Gram Staining, Lab Terms, and Microorganisms Flashcards

1
Q

What is the gram + cell wall made up of ?

A

thick layer of peptidoglycan
- associated with teichoic acids

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2
Q

Why is staining the cells important ?

A

ensure we can see all the neccessary cells

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3
Q

Is the cell wall thicker in the Gram + or - ?

A

gram +

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4
Q

What cell retains the crystal violet ?

A

gram +

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5
Q

What cells retains the safranin which turns it pink ?

A

gram -

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6
Q

In the gram staining process what causes the forming of the large molecule ?

A

the application of the iodine (mordant) to the crystal violet
- 2nd step

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7
Q

What is the purpose of the application of crystal violet ?

A

to permeate the bacterial cells

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8
Q

In the gram + why does the molecule formed, because of the crystal violet and iodine , not able to exit the cell ?

A

because the cell wall is so thick
- easy for crystal violet to get in but once joined it can’t get out

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9
Q

What is the gram - cell wall made up of ?

A

thin layer of peptidoglycan
- has a outer membrane with periplasmic spaces

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10
Q

Why is the crystal violet and iodine molecule able to get out of the Gram - cell ?

A

because it has a outer membrane with periplasmic spaces
- can escape when decolorized

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11
Q

What happens if you leave the decolorizer on for too long ?

A

can cause the purple of the gram + to lighten up which we don’t want

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12
Q

What is the primary stain ?

A

crystal violet

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13
Q

What is the mordent ?

A

gram’s iodine

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14
Q

What is the decolorizer ?

A

acetone alcohol

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15
Q

What is the counter stain ?

A

safranin

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16
Q

What is the purpose of applying the acetone alcohol ?

A

causes the stain to escape some bacterial cell wall rendering them unstained/colorless
- turns gram - clear

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17
Q

What is the purpose of the safranin ?

A

adds color to the cells that were decolorized
- colorizes the gram - pink

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18
Q

What is the purpose of the grams iodine ?

A

binds with the stain inside the cell wall making a larger molecule

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19
Q

Is there periplasmic spaces in both gram + and - ?

A
  • present in all gram - which allows things to move out of gram -
  • present in some gram +
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20
Q

What is the effect of penicillin on the cell wall ?

A

inhibits the production of the peptidoglycan layer

21
Q

Is penicillin more effective on gram + or - ?

A

gram +
- except for staphylococci

22
Q

Why is penicillin less effective on gram - ?

A

outer membrane prevents penicillin from reaching the peptidoglycan layer

23
Q

What determines the effectiveness of penicillin on the cell wall ?

A

the composition of the cell wall

24
Q

What are the 3 modes of transmissibility of an infectious disease ?

A
  • contact transmission
  • vehicle transmission
  • vector transmission
25
Q

What is contact transmission ?

A
  • direct: person to person (kissing, touching, sexual, etc)
  • indirect: one host to another by fomites (inanimate objects)- needles, toothbrushes, drinking glasses, doorknobs, etc
  • droplet: droplet of mucus that exit mouth/nares during coughing, sneezing or exhaling (cold and flu)
26
Q

What is vehicle transmission ?

A

spread of pathogens via air, drinking water, and food
- also blood and body fluids handled outside the body
- airborne, waterborne, blood and body fluids

27
Q

What is vector transmission ?

A

animals that transmit diseases from one host to another
- biological: vectors affecting human are biting arthropods (mosquitos ticks, lice, fleas)
- mechanical: vectors passively carry pathogens to new hosts on their feet or other body part (houseflies, cockroaches)

28
Q

What is a epidemic ?

A

appearance of infectious disease or condition which attacks many people at the same time in same geographical location
- flu, food poison

29
Q

What is a pandemic ?

A

epidemic that occurs simultaneously with on more than one continent
- AIDS, COVID

30
Q

What is a endemic ?

A

a disease peculiar to and recurring continuously in a particular locality or population
- Histplasmosis-Ohio Valley

31
Q

What does contagious mean ?

A

communicable disease that is easily transmitted from a reservoir or person
- common cold, legionnaires disease

32
Q

What is epidemiology ?

A

study of the occurence, distribution, and spread of disease in humans
- Bird flu, seasonal flu, tracking SARS

33
Q

What does incidence mean ?

A

the number of new cases of a disease in a given area or population during a given period of time

34
Q

What does prevalence mean ?

A

the total number of cases, new and existing in a given area of population during a given period of time

35
Q

How are microorganisms our foe ?

A
  • leading cause of illness and death
  • costs us billions of dollars in health care costs
  • causes the rise of infectious diseases
36
Q

What are some reasons for the rise in infectious diseases ?

A
  • travel
  • lax in vaccinating children because disease is no longer common
  • use of medication to make life longer
  • development of drug resistance
37
Q

How are microorganisms our friends ?

A
  • breakdown of food in the gut
  • produce foods like yogurt, cheese, wine, breads
  • used to make vitamins, insulin, drugs
  • decompose waste
  • recycle nutrients back into Earth
  • used as food source for other organisms
  • make chemical products like acetone, glycerin, enzymes, alcohols
  • agriculture
38
Q

What is a broth ?

A

liquid medium that contains various nutrients and is used to culture bacteria and other microorganisms in culture

39
Q

What is a Agar ?

A

gelatinous material derived from algae, specifically used as a culture medium of bacteria and other cells for diagnostic or laboratory experiments purposed
- melts are 85 C

40
Q

What does deep mean ?

A

used for culture where you need a deep inoculation into solid medium (gelatin or agar) that is used especially for the growth of anaerobic bacteria

41
Q

What are slants ?

A

a culture made on the slanting surface of a solidified medium (agar based) in a test tube that has been tilted to provide a greater area for growth

42
Q

What are plates ?

A

petri dish that contains a solid growth medium, typically agar plus nutrients used to culture small organisms such as microorganisms

43
Q

What is incubation ?

A

act of maintaining controlled environmental conditions for the purpose of favoring growth or development of microbial cultures

44
Q

What is a colony ?

A

visible mass of microorganisms all originating from a single mother cell, therefore a colony constitutes a clone of bacteria all genetically alike

45
Q

What is picking colonies ?

A

selecting a colony from a plate and transferring it to another media or a slide

46
Q

What is a loop ?

A

simple tool used mainly by microbiologists to retrieve an inoculum from a culture of microorganisms
- used for cultivation of microbes on plates by transferring inoculum for streaking

47
Q

What is a needle ?

A

used in the field of microbio to transfer and inoculate living microorganisms

48
Q

What is a Bunsen Burner ?

A

small adjustable gas burner used in labs