7 WGS Flashcards
what does the current paradigm used in diagnostic microbiology consist of
- detection (or not) of the presence of a pathogen
- identification
- antibiotic susceptibility testing (and surveillance)
- epidemiological typing (and surveillance)
what are the four main methods used in diagnostic microbiology
- microscopy
- culture
- serology
- molecular
how does most treatment start
empirically
what are the problems with methods in diagnostic microbiology
- time consuming
- expensive
- labour-intensive
- organism or sample-type specific
- poor discrimination
why can diganostic microbiology be time-consuming
bacteria need time to grow
unusual organism – sent to reference lab
Genome
complete set of genes or genetic material present in cell or organism (DNA/RNA)
blueprint describing the characteristics of an organism
what does the genome information provide
record of ancestry revealing genetic relationships between members of the same species or more distant ones
Central dogma
information flow – DNA genes transcribed to mRNA then translated into protein
what are the genes like in bacterial genome
> Short intergenic regions
Little repeat / non-coding DNA
Introns are v. rare
how are genes organised in bacterial genome
operons
Bacterial genome organisation - Chromosome
Typically - a single circular chromosome (always DNA) which is negatively supercoiled in order to pack it in
what can chromosome of bacterial genome be like
Occasionally linear
Occasionally two unique circular
Can even be multiple and a mix of circular and linear
linear chromosome examples
Streptomyces
two unique circular chromosome example
Vibrio cholerae
multiple and a mix of circular and linear chromosome example
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Plasmid replication
Independent autonomously replicating DNA molecule
what do plasmids encode for
‘non-essential’ genes, but relate to virulence (e.g. tetanus toxoid encoded by plasmid) or adaptive advantage
sequencing method example
sanger sequencing