingdom
• A domain is a taxonomic category above the kingdom level. The three
domains are: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, which are the major
categories of life. Essentially, domains are superkingdoms.
• A kingdom is a taxonomic group that contains one or more phyla. The
six kingdoms system are Plantae, Archaebacteria, Eubacteria, Protista,
Animalia, and Fungi.
THREE DOMAIN SYSTEM OF
CLASSIFICATION
• The Three Domain system, proposed by Woese and others in 1978 is
an
• It is an evolutionary model of classification based on differences in the
• Sequences of nucleotides in the cell's ribosomal RNAs (rRNA)
• The cell's membrane lipid structure
• Its sensitivity to antibiotics
• The three Domains are (i) Eubacteria/Bacteria (ii) Archea (iii) Eucarya
• The domain Bacteria include all of the pathogenic and non
pathogenic prokaryotes found in soil and water
• The domain Archaea include prokaryotes that do not have
peptidoglycan in their cell walls and can live in extreme conditions
• They include methanogens; strict anaerobes that produce
methane from carbon dioxide and hydrogen,
• Halophiles; which require high concentration of salt for survival
and
• Hyperthermophiles, which normally grow in hot environments
• The domain Eukarya include Protozoa, Fungi, Animals and Plants
Classification of Bacteria according to Bergey’s
manual
• 1927-Bergey’s published Bergey’s Manual of Determinative of
Bacteriology
• The manual grouped bacteria into phonetic groups
• It is now its 9th edition in 1984
• Taxonomic classification schemes of bacteria identified using
Bergey’s Manual
Bergey’sManual – 1984, bacteria belongs to kingdom prokaryotes
has four division
i) Gracilicutes – Thin, cell wall – Gram negative organism
ii) Fermicutes – Thick cell wall – Gram positive organism
iii) Tenericuted – Organism lacking cell wall
iv) Mendosicutes – Archaeobacteria – unusual cell wall
Criteria for characterization and
classification of microorganisms as per
Bergey’s Manual
• Morphology – Shape, size, spore
• Cultural characters - colony characters
• Staining characters – Gram positive and Gram negative
• Metabolism – Biochemical reaction
• Oxygen requirement – aerobic and anaerobic
• Growth characteristics – Colony size, shape, colour
• Serological reaction – Antigen – Antibody reaction
• Phage typing – Using bacteriophage to identify bacterial strains
• Genetic characterization – Analysis of DNA components. DNA base is
a constant character of a particular species and express as mole %
G+C, range 23-75%. G+C/G+C+A+T x 100
• DNA hybridization – closely related organisms
• Ribosomal RNA hybridization – Distantly related organisms
Modern system of naming organisms
.
• Modern system of naming organisms called binary (Binomial)
nomenclature
• Binary nomenclature established by Carlous Linnaeus
• Each species has to be assigned to a genus i.e. binary nomenclature
• Lower level of a hierarchy of ranks (family, suborder, order, subclass,
class, division/phyla, kingdom and domain).
• In the currently accepted classification of life, there are three
domain Eukaryotes, Bacteria, and Archaea
Naming of Microorganism
• Two latin name to identify each organism
• Principle of nomenclature as follows
• Bacteria of each distinct kind designated as species
• Species name has two words first name Genus and second Species
• Genus – Noun, always capitalized
• Species – Adjective, lower case
• Both italicized or underline
• Eg. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) or Staphylococcus aureus
• Bacillus anthracis, (B. anthracis) Bacillus anthracis,
• Escherichia coli, (E. coli), Escherichia coli
Hierarchical classification
• Taxon: A group or “level” of classification
• Hierarchical; broad divisions are divided up into smaller divisions:
• Kingdom (Not used by most bacteriologists)
• Phylum (Called “Division” by botanists)
• Class – siffix– a Scotobacteria
• Order– siffix– ales Spirochaetales
• Family– siffix–aceae Leptospiraceae
• Genus (plural: Genera) Leptospira
• Species (Both singular & plural) L. interrogans
