Basic Bacteriology Flashcards
Bacterial appendages
Flagellum, pilus/fimbria
Flagellum - chemical composition
Proteins
Flagellum - function
Motility
Pilus/fimbria - chemical composition
Glycoprotein
Pilus/fimbria - function
Mediate adherence of bacteria to cell surface; sex plus forms during conjugations
Bacterial specialized structures
Spore
Spore - chemical composition
Keratin-like coat; dipicolinic acid; peptidoglycan, DNA
Spore - function
Gram + only
Survival: resist dehydration, heat, chemicals
Bacterial cell envelope components
Capsule, glycocalyx, outer membrane, periplasm, cell wall, cytoplasmic membrane
Capsule - chemical composition
Organized, discrete polysaccharide layer (except poly-D-glutamate on B. anthracis)
Capsule - function
Protects against phagocytosis
Glycocalyx - chemical composition
Loose network of polysaccharides
Glycocalyx - function
Mediated adherence to surfaces, especially foreign surfaces (eg, indwelling catheters)
Outer membrane - chemical composition
Outer leaflet: contains endotoxin (LPS/LOS)
Embedded proteins: porins and other outer membrane proteins (OMPs)
Inner leaflet: phospholipids
Outer membrane - function
Gram - only
Endotoxin: lipid A induces TNF and IL-1; antigenic I polysaccharide component
Most OMPs are antigenic
Porins: transport across outer membrane
Periplasm - chemical composition
Space between cytoplasmic membrane and outer membrane in gram - bacteria (peptidoglycan in middle)
Periplasm - function
Accumulates components exiting gram - cells, including hydrolytic enzymes (eg, b-lactamases)
Cell wall - chemical composition
Peptidoglycan is a sugar backbone with peptide side chains cross-linked by transpeptidase
Cell wall - function
Net-like structure gives right support, protects against osmotic pressure damage
Cytoplasmic membrane - chemical composition
Phospholipid bilayer sauce with embedded proteins (eg, penicillin-binding proteins [PBPs]) and other enzymes Lipoteichoic acids (gram + only) extend from membrane to exterior
Cell wall components - unique to gram +
Lipoteichoic acid
Cell wall components - common to both
Flagellum, pilus, capsule, cell wall, peptidoglycan, cytoplasm
Cell wall components - unique to gram -
Outer membrane: endotoxin/LPS, porin
Periplasmic space: b-lactamase location
Bacterial taxonomy - morphologies
Spherical (coccus), rod (bacillus), branching filamentous, pleomorphic (no cell wall), spiral (spirochetes)
Coccus - gram + examples
Staphylococcus (clusters), Streptococcus (chains or pairs), Enterococcus (pairs or short chains)
Coccus - gram - examples
Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria
Bacillus - gram + examples
Bacillus, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, Gardnerella (gram variable), Lactobacillus, Listeria, Mycobacterium (acid fast), Propionibacterium
Bacillus - gram - examples (enteric)
Bacteroides, Campylobacter, E coli, Enterobacter, Fusobacterium, Helicobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Serratia, Shigella, Vibrio, Yersinia
Bacillus - gram - examples (respiratory)
Bordetella, Burkholderia cepacia, Haemophilus (pleomorphic), Legionella (silver stain)
Bacillus - gram - examples (zoonotic)
Bartonella, Brucella, Francisella, Pasteurella
Branching filamentous - gram + examples
Actinomyces, Nocardia (weakly acid fast)
Pleomorphic - gram - examples
Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Chlamydiae (Giemsa), Rickettsiae (Giemsa), Mycoplasma (contains sterols, which do not gram stain)
Spirochetes - gram - examples
Borrelia (Giemsa), Leptospira, Treponema
Stains
Gram, Giemsa, Periodic acid-Schiff, Ziehl-Neelsen (carbol fuchsin), India ink, silver, fluorescent antibody
Gram stain
First-line lab test in bacterial identification
Bacteria with thick peptidoglycan layer retain crystal violet dye (gram +)
Bacteria with thin peptidoglycan layer turn red or pink (gram -) with counterstain
Gram stain - bugs that don’t Gram stain well
Too thin to be visualized: Treponemia, Leptospira
Cell wall has high lipid content: Mycobacteria
No cell wall: Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma
Primarily intracellular: Legionella, Rickettsia, Chlamydia (also lacks classic peptidoglycan because of decreased muramic acid), Bartonella, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia
Giemsa stain
Chlamydia, Borrelia, Rickettsia, Trypanosomes, Plasmodium
Periodic acid-Schiff stain
Stains glycogen, mucopolysaccharides; used to diagnose Whipple disease (Tropheryma whipplei)
Ziehl-Neelsen stain (carbol-fuchsin)
Acid-fast bacteria (eg, Mycobacteria, Nocardia; stains mycolic acid acid in cell wall); protozoa (eg, Cryptosporidium oocysts)
Current standard of care is auramine-rhodamine stain for screening (inexpensive, more sensitive but less specific)
India ink stain
Cryptococcus neoformans; mucicarmine can also be used to stain thick polysaccharide capsule red
Silver stain
Fungi (eg, Coccidioides, Pneumocystis jirovecii), Legionella, Helicobacter pylori
Fluorescent antibody stain
Used to identify many bacteria and viruses (example is FTA-ABS for syphillus)
Properties of growth media
Selective or indicator (differential)
Note: the same type of media can possess both (or neither) of these properties
Selective media
Favors the growth of a particular organism while preventing growth of other organisms, eg, Thayer-Martin agar contains antibiotics that allow the selective growth of Neisseria by inhibiting the growth of other sensitive organisms
Indicator (differential) media
Yields a color change in response to the metabolism of certain organisms, eg, MacConkey agar contains a pH indicator; a lactose fermenter like E coli will convert lactose to acidic metabolites -> color change
Bugs with special culture requirements
H influenzae, N gonorrhoeae/meningitidis, B pertussis, C diphtheriae, M tuberculosis, M pneumoniae, lactose-fermenting enterics, E coli, Legionella, fungi
H influenzae - Cx
Chocolate agar: factors V (NAD+) and X (hematin)
N gonorrhoeae/meningitidis - Cx
Thayer-Martin agar: selectively favors growth of Neisseria by inhibiting growth of gram + organisms with vancomycin, gram - organisms (except Neisseria) with trimethoprim and colistin, and fungi with nystatin
B pertussis - Cx
Boret-Gengou agar: potato extract
Regan-Lowe medium: charcoal, blood and antibiotic
C diphtheriae - Cx
Tellurite agar, Löeffler medium
M tuberculosis - Cx
Löwenstein-Jensen agar
M pneumoniae - Cx
Eaton agar
Lactose-fermenting enterics - Cx
MacConkey agar: fermentation produces acid, causing colonies to turn pink
E coli - Cx
Eosin-methylene blue (EMB) agar: colonies with green metallic sheen
Legionella - Cx
Charcoal yeast extract agar buffered with cysteine and iron (BYCE)
Fungi - Cx
Sabouraud agar
Aerobes - energy generation
Use an O2-dependent system to generate ATP
Aerobes - examples
Nocardia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Reactivation - M tuberculosis
Following immunocompromise or TNF-a inhibitor use (has a predilection for the apices of the lung)
Anaerobes - characteristics
Lack catalase and/or superoxide dismutase (susceptible to oxidative damage)
Generally foul smelling (short chain fatty acids)
Difficult to culture
Produce gas in tissue (CO2 and H2)
Normal flora of the GI (pathogenic everywhere else)
Anaerobes - examples
Clostridium, Bacteroides, Fusobacterium, and Actinomyces
Aminoglycosides vs Anaerobes
Ineffective, these antibiotics require O2 to enter into bacterial cells
Facultative anaerobes - energy generation
Use fermentation and other non oxygen-dependent pathways to generate ATP but are not killed by O2
Facultative anaerobes - examples
Streptococci, staphylococci, and enteric gram + bacteria
Obligate intracellular - examples
Rickettsia, Chlamydia, Coxiella
Obligate intracellular - characteristics
Rely on host ATP
Facultative intracellular - examples
Salmonella, Neisseria, Brucella, Mycobacterium, Listeria, Francisella, Legionella, Yersinia pestis
Encapsulated bacteria - examples
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae type B, Neisseria meningitidis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella pneumoniae, group B strep
Encapsulated bacteria - capsules
Serve as an antiphagocytic virulence factor