Bacteriology Flashcards
(183 cards)
Human microbe
we are massively outnumbered by microbes (bacterial microbes); harmless
Pathogen
pathogen that can cause disease; it wants to; wants to gain access to nutrients so it can reproduce
Infection
when microbes enter the host and multiplies
Disease
microbial infection damages host (if multiplying so slowly doesn’t cause diseases; so sometimes infections lead to disease and sometimes not)
Pathogenicity
ability of an organism to cause disease; how pathogenic a microorganism is depends on their virulence factors (ex: plasmids)
Virulence
the extent to which a pathogen can cause disease; bad pathogen = one that causes severe disease (bad for us and pathogen); if pathogen kills host, before it can find a new host (transmission) = bad pathogen! It will die with us or sit in our body where no nutrients coming in ; can really only transmit pathogens when showing symptoms (contact, sneezing, etc.)
Opportunistic pathogen
only get you when you have a compromised immune system, weak, dysbiosis, etc.
Opportunistic conditions
- compromised immune system (immunodeficiency)
- disruption in the balance of normal microbes
Obligate pathogen
pathogens must cause disease to be transmitted (no such thing as non-virulent strain of this bacteria or asymptomatic) ; causes disease and that’s it
Facultative pathogen
can cause disease but do not require a host to complete the life cycle; can cause disease in a healthy host but they can also leave outside of a host like Cholera (lives in fresh water, when it gets access to you - causes disease)
Cystic Fibrosis
disease in lungs where it’s not producing right consistency of mucous; collects in lungs and too heavy or too sticky to clear so Pseudomonas can stick and cause disease
Why is Pseudomonas aeruginosa a successful pathogen?
- natural habitat is ubiquitous; found almost anywhere; in soil, water, and healthy people
- metabolism: very diverse; aerobic and anaerobic resp (NOT a form of fermentation; uses resp chain)
- can metabolize (can grow off of) 75 different carbon compounds or foodstuffs
- has a big genome and can grow everywhere)
- minimal nutrition needs ; can still thrive in near starving conditions
- grows in wide variety of temps; so no optimal temp ; always there!
- resistant to high salt and often grows in biofilms
- no sweeping antibiotic resistance; but growing + genetic mutations and associations with biofilms has allowed treatment resistance
Louis Pasteur
Cells come from pre-existing cells
Bubonic plague
macrophages carrying the bacteria migrates to lymph nodes to report back to central command of antigen its found but bacteria reproduce and lyse the macrophage that causes the bubos (pustules of plague) - to explode lymph nodes – pustules that form on skin
Robert Koch
- studied the theory that microorganisms cause human disease
- showed the cause and effect relationship between pathogen and disease
Koch’s Postulates
Pathogen must :
- be present in all cases of the disease (to ensure it’s that and nothing else)
- must be able to be grown in pure culture (unfortunately we haven’t caught up with yet bc lots of pathogens cant be)
- cause disease from pure cultures (MICE)
- be able to be re-isolated
T or F. Stress dampens immune response
T!
Steps to establishment of infection
- pathogen exposure (ex: Yersinia is highly virulent but we just aren’t exposed in western world)
- host adherence (has to stick to us)
- invasion: must gain entry; not good enough to just sit on cells
- evade immune system to cause host damage to colonize and grow
○ requires evasion of immune system (adaptive, etc.); must breach innate barrier first - host cell damage (in order to cause disease = toxin secretion or induce apoptosis)
Example of a loose/transient adhesion
things that infect resp. tract bc it sticks to mucus of lungs but we have way to clear that mucus out
Most often, adhesion is promoted by virulence factors
proteins usually
One of the fastest way to cause disease in a host
Toxin secretion
Virulence factors
properties of pathogen that aid infection; can be proteins other chemical conditions (acid tolerance for ex)
Fimbriae
involved in attachment to host cell and surfaces; usually very specific (host range .. only attach to things it can recognize)
Capsule
collection of glycoproteins and glycolipids = creates a sticky slime = adherence; also chemical barrier to prevent antibiotics from getting in (evasion and adherence)