Exam 1: Articles and Clinical Views Flashcards
IN THE CLINIC: As the nurse practitioner in a rural
hospital, you are reviewing a microscope slide of a skin scraping from a 12-year old girl. The slide shows branched, intertwined nucleated hyphae. The girl has dry, scaly, itchy patches on her arms. What is causing her skin condition?
mold (fungi)
However, bacteria can produce both cotton and polyester with less environmental impact. ______ ______ _____ make cellulose by attaching glucose units to simple chains in the outer membrane of the bacterial cell wall. The cellulose microfibrils are extruded through
pores in the outer membrane, and bundles of microfibrils then twist into ribbons.
Gluconacetobacter xylinus bacteria
Peroxide is a safer bleaching agent than chlorine and can be easily removed from fabric and wastewater by enzymes. Researchers at Novo Nordisk Biotech cloned a _____ ______ _____ in yeast and grew the yeasts in washing machine conditions. The yeast that survived the washing machine were selected as the peroxidase producers.
mushroom peroxidase gene
Chemical synthesis of indigo requires a high pH and produces waste that explodes on contact with air. However, a California biotechnology company, Genencor, has developed a method to produce indigo by using bacteria. Researchers identified a gene from a soil bacterium, _______ ______, that converts the bacterial by-product indole to indigo. This gene was put into _____ ______ bacteria, which then turned blue.
pseudomonas putida, escherichia coli
Microbes can even make plastic zippers and packaging material for the jeans. Over ___ _____ make ______________ (PHA) inclusion granules as a food reserve. PHAs are similar to common plastics, and because they are made by bacteria, they are also readily
degraded by many bacteria. PHAs could provide a biodegradable alternative to conventional plastic, which is made from petroleum.
25 bacteria, polyhydroxyalkanoate
Microbes can even make plastic zippers and packaging material for the jeans. Over ___ _____ make ______________ (PHA) inclusion granules as a food reserve. PHAs are similar to common plastics, and because they are made by bacteria, they are also readily
degraded by many bacteria. PHAs could provide a biodegradable alternative to conventional plastic, which is made from petroleum.
25 bacteria, polyhydroxyalkanoate
Although Andrea does not have a fever, she does have an elevated white blood cell count that indicates a ______ ______. Andrea’s doctor suspects that this isn’t a spider bite at all, but a _____ ______. He prescribes
a β-lactam antibiotic, _______.
bacterial infection, staph infection, cephalosporin
Staph is the common name for _____ _______ bacteria,
which are carried on the ___ of about ___ of the human
population. Although Andrea is diligent about taking her
antibiotic as prescribed, she doesn’t seem to be improving. After 3 days, the lesion on her wrist is even larger than before and is now draining yellow pus. Andrea also develops a fever. her mother insists that she call her doctor to tell him about the latest developments.
Staphylococcus aureus, skin, 30%
The S. aureus bacterium responsible for Andrea’s infection is resistant to the β-lactam antibiotic prescribed by Andrea’s doctor. Concerned about what his patient is telling him, Andrea’s doctor calls the local hospital to let them know he is sending a patient over. In the emergency department, a nurse swabs Andrea’s wound and sends it to the hospital lab for culturing. The culture shows that Andrea’s infection is caused by ____. This
produces ______, an enzyme that destroys β-lactam
antibiotics. The attending physician surgically drains the pus from the sore on Andrea’s wrist.
MRSA, beta-lactamase
The widespread use of antibiotics selectively allows the resistant bacteria to grow, whereas the susceptible bacteria are killed. Eventually, almost the entire population of bacteria is resistant to the antibiotic.
The emergency department physician prescribes a
different antibiotic, ______, which will kill the MRSA in
Andrea’s wrist. She also explains to Andrea what MRSA is and why it’s important they find out where Andrea acquired the potentially lethal bacteria.
vancomycin
The first MRSA was _________ (Ha-MRSA), transmitted between staff and patients in health care settings. In the 1990s, infections by a genetically different strain, ___________ (Ca-MRSA), emerged as a major cause of ________ in the United States. Ca-MRSA enters skin abrasions from environmental surfaces or other people. Andrea has never been hospitalized before now, so they are able to rule out the hospital as the source of infection. Her college courses are all online, so she didn’t contract MRSA at the university, either. The local health department sends someone to her family home to swab for the bacteria there. MRSA is isolated from Andrea’s living room sofa, but how did it get there? A representative from the health department, knowing that clusters of Ca-MRSA infections have been seen among _______, suggests swabbing the mats used by the gymnasts at the school Andrea’s sister attends. the cultures come back positive for MRSA. Andrea’s sister, although not infected, transferred the bacteria from her skin to the sofa, where Andrea laid her arm. (a person can carry MRSA on the skin without becoming infected.) The bacteria entered through a scratch on Andrea’s wrist.
Health care-associated MRSA, Community-associated MRSA, skin disease, athletes
LUCA
Last Universal Common Ancestor
smallest organisms on Earth
Nanobe filaments
creatures that live in intensely harsh environments
extremophiles
hypothetical biosphere that hosts weird life
shadow biosphere
