Intro to microbiology Flashcards
How have pathogens shaped human evolution
-shaped immune system (we have to fight infections)
- Invaded genomes (endogenous retroviruses)
How do we catagorise pathogens
BSL-1
- Unlikely to cause disease
- GUT bacteria
BSL-2
- Can cause disease but unlikely to spread
- due to vaccination or high prevalence(chicken pox)
BSL-3
- Can cause disease AND Spread but treatments are available
- hepatitis C
BSL-4
- Deadliest!!!!!!!!!
- Causes serious disease, will spread and usually no treatment (example: Ebola virus)
Prions
What are prions
A mutant protein = Prion protein
Prions
What can prions do in the body
Can cause other normal proteins to fold abnormally (spongiform encephalopathy)
- Aggregates of abnormal proteins in the brain
- can cause degeneration of brain tissue
Prions
What is the normal prion called that we express on neuoronal tissues and tonsils
Prion protein (PrPc)
Prion
What is the abonormal prion protein called
PrPsc = is the abnormal protein
Prions
What diseases can prions cause
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
- Kuru
- Mad cow disease or vCJD
Prions
How can we pass down CJD
- Sporadic (mutation)
- Familial (passed down germline)
- Transmission (like mad cow disease vCJD)
Prions
How can CJD be transmitted
- Oral
- Operative (neuronal tissue)
- Blood
Prions: CJD
What are the treatments for CJD
It’s 100 % fatal
- No treatment
Prions
Why are infections caused by prions hard to treat?
- They have high resistance to disinfectants and heat
- Hard to remove and/or inactivate
Prions
What is kuru
like what is it a form of
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE)
Prions
Where was kuru first identified
in Papua New Guinea in 1960’s
Prions
What is the cause of kuru
ritual of eating the dead (so it’s orally transmitted)
Prions
What is the cause of mad cow disease (vCJD)
Caused by feeding cows meat and bonemeal (oral)
Prions
Does mad cow disease only affect cows
Sheep can also get it
also humans
Prions
what prion can cause mad cow disease in humans
Bovine prion can cause disease in humans
Prions
Why do people think that mad cow disease may cause more deaths in the future
due to long incubation period
Viruses
What is the baltimore classification and
what does it classify based on
Classfies viruses
developed on how viruses synthesise their messenger RNA
Has 7 classes
Virus
What things do viruses have in common
- Same basic viral lifestyle
- **Alternative splicing,
- which increases the coding capacity of viral genomes
- Genome segmentation (most)**
- → this is better for evolution
- → E.G. viral genes are encoded on separate bits of DNA/RNA
- Host range
-> can be found across prokaryotes, eukaroytes and archea
some restricted to one host, others can jump into different species
Virus
Are viruses alives
Hm they are dead ish
- Not a cell
- Live in a shell or protein called a capsid
- Contain nucleic acids
- Can be enveloped or non-enveloped
- NEED a host to replicate!!!!
Virus
What is the viral lifestyle
Some variation due to genome and other factors
- Attach to host cell
- Entry into host cell
- Release of viral genome from capsid
- Replication of viral genome
- Assembly of new virions
- Eject the new virions from cell
- REPEAT !!!!
Virus
How can viruses effect host cells
- Some viruses integrate into the host genome (HIV)
- Cell death
- Due to production of lots of virions
- Cell fusion = syncytia
- Increased cell proliferation
- Papillomaviruses
- take over TFs
- Latent infection = no clinical manifestation until the virus reactivates (Herpesviruses)
Virus classifications
What is group 1
Give examples of viruses in this group
double stranded DNA virus
Herpesviruses, papillomaviruses, polyomaviruses & poxviruses
Viruses group 1
What is the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV)
Causes chicken pox upon initial infection
Viruses group 1
Where is latency for VZV
Found in dorsal root ganglia
Group 1; dsDNA viruses
What can cause of reactvation the VZV
stress
Group 1; dsDNA viruses
When VZV gets reactivated what does it turn into
how does it also present
- Shingles
- pattern of rash shows which neurones are affected is latent VZV
Group 1; dsDNA viruses
Does the UK vaccinate against VZV
No
- UK does not but you can pay for the vaccine
- go down the route of chicken pox parties
Group II – ssDNA Viruses
What is the second group
single strand DNA viruses
Group II – ssDNA Viruses
Do single strand DNA viruses infect humans
Few do…but when they do they barley
Group II – ssDNA Viruses
What is the single strand DNA virus found in humans called
Torque Teno Virus
(formally transfusion transmitted virus)
Found in 90% of adults worldwide
Group II – ssDNA Viruses
What is most known Group II – ssDNA Viruse called
Parvoviruses
Canine parvo can kill young puppies