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Biology AS > 12.1 Animal and Plant Pathogens > Flashcards

12.1 Animal and Plant Pathogens Flashcards

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1
Q

What causes communicable diseases?

A

Pathogens

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2
Q

Define what a ‘pathogen’ is

A

A bacterium, virus or another microorganism that can cause disease

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3
Q

What are the 4 types of pathogens?

A

Bacteria, Viruses, Protoctista and Fungi

Each has particular characteristic that affects how it spreads and how it’s treated

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4
Q

What is a communicable disease?

A

A disease which can spread from one organism to another

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5
Q

How do communicable diseases spread in animals?

A

From one individual to another.

They can also spread between species.

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6
Q

How do communicable diseases spread in plants?

A

From direct contact

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7
Q

What is a vector?

A

Something that doesn’t cause a disease, but spreads the disease - usually an organism

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8
Q

What does a vector do?

A

Carry pathogens from one organism to another

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9
Q

What are the 2 common vectors?

A

Water and insects

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10
Q

reserved

A

.

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11
Q

reserved.

A

.

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12
Q

reserve.

A

.

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13
Q

What 2 things can be looked at to classify a bacteria?

A
  1. Their shape

2. Their cell wall

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14
Q

Why can bacteria be classified by looking at their basic shape?

A

Bacteria have different shapes. They can be:

  1. Rod shaped (bacili)
  2. Spherical (cocci)
  3. Comma shaped (vibrios)
  4. Spiralled (spirilla)
  5. Corkscrew shaped (spirochaetes)
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15
Q

Why can bacteria be classified by looking at their cell wall?

A

The 2 main types of bacterial cell walls have different structures and react differently with gram-staining.

Gram-positive bacteria appear purple/blue after staining under the light microscope, e.g. MRSA
Gram-negative bacteria appear red after staining under the light microscope, e.g. (gut bacteria) E.coli

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16
Q

Why is it useful to know the type of bacterial cell wall if you want to eliminate the bacteria?

A

The type of cell wall affects how bacteria will react to antibiotics

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17
Q

What are antibiotics?

A

Compounds that stunt the growth of/kill bacteria

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18
Q

What is a virus?

A

A non-living infectious agent

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19
Q

What is the average size of a virus? How does this compare to the average size of a bacterium?

A

0.02 - 0.3 microns, 50x smaller than average bacterium

20
Q

What is the basic structure of a virus?

A

Some genetic material (DNA/RNA) surrounded by protein

21
Q

What do viruses do to their host’s cells?

A

Invade living cells, where the genetic material of the virus overtakes the host cell, using it to produce more viruses

22
Q

What is the main characteristic of viruses?

A

They reproduce rapidly.
They evolve by developing adaptations to the host.
This makes them very successful pathogens.

23
Q

What are all naturally occurring viruses called, in terms of what they do?

A

Pathogenic (cause disease)

24
Q

What are bacteriophages?

A

Viruses that attack bacteria

25
Q

How do bacteriophages destroy bacteria?

A

Bacteriophages invade the bacterial cells and use them to replicate, destroying the bacteria in the proces

26
Q

Why are bacteriophages useful for humans?

A

They can be used to diagnose and treat some diseases

27
Q

What are protoctista (protista)?

A

A group of eukaryotes with a variety of feeding methods.

A small % are pathogenic.

28
Q

What form can protista take?

A

Protoctista, also known as protista, include single-celled organisms or cells living in colonies.

29
Q

What are protists called in terms of how they cause diseases?

A

Parasitic - they use animals or humans as the host

30
Q

Why would pathogenic protists need a vector? Give an example.

A

To transfer them to their host.

Malaria, sleeping sickness

31
Q

How else can pathogenic protists enter the body? Give an example.

A

Through polluted water - amoebic dysentery

32
Q

How do fungal diseases affect animals in comparison to plants?

A

In animals, fungal diseases don’t cause a big problem.

In plants, fungal diseases can be devastating.

33
Q

What are fungi in terms of their structure?

A

Eukaryotes.
Often multicellular.
Can be single-celled - e.g. yeasts which cause diseases in humans e.g. thrust

34
Q

If fungi can’t photosynthesize, how do they obtain energy?

A

Fungi digest food extracellularly before absorbing the nutrients

35
Q

Many fungi are saprophytes - what does this mean?

A

They feed on dead and decaying matter.

36
Q

Some fungi are parasitic - what does this mean?

A

They feed on other living organisms.

37
Q

Why can fungal infections quickly kill plants?

A

Fungal infections often affect the leaves, stopping them from photosynthesising

38
Q

How are fungi well-adapted to reproduce?

A

When fungi reproduce, they produce millions of spores which can spread over huge distances. This means they can quickly spread through the crop.

39
Q

In a host, what do most pathogens damage?

A

The tissues of the organism

40
Q

What makes symptoms of a disease show?

A

The combination of tissue damage by the pathogen and how the host’s body responds to the damage

41
Q

How do viruses attack host tissue?

A
  • Viruses take over the cell’s metabolism
  • Genetic material of the virus enters the host cell and is inserted into the host cell’s DNA
  • The virus then uses the host cell to replicate
  • The new viruses burst out of the cell, killing the cell
  • The new viruses spread to infect other cells
42
Q

How do protista attack host tissue?

A

Some protoctista attack similarly to viruses - they take over cells and burst them open as new protoctista emerge.
However, protoctista don’t override the host cell’s genetic material.
Protoctista digest the cell’s contents and use it to reproduce

43
Q

How do fungi attack host tissue?

A

Fungi digest and kill cells.

This, combined with the body’s response to the damage, cause symptoms of the disease.

44
Q

What do bacteria produce that causes damage in the host?

A

Toxins - these damage/poison the host cells and cause disease

45
Q

What are toxins?

A

By-products of normal functioning in a bacteria

46
Q

How do other toxins damage the host?

A

Some toxins break down the cell membrane.
Some toxins damage/inactivate enzymes.
Some toxins interfere with the host cell’s genetic material, meaning the host cell can no longer divide

47
Q

How else do fungi damage host cells?

A

Some fungi release toxins which affect the host cell and cause disease

Biology AS (148 decks)

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