MHD2 Methods to characterise the microbiome Flashcards
What factors determine what microbiota will be present?
nutrient availability
pH
temperature
atmospheric conditions
What is the taxonomic hierarchy mnemonic?
Delicious KP Crisps Often Follow Good Sex
What is the taxonomic hierarchy
Domain – Bacteria Kingdom – Bacteria Phylum – Proteobacteria Class – Gammaproteobacteria Order – Enterobacteriales Family – Enterobacteriaceae Genus – Escherichia Species – Coli
What are the major phyla present in a human?
Angry flies probably fart badly
Actinobacteria Firmicutes Proteobacteria Fusobacteria Bacterioidetes
Where are Actinobacteria found?
Nares (nostrils), Skin retroaurical crease (inner elbow), Skin antecubital fossa (ear)
Give two examples of Actinobacteria
o Corynebacterium
o Propionibacterium
Where are Proteobacteria found?
Saliva, Nares, Tongue, Tonsils, Skin antecubital fossa
Where are Bacterioidetes found?
Gut stool, Saliva, Gingiva (gums), Tonsils, Tongue
Where are Fusobacteria found?
Saliva, Tongue, Tonsils
Where are Firmicutes found?
Vagina, Gut stool, Saliva, Gingiva, Nares, Tongue, Tonsils
Give 3 examples of Firmicutes
o Lactobacillus
o Staphylococcus
o Streptococcus
What methods can be used to characterise microbiota?
By isolating the individual prokaryotes, viruses, fungi and parasites and using phenotypic or genotypic methods for analysis
Which bacterial genus of the Neisseria family CAN grow on Thayer-Martin medium?
Within the Neisseria family. N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitis
Which bacterial genus of the Neisseria family CANNOT grow on Thayer-Martin medium?
N. flavescens, N. sicca, and N. subflava
Which between N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis cannot use maltose?
N. gonorrhoeae cannot
What genotypic tests can be used to classify new species of bacteria?
16S rRNA gene sequencing is used to determine whether the new species shares less than 97% nucleotide sequence similarity with the 16S rRNA sequences of all the known species of bacteria
What is phylogeny the study of?
The evolutionary history of an organism
How does phylogeny studying work?
Molecular sequence data is used in order to determine which organisms share a common ancestor by examining genetic properties
What is systematics?
The study of the diversity of organisms and their relationships
What is used to accurately name species in two terms
binomial nomenclature
How was microbial characterisation first performed?
Cultivation methods: to distinguish 6 types of bacteria
What conditions do obligate aerobic bacteria grow in?
same O2 level as the atmosphere
What conditions do obligate anaerobic bacteria grow in?
complete absence of O2
What conditions do facultative anaerobic bacteria grow in?
presence or absence of O2, but prefer O2 presence
What conditions do micro-aerophile bacteria grow in?
low levels of O2
What conditions do capnophile bacteria grow in?
increased levels of CO2
What conditions do aero-tolerant bacteria grow in?
Equally well in O2 presence of absence
What other phenotypical tests are there?
- gram-staining
- cell-shape
- susceptibility to various antimicrobials
- characterising cell-wall fatty acids
- biochemical tests to observe the gases and short-chain fatty acids produced from sugar and glucose fermentation.
Rather than phenotypic methods, what is more accurate?
molecular-based methods should be used alongside phenotypic one
What is a combination of phenotypic and molecular based approaches called?
Polyphasic approach
Name two biochemical test kits
- API strips
- Biolog systems
How can you control which type of bacteria grow?
Culture media
atmospheric conditions
incubation temperature
Media can be either agar or broth based and have varying nutrient compositions