Intro to Bacteriology Flashcards
(95 cards)
Where does protein synthesis occur in eukaryotes?
80s ribosomes
Describe the nucleoid structure of prokaryotes.
mass of genetic material with no membrane or envelope has supercoiled DNA and condensed with scaffold proteins
What is unique about transcription and translation of mRNA in bacteria?
they could occur simultaneously
How does gram staining with crystal violet works?
stains cytoplasmic elements
List the steps of gram staining.
1) crystal violet 2) gram’s iodine 3) decolorizer (alcohol/acetone) 4) safranin red
What’s the function of the gram’s iodine?
complexes with crystal violet and acts as mordant (chemical that fixes the dye)
What does the decolorizer does to the gram + bacteria?
(THICK peptidoglycan) - dye-iodine complex will NOT wash out - organism stays purple
What does the decolorizer does to the gram - bacteria?
(THIN peptidoglycan) - only crystal violent is washed out - become unstained
What’s the point of the safranin red stain?
a counterstain no effect on the gram + bacteria (already purple) makes the gram - bacteria pink bc it’s now unstained
What can antibiotics do to the shape/size of bacteria?
can change the original shape/size -> make cocci bacteria appear as rods
What stain can be used to penetrate the cell wall of bacteria (where gram staining doesn’t work)?
acid fast stain
What are the steps of acid fast stains?
1) stain with carbolfuchsin red
2) add decolorizer
3) add methylene blue
What does the decolorizer do to acid fast positive bacteria?
bacteria remains red - stain will not wash out
What does the decolorizer do to acid fast negative bacteria?
become colorless
Which bacteria will be stained blue with methylene blue counterstain?
non-acid fast bacteria
What determines if a bacteria will have a capsule or not?
growth conditions (microenvironment) bc capsules take a lot of energy to produce
How does a capsule protect against innate defense mechanisms?
1) complement binds capsule and forms MAC
2) make is ineffective against capsule because pore does not penetrate deep enough to reach cytoplasm
How do capsules prevent phagocytosis?
makes the bacteria very “sticky” so phagocytic cells have hard time adhering
What are capsules made of?
high MW polysaccharide or peptide
What are the components of the gram positive envelope?
1) THICK peptidoglycan layer on outside of PM
2) teichoic and lipoteichoic acids intewovened in the peptidoglycan - helps give strength and stability (lipo anchors peptidoglycan to PM)
3) periplasmic space
4) various transmembrane proteins in plasma membrane
What occurs in the periplasmic space?
located in between the outer peptidoglycan layer and PM - where synthesis of peptidoglycan occurs
(more impt and larger in gram - bacteria)
What makes up peptidoglycan?
N-acetylglucosamine crosslinked by peptidoglycan interbridges to N-acetylmuramic acid
the different layers are connected by peptide chains forming an infrastructure that resembles chain-linked fence
What’s the function of peptidoglycan?
unique to bacteria (great target for antibiotics)
give bacteria strength, integrity and shape - acts as cytoskeleton
What makes up the gram (-) cell envelope?
THIN peptidoglycan layer within periplasmic space
Outermost layer is outer phospholipid membrane with lipopolysaccharides embedded (some drugs that work on gram (+) will not work on gram negative simply bc it posses this outer phospholipid membrane)
inner plasma membrane contains its own set of proteins
porins transversing the outer membrane
