Bacteria species Flashcards
prochlorococcus
-cyanobacteria
-one of the most abundant organisms on earth
~half of photosynthesis in the worlds oceans
Rhizobium leguminosarum
- non pathogenic alphaproteobacteria
- forms root nodules on legume plants
- symbiotic relationship
- bacterium fixes nitrogen into a bioavailable form
- plant provides nutrients and a home for the bacteria
rickettsia rickettsii
- pathogenic alphaproetobacteria
- obligate intracellular pathogen
- carried by insects and transmitted by a insect bites
- causes rocky mountain spotted fever
- phylogenetically rickettsia is the closest relative to the eukaryotic mitochondrion
Neisseria mucosa
- non pathogenic betaproetobacteria
- non pathogenic commensal of the human body-lives on mucous membranes
neisseria gonorrhoeae
- pathogenic betaproteobacteria
- causes the STI gonorrhea
Escherichia coli
- gammaproteobacteria
- gram negative, rod shaped, faculatative aerobe, motile by means of peritrichous flagella
- ferments lactose to a mixture of acids and alcohols
- resident of the large intestine of warm-blooded animals
- serves as an important indicator of fecal contamination
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- gammaproteobacteria
- gram negative, rod shaped, motile by means of polar flagella, but does not ferment sugars
- naturally resistant to many antibiotics and disinfectants
- opportunistic pathogen-causes infections in immunocompromised patients
- ex. respiratory tract infections in cystic fibrosis patients
myxococcus xanthus
- delta and epsilonproteobacteria
- gliding motility
- predatory -releases exoenzymes to lyse other bacteria for nutrients
- when starved-cells migrate together to form complex multicellular fruiting bodies
- individual cells differentiate into myxospores for dispersal
lactobacillus delbrueckii
- lactic acid bacteria firmicutes
- yogurt production
streptococcus pyogenes
lactic acid bacteria firmicutes
-cause of strep throat, scarlet fever and the flesh eating disease!
staphylococcus aureus
- non lactic acid bacteria firmicutes
- facultative aerobe that forms characteristic grape like clusters
- lives on skin
- halotolerant can be isolated using media with high NaCl, like mannitol salt agar
- frequent cause of nosocomial infections
Bacillus subtilis
- endospore forming firmicutes
- important lab bacterium used as a model for:
- gram positive cell structure and genetics
- cell division and differentiation (into spores)
Clostridium botulinum
- endospore forming firmicutes
- strict anaerobe with a fermentative metabolism
- lives in tiny anoxic pockets in the soil
- secretes a variety of exoenzymes to degrade plant material
- can also grow in anaerobic canned foods
- produces a deadly neurotoxin, which when consumed causes botulism (food poisoning)
- proper canning procedures must either:
- reach temp above 120 to destroy endospores
- or include enough acid or sugar to prevent germination
mycoplasma genitalium
- tenericutes: the mycoplasmas
- common cause of urethritis and pelvic inflammatory disease
- first free living bacterium to have its genome sequenced
- one of the smallest genomes known at 500 Kbp
corynebacterium diphtheriae
- actinobacteria
- produces an exotoxin that inhibits protein synthesis
- causes tissue death in the respiratory tract-diphtheria
- can lead to death by suffocation
mycobacterium tuberculosis
actinobacteria: mycobacterium
- slow growing (~24hr/gen)
- colonies can take weeks to form on agar medium
- cause of tuberculosis-slow, fatal respiratory diesease
streptomyces griseus
- filamentous actinobacteria
- produces streptomycin, a broad spectrum protein synthesis inhibitor active against gram negative bacteria
bacteroides thetaitaomicron
- bacteroidetes
- strict anaerobe
- numerically dominant microbe in the human large intestine
- produces enzymes to degrade polysaccharides, greatly increasing the variety of plant polymers that can be digested in the human gut
Chlamydia trachomatis
- chamydiae
- trachoma (infection of the eye)
- causes scarring and blindness
gemmata obscuriglobus
- planctomycetes
- nuceoid is surrounded by a true unit membrane
thermus aquaticus
- deinococcus thermus
- a thermophilic chemoorganohetertroph
- sources of temperature stable enzymes-taq DNA polymerase
- allows DNA synthesis reactions in the lab to be carried out quickly at high temperatures
- an essential tool for PCR (polymerase chain reaction)
deinococcus radiodurans
- deinococcus thermus
- extremely resistant to radiation
- highly effective DNA repair mechanisms
- forms pairs of tetrads. in response to massive DNA damage, can fuse nucleoids from two cells to facilitate repair
- has a gram negative cell wall type, but stains gram positive because of thick peptidoglycan
