Bacteria Flashcards
What is a commensal?
Organism that colonises the host but causes no disease in normal circumstances
With gram stain, what colour will gram negative and gram positive bacteria stain
Gram negative = pink
Gram positive = Purple
What type of organism are bacteria?
Prokaryotes- have no nuclear membrane
What is the purpose of their outer capsule?
Prevents phagocytosis/ recognition by complement
What stain would you use for mycobacteria?
Ziehl-Neelson
Which type of bacteria has a single cytoplasmic membrane?
Gram +ve
In gram -ve bacteria, what lies between the two membranes?
Periplasmic space
Is there more peptidoglycan in gram +ve or gram -ve bacteria?
Gram +ve
What types of organisms produce spores?
Fungi and gram +ve bacteria (in hard conditions)
Give the doubling time for each of the following:
a) e.coli/staph aureus
b) fungi
c) viruses
d) mycobacteria tuberculosis and leprae
a) 20-30min
b) 30 min
c) under 1 hour
d) 24 hours and 2 weeks
What are the 4 stages in the growth curve for bacteria dividing by binary fission?
- lag
- exponential
- stationary
- death
Give 4 ways in which genetic variation occurs in bacteria
- Mutation (base substitution, insertion, deletion)
- Plasmid
- Conjugation (via sex pillus)
- Transduction (virus vector - bacteriophage)
What is added to crystal violet to fix it to cell walls in the gram stain?
Iodide
Why do gram -ve bacteria turn pink?
Decolouriser (ethanol/acetone) interacts with lipids and the cells lose their outer LPS membrane and therefore CVI complexes, so pick up counterstain instead (safranin)
What does the catalase test distinguish between?
Staphylococcus (+ve) and streptococcus (-ve)
What does the coagulase test distinguish between?
Staph. aureus (+ve) and other types of staphylococcus (-ve)
What organisms will ferment lactose on CLED agar, and what is the colour change?
E.coli, Klebsiella, Citrobacter, enterobacter
Colour change = blue –> yellow
Name 4 antibiotics that MRSA is resistant to
B-lactams, gentamycin, erythromycin, tetracycline