Antibiotics Flashcards
1
Q
How do antibiotics kill bacteria?
A
Penicillin disrupts the formation of the bacterias cell wall so that the wall weakens and the bacterium bursts, leading to its death.
2
Q
What are the three ways in which antibiotic resistance can occur?
A
DNA mutation - bacterial DNA may mutate spontaneously
Transformation - bacterium may take up DNA from another bacterium
Conjugation - plasmid provides a range of resistance
3
Q
Antibiotics are naturally produced by fungi, why?
A
Some fungi naturally produce antibiotics in order to protect themselves against invasion by pathogenic bacteria
