Animals Flashcards
What are commensals?
Microorganisms routinely found on the bodies of most health individuals. Commensals normally colonize the body without causing an infection
What is the population of bacteria on the skin, in the mouth, in gastrointestinal tract, colon
Skin: 10^12
Mouth: 10^10
Gastointestinal tract: up to 10^13
Colon: 90% of gastrointestinal tract bacteria, anaerobic environment
What tissues and organs are sterile
Urinary tract
Lungs
Internal tissues
Kind of stomach
Skin is more populated by Gram___
Positive bacteria
What are the sites in the body that are heavily populated with bacteria
Oral cavity
Vagina
Gastrointestinal tract (colon)
Upper respiratory tract
Why the bodies of animals is a good place for bacteria
Provide a warm, wet and potentially highly nutritious environment
Factors that influence the richness and the abundance of the microorganisms on an individual
Temperature
pH
Nutrient supply
The immune system (genetic factor)
How commensals can be beneficial, but not only not harming
- Provide host with vitamins and metabolic pathways (gut)
- Provide protection against new incoming microbial populations (occupy the territory)
- teach the immune system
Commensals can be beneficial, but can be ___
Parasitic: they can become pathogenic under specific conditions (and commensals of one species may cause infectious disease in another)
What are pathogens
Microbial parasites that are able to cause infection
What is infection
Situation in which a microorganism is established and growing in a host, causing damage
What is a disease
Damage or injury to the host that impairs host function (infectious disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, etc.)
What is pathogenicity
The ability of a parasite to inflict damage to the host
What is virulence
Measure of pathogenicity
The organisms might have the same ___(action), but different ___ (the rate of action)
Pathogenicity
Virulence
What is opportunistic pathogen
Causes disease only in the absence of normal host resistance. The normal microbiome contains opportunistic pathogens
What are herbivores,carnivores and omnivores
Herbivores- animals that consume mostly plants
Carnivores- animals that consume mostly meat
Omnivores- animals that consume both
Phylogenetic studies suggest that __ has evolved independently in many different lineages
Herbivory
What is the monomer of cellulose
Glucose
Two glucose monomers are called
Cellobiose
What is the linkage in cellulose
1-4 beta linkage
Describe the parts of microfibril structure
crystalline cellulose
Paracrystalline cellulose
Hemicellulose
Herbivores live on plant material rich in
Cellulose and other insoluble polysaccharides (lignin, hemicellulose, pectin)