E3 Flashcards
What are common methods for identification and classification of bacteria?
- microscopy: morphologys and staining properties
- bacterial Ag: Ab to detect H,K,O
- detect bacterial nucleic acids; PCR, sequencing
- culture: metabolic properties, biochemical testing
- Ab response to bacteria: ELISA, western blot, immunostaining
What is a cocci?
Sphere
What is a bacilli?
Rod- straight or curved
What is a spirochetes?
Spiral
What are the layers of a gram positive bacterial cell wall?
Thick peptidoglycan
plasma membrane
What are the layers of a gram negative cell wall?
Thick outer membrane
thin peptidoglycan
periplasmic space
plasma membrane
What are the steps of a gram stain?
- Crystal violet turns everything purple
- Precipitate with gram iodine = still purple
- Decolorizer = crystal violet can’t get out of gram positive bilayer so it stays purple
- safranin red = turn gram negative pink
What is the function and importance of peptidoglycan?
In both gram +/- organisms
- unique to bacteria for drug targeting
- layer provides protection: osmotic and physical bilayer
What is the structure of peptidoglycan?
- linear chains of NAG and NAM with Beta 1-4 linkages
- tetrapeptide crosslinks linear polymers
- pentaglycine bridge in some gram +
What effects does peptidoglycan have?
Proinflammatory
- activate complement
- bind pattern recognition receptors to trigger inflammatory cytokines
What are the components of a gram-positive envelope?
- Peptidoglycan: many layers with crosslinks
- teichoic and lipoteichoic acid: which attach peptidoglycan to membrane, attach to other bacteria and host cells, and are virulence factors
What are the components of a gram-negative envelope?
- peptidoglycan: greatly reduced in comparison to gram+, in periplasmic space
- surrounded by outer membrane rich in porins and lipopolysaccharide
What are the components of a gram-negative outer membrane?
- stiff sack for structure and permeability barrier
- rich in porins = metabolites
- LPS in outer leaflet
What are the components of lipopolysaccharide/endotoxin?
- Lipid A: endotoxin activity = proinflammatory cytokines
- Core polysaccharide: 9-12 sugars for structure and rigidity
- O Ag: linear polysaccharide allows distinguish between organisms
What are the effects of LPS/endotoxin?
- bind CD14 and TLR4 on phagocytes
- activate immune system
- cause inflammation through TNF-a, IL-1, IL-6
What are acid-fast bacteria?
- mycobacteria and nocardia
- mycolic acid: LBCFA thick waxy cell wall
- slow growing and difficult for nutrition to get in
- difficult for Ab to get in
What are the components of an acid-fast bacterial wall?
- inner plasma membrane overlaid with peptidoglycan
- lipoarabinomannan (LAM): related to LPS
- arabinogalactans: branched polysaccharides that bind to mycolic acid
- mycolic acid: waxy
What is the purpose of pili/fimbrae?
- protein subunits (pilin) form hollow tube
- common or somatic: sued in attachement
- sex: 1/cell used in gene transfer, plasmid transfer
What is the purpose of flagella?
- locomotion
- different arrangements = identification
- virulence = able to dessimate more easily if can migrate through tissues
What is a capsule/K-Ag?
- loose polysaccharide layer surrounding some gram + or - bacteria
- hydrophilic
- aides in protection from immune system
What is a biofilm?
Organized community of microbial cells that has a capsule/slime layer over the entire population.
What is an endospore?
- in some gram + in harsh environment
- convert from vegetative to dormant
- give rise to single bacteria when environment favorable
- dehydrated, with single copy of chromosome
- Ca bind to dipicolinic acid to stabilize genome
- inner membrane peptidoglycan layers with outer keratin coat
What do endospores mean for human pathology?
- spores can be aeroslized
- found in variety of environments for extended times
- must sterilize surfaces
- can exist for centuries
What is the main difference between bacteria and eukaryotes?
The metabolic differences between these two cell types can be utilized for the development of antibacterial therapies