Adhesions, Toxins and Bacterial secretion systems Flashcards
1
Q
What are Adhesins?
A
microbial attachment
2
Q
how does the human body react to pathogens?
A
Human body expels invaders Mucosa, dead skin constantly expelled Liquid expelled from bladder Coughing, cilia in lungs Expulsion of intestinal contents
3
Q
how does Bacteria adhere to host tissues?
A
Pili (fimbriae)
Hollow fibrils with tips to bind host cells
Adhesins—surface proteins bind host cells
There are two ways that bacteria can attach – through pili or fimbriae used interchangeably (a typical pilus is shown on the right, the arrow indicates the tip of the pilus. It is the tip of the pilus that is usually involved in attachment.
The other way is through the use of adhesins. Pili are very long and made up of hundreds of subunits. Adhesins are much shorter and they are made up of much less subunits, often they are only one or two subunits in an adhesin.
4
Q
what are the types of pili ?
A
Type I pili adhere to mannose Grows from outer membrane New subunits added at base Type IV pili Grow from inner membrane - can grow and retract
