ACTINOMYCETES

By- Sneha, Archana, Komal, Nidhi,

Snehal and Ankita
 Introduction:-
 Actinomycetes means ‘Ray fungus’

 The term was coined by HARZ.

 Defined as transitional state between bacteria and fungii.

 Soil inhabitants.

 Extremely important in mineralisation of organic matter.

 Produce most of the medicinally useful natural
antibiotics.

-streptomycin,
neomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, etc.

 Found as commensals in mouth, intestine and

vagina in case of humans.

 Streptomyces spp. are responsible for the odor

of moist earth.
 Similarites :-
With fungii:
-Mycelial network of branching fiaments.

With bacteria:
-very thin cells.
-posses cell wall containing muramic acid.
-presence of prokaryotic nuclei.
-are sensitive to antibacterial antibiotics.
 Characters:-
 Aerobic
 Gram positive
 Non-motile
 Presence of hyphae
-substrate mycelium
-aerial mycelium
 Septa divides hyphae into cells
 Cells are 20µm or more long
LIFE CYCLE
 Someimes thallus formation observed.

 Reproduce by asexual spore formation.

 Thin walled spores:- conidia or conidiospore ;

sometimes sporangiospore.

 Spore may be motile because of presence of

flagella. eg.- Godermatophillus

 Spores may not be heat resistant but can

withstand decessication.
 Mycelium and sporangium may be colored
because of presence of carotenoids.

 Cell wall composition is extremely diverse. It

contains:
- peptidoglycan
- 60 different types of mureins (in different spp.)
- diaminopimilic acid
- galactose
- arabinose , etc.
 Pathogenecity:-
 Some strains of actinomycetes are pathogenic.
 A.israelii, A.bovis cause ACTINOMYCOSIS
in humans and animals.
 S.scabies causes scabs disease in potatoes and
beet.
 S.somaliensis, A.madurae, A.pelletierii
cause ACTINOMYCETOMA.
 Spores of thermoactinomycetes cause COPD
 ACTINOMYCOSIS:-
 It is a chronic granulomatous infection
 Characters:-
-development of swellings
-suppuration
-discharge os sulphur granules
 Occurrence in cervicofacial, thoracic, abdominal and
pelvic region of humans.
 Diagnosis:- microscopically, isolation, fluorescent
antibody technq, immunofluorescence
 Treatment:- prolonged treatment with penicillin and
tetracycline
 Actinomycetoma:-
 Infection of the subcutaneous and deeper tissue
causing abcess and if untreated can lead to bone
destruction.
 Majorily affects the foot and is present as tumor
with multiple discharging sinuses.

Hypersensitive pneumonitis:-
 Spores of thermoactinomycetes in mould hay
when inhaled induces allergic aveolitis leading t
COPD .
 Also known as “Farmers lung”.
ACTINOMYCETES
STREPTOMYCETES
 FAMILY : STREPTOMYCETES
 According to 8th edition of Bergey’s manual this
family includes genera
 STREPTOMYCES

 STREPTOVERTICILLIUM

 SPORICHTHYA

 MICROELLOBOSPORIA
 GENUS STREPTOMYCES
 Members of this group form long, much-
branched aerial mycelia consisting of mold like
non fragmenting very fine filaments.
 These organisms are typically prokaryotic ,
with extensive internal membranous bodies.
 Their branching vegetative hyphae are
embedded in the substrate and aerial hyphae
by extensive septation produce spores.
HYPHAE AND SPORES
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
 The colonies of Streptomycetes are usually
tough, dense texured and often very adherent
to the medium owing to vegetative mycelia
 They have a velvety or wolly appearance
because of mycelial structure.
 The growth of many species is brillantly
coloured red orange yellow.
 They range from 1mm to several millimeters.
STREPTOMYCES
 They grow best at temperatures about 25c.
 Optimal growth occcurs at pH 8 or 9.
 Their growth increases fertility since they
actively decompose complex organic materials
so that other bacteria and farm crops can make
use of them.
 They include various species such as
Streptomyces griseus
Streptomyces albus
Streptomyces coelicolor
 CELL WALL
 Their cell walls contain some of the
components of chitin, a major constituent of
cell walls of true fungi, but true chitin is not
present.
 The cell wall peptidoglycan contains D-
diaminopimelic acid and lack mycolic acid
 Hence these are gram positive but not acid-
alcohol fast.
 They are strict aerobes.
 MULTIPLICATION
 Multiplication is by conidia produced
asexually at the tips of conidiophores or
sporophores.
 The conidia form long, straight, curved or
coiled chains giving a curious appearance to
the mycelium as a whole.
 The direction and forms of spores are fairly
constant for a given species and are important
in the classification of Streptomyces.
 CONIDIA OF STREPTOMYCES
 They reveal striking surface configurations:
 SCULPTUING.

 ORNAMENTATION.
 They are of at least four types,
 SPINY
 HAIRY
 WARTY
 SMOOTH
S.cacaoi showing smooth spores
S.Hirsutus showing spiny spores
with obtuse spines
S.griseoplanus showing warty spores
S.aureofaciens showing phalangiform type
S.fasciculatus showing long acute spiny
spores
S.flavoviridus showing hairy spores
 EARTHLY SMELL
 Streptomycetes are found worldwide in soil, and
are largely responsible, through the secretion of
neutral volatile oil called geosmens, for the
earthy smell of soil.
 Streptomycete colonies on laboratory media
often smell very strongly of earth.
 COMMON SCAB
 Because streptomycetes inhabit soil, they are mainly
phytopathogens, known for attacking root
vegetables, such as potatoes, beets, radishes,
rutabaga, turnips, carrots, and parsnip.
 Most commonly found on potatoes, Streptomyces
scabies creates a condition known as "common
scab," which manifests itself as sores on the
external surface of the potato.
 The scabs do not harm the meat on the the inside
of the potato but create an extremely unpleasant
appearance that devalues the potato.
 SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP
 Several species of Streptomyces are involved in a
symbiotic relationship with species of ants in the genus
Attini.
 Attine ants cultivate fungus in, what are termed fungal
gardens.
 They perform all the motions of human farmers,
weeding, and nurturing their gardens.
 The small bacterium in the streptomyces genus inhabits
the cuticles of the ants, and aids in weeding their fungal
gardens.
 Streptomycetes produce toxins that keep the main weed
in ant fungal gardens, another fungi, Escovopsis, at bay.
 ANTIBIOTICS
 Streptomycetes are most widely known for their
ability to synthesize antibiotics.
 Over 50 different antibiotics have been isolated
from streptomycetes, providing most of the
world's antibiotics such as amphotericin B,
chloramphenicol, erythromycin, neomycin,
nystatin, streptomycin, tetracycline, etc.
 Bleomycin is an antibiotic drug with anticancer
properties produced by Streptomyces verticillus.
 With the newly sequenced genome of
Steptomyces coelicolor comes the possibility of
deriving still more antibiotics that have so far
remained undiscovered.
The blue haloes surrounding these
Streptomyces coelicolor colonies
are secreted actinorhodin, an
antibiotic (not yet used clinically).
An antibiotic droplet secreted
from a Streptomyces colony.
ACTINOBACTERIA
 ACTINOBACTERIA
Actinobacteria are a heterogenous
group of predominantly unicellular
organisms.

Most actinobacteria are respiratory

tract aerobes,however, a few
are fermentative.They may be isolated
from a variety of habitats.

In actinobacteria mycelial
development is either absent or
rudimentary.
The group of Actinobacteria contains-

a) Cocci (MICROCOCCUS)

b) Irregular rods.
-
There are atleast eight peptidoglycan types in
the group and many genera contain wall
constituents in addition to murein.
 SOME GENERA OF ACTINOBACTERIA

GENUS HABITAT

1.MICROCOCCUS SKIN

2.ARTHROBACTER SOIL

3.CELLULOMONAS SOIL

4.ACTINOMYCES ORAL CAVITY

 MICROCOCCUS
1. MICROCOCCI aerobic , nonmotile cocci .

2. They occur as tetrads .

3. They are generally brightly pigmented because of

the synthesis of a large amount of carotenoids.

4. They are particularly prominent among the

microorganisms suspended in air or associated with
dust particles and hence are often encountered as
CONTAMINANTS deposited on petriplates from
the air.

5. OTHER HABITATS:- human and animal skin

where they are principal component of aerobic
flora.
 ARTHROBACTER
1. ARTHROBACTER constitutes a
large fraction of aerobic
chemoheterotrophic bacterial
population of soil.

2. They are important agents of

mineralisation of organic matter.

3. The most distinctive property of

this spp. Is the succession of
changes in the cell form that
accompany growth.
4. During vegetative growth, arthrobacters display the
characteristic V-forms . This results due to the unsual
postfission movement of daughter cells, often termed
snapping fission.

5. In their nutritional property, arthrobacters show

interesting anologies to aerobic pseudomonas.
 CELLULOMONAS
1. They facultative anaerobes although fermentative
growth is very poor.

2. DISTINCTIVE FEATURE:- they use cellulose as

carbon and energy source.

3. MORPHOLOGICALLY they are similar to

arthrobacter however they do not show the rod-
coccus morphogenesis.

4. Most strains are motile with lateral or subpolar

flagella.

5. They require biotin and thiamine for their growth.

 ACTINOMYCES

1. They are aeroduric

anaerobes.

2. HABITAT:- they generally

inhabit the mouth and throat
of humans.

3. Some may be pathogenic.

4. Mycelium growth may be

observed in young cultures.
DERMATOPHILUS
 DERMATOPHILUS
INTRODUCTION:

Dermatophilus are the Actinomycetes that

form spores from a tissue-like mass of cells
which is derived from repeated divisions in
different planes.
 CHARACTERISTICS

 Dermatophilus and Geodermatophilus

develop as substrate mycelia which divides in
random planes to form sclerotia.
 The third group i.e. Frankia develops as a
uniseriate mycelium which forms intercalary
swellings to form sporangial mass
 The spores of Dermatophilus and
Geodermatophilus are motile because of Polar
Flagella
GROWTH AND MULTIPLICATION
 Geodermatophilus multiply as unicellular
budding organisms.
 The growth habit is nutritionally controlled.
This can be determined experimentally because
in the absence of a nutrient zoospores multiply
by budding and in the presence of the same
they produce rudimentary structures.
 HIERARCHY
 Dermatophilus and Geodermatophilus are
similar morphologically and developmentally
but vary phylogenetically.
 Analysis shows that Geodermatophilus
represents a distinct line of descent among
actinomycetes whereas Dermatophilus is
closely related to actinobacteria.
 HABITATS
 Geodermatophilus is a soil organism.
 Dermatophilus is a parasite of animal and
occasionally human skin.
 Frankia infects the root of a variety of
leguminous plants.
 It has a broad host range
 Produces nodules when infects
NOCARDIOFORMS
 Nocardioforms are gram positive variably acid
fast, catalase positive and strictly aerobic
except for corynebacterium which is a
facultative anaerobe.
 They develop a substrate mycelium that
readily breaks into rods and coccoid elements.
 Several genera also form an aerial mycelium
that rises above the substratum and may
produce conidia.
 They show high G + C content.
 CELL WALL
 They show distinctive and complex cell wall.
 Principle cell wall carbohydrate is a co-polymer
of arabinose and galactose termed as
arabinogalactan.
 Most species have peptidoglycan with
diaminopimelic acid (DAP) and no peptide
interbridge.
 Mycolic acids may also be present along with
other complex lipids.
 STAINING
 The large amounts of lipids, substantially reduce the
permeability of the walls of the nocardioform bacteria.
 Thus, they are difficult to stain. Staining may require
heating the cells to nearly 100 C to allow the stain to
permeate the cell. Once stained, decolorization may be
equally difficult.
 This is the basis of the acid fast stain, a stain of
substantial clinical importance because pathogenic
nocardioforms are typically acid fast whereas few other
organisms are.
 In general, acid fastness correlates with the size of the
mycolic acids.
 MORPHOLOGY
 The morphology of nocardioforms is quite variable.
 Corynebacterium strains are pleomorphic rods, typically
club shaped .They divide by binary fission.
 Most mycobacterium strains are also unicellular rods,
although they are more regular in shape than
corynebacterium. Some mycobacteria develop as
mycelial organims, but the mycelium typically fragments
early in the growth phase to form rods.
 Most nocardia devlop almost exclusively as mycelia,
often producing aerial as well as substrate mycelia.
 However, spores are not produced. Reproduction is by
mycelial fragmentation.
 COLONIES
 Nocardia forms colonies with pink to red
stroma, covered to a greater or lesser extent
with white external hyphae.
 Colonies are extremely variable and adherent.
 Also, nocardiae are involved in the degradation
of hydrocarbons and waxes, and can contribute
to the deterioration of rubber joints in water
and sewage joints.
 OCCURRENCE
 The genus nocardia is distributed worldwide in
soil and also found in aquatic habitats.
 Typically corynebacteria and some
mycobacteria are animal parasites, and the
nocardias, rhodococci and other mycobacteria
are soil organisms.
 DISEASE
 Several of the animal parasites are pathogenic.
 Corynebacterium diphtheriae causes diphtheria,
and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and
Mycobacterium leprae cause tuberculosis and
leprosy respectively.
 N. asteroides are opportunistic pathogens that
cause nocardiosis in humans and other animals.
 People with low resistance due to other health
problems are most at risk.
 The lungs are most often infected, but the central
nervous system and other organs may be invaded.
ACTINOPLANETS
 ACTINOPLANETES
The actinoplanetes form spores within a
sporangium that arise directly from substrate
mycelium. The sporangium arises by the
growth and coiling of the sporangial mycelium
within the sporangium wall; this process is
hence very similar to that of the streptomycetes,
the sporangial wall being analogous to the
fibrous sheath of the streptomycetes aerial
mycelium.
 The number of spores formed within the
sporangium is quite variable, ranging from 1 to
more than 1000. Most actinoplanetes produce
spores that are motile by means of a tuft of
polar flagella.
Dactylosporangium forms club-shaped,
fingerlike sporangia with one to six spores.
Micromonospora bears single spores which often
occur in branched clusters of sporophores
 OCCURENCE
 Grow in almost all soil habitats, ranging from
forest litter to beach sand.
 Also flourish in fresh water, particularly in
streams and rivers.
 Some have been are even isolated from ocean.
 SIGNIFICANCE
 The soil dwelling species may have an
important role in the decomposition of plant
and animal material.
 Pilimelia grows in association with keratin.
 Micromonospora actively degrades chitin and
cellulose, and it can produce antibiotics such as
gentamycin.
SUMMARY
 SUMMARY
 Actinomycetes are aerobic, gram-positive
bacteria that form branching, usually non
fragmenting, hyphae and asexual spores.
 The asexual spores borne on aerial mycelia are
called conidiospores or conidia if they are at
the tip of the hyphae and sporangiospores
when they are within sporangia.
 Actinomycetes have several distinctively
different type of cell walls and often also vary
in terms of the sugars present in cell extracts.
Properties such as color and morphology are
also taxonomically useful.
 Bergey’s Manual divides the actinomycetes into eight groups based
on properties as conidia arrangement, the presence of a
sporangium, cell wall type, and cell extract sugars.
 Nocardioform actinomycetes have hyphae that readily fragment
into rods and coccoid elements, and often form aerial mycelia
with spores.
 Streptomyces, the largest genera of actinomycetes, has chains of
non motile conidia within a thin sheath.
 Streptomyces are important in the degradation of more resistant
organic material in the soil and produce many useful antibiotics.
A few cause disease in plants and animals.
 Thermoactinomyces, a thermophilic actinomycetes forms a true
endospores.
 REFFERENCES
 Microbiology by Prescott
 General Microbiology by Stanier
 Fundamentals of Microbiology by Frobisher
 TYBsc journal
 Interet.