10.2 Antibiotics

Question 1

What is an antibiotic?

Answer 1

Substance derived from a living organism/a drug that kills or stop the growth of bacteria without harming the cell of the infected organism (although they are often made more effective by various chemical processes)

Question 2

What does it mean when we say that an anti-microbial drug is synthetic?

Answer 2

It means that it is made in laboratories

Question 3

What is antimicrobial drug that is used for the treatment of TB and synthetic?

Answer 3

Isoniazid

Question 4

How do antibiotics work?

Answer 4

The interfere with some aspect of growth or metabolism of the target bacterium such as
-Synthesis of bacterial cell walls
-Activities of proteins in the cell surface membrane
– Enzyme action
– DNA synthesis
– Protein synthesis

Question 5

Bacterial cell walls are made of

Answer 5

Peptidoglycan

Question 6

What are peptidoglycans?

Answer 6

These are long molecules containing peptides (change of amino acids) and sugars

Question 7

In the bacterial cell were peptidoglycan are held together by

Answer 7

Cross-links that form between them

Question 8

What does penicillin do?

Answer 8

Penicillin prevents the synthesis of the cross links between the peptidoglycan polymers in the cell walls of bacteria by inhibiting the enzymes that build these cross links. This means that pen is only active against bacteria when they’re growing.