Microbiology Flashcards
Define pathogen
Organism that causes or is capable of causing disease
Define commensal
Organism which colonises the host but causes no disease in normal circumstances
Define opportunist pathogen.
Microbe that only causes disease if host defences are compromised
Define virulence/pathogenicity
The degree to which a given organism is pathogenic/ causes damage to the host
Define asymptomatic carriage
When a pathogen is carried harmlessly at a tissue site where it causes no disease
What are the shapes of the two main bacteria?
Coccus = round
Bacillus = rod
How can we then divide coccus and bacillus bacteria further?
Gram positive (purple)
Gram negative (pink)
And then divide both grams into aerobic and anaerobic
What are different shapes of cocci bacteria?
Diplococcus = 2
Chain of cocci (streptococcus)
Cluster of cocci (staphylococcus)
What are different shape of rod bacteria?
Chain of rods
Curved rod
Spiral rod
What is Gram positive?
- thicker cell wall made of peptidoglycans
- single inner plasma cell membrane
- stain purple (retain stain)
What is gram negative bacteria?
- 2 membranes; inner and outer
- separated by lipoprotein, periplasmic space and peptidoglycan (thinner layer)
- stain Pink
Which bacteria do not stain with gram stain?
- acid fast bacilli
e.g. mycobacteria -> TB - use Ziehl-Neelsen stain
(stain red on blue background)
What environment do bacteria require?
- Temperature = -800C to 80C
- pH = 4-9
- Water/desiccation = 2hrs - 3 months
- Light = UV
What are the 2 types of bacterial toxins?
Endotoxin = component of the outer membrane of bacteria released when bacteria is damaged e.g. lipopolysaccharide in gram neg
Exotoxin = specific secreted proteins of gram postive and negative bacteria
What are the characteristics of endotoxins?
composition = lipopolysaccharide
action = non-specific
effect of heat = stable
antigenicity = weak
produced by = LPS- Gram negative
Convertibility to toxoid = No
Toxic to host
An outer membrane component released when bacteria are damaged.
What are the characteristics of exotoxins?
composition = protein
action = specific
effect of heat = liable
antigenicity = strong (capacity to bind to products that have adaptive immunity- T cell, antibodies)
produced by = Gram negative & positive
Convertibility to toxoid (toxin that has lost its toxicity) = Yes
Secreted from bacteria.
What types of bacterial genetic variation can occur?
Mutation
1. base substitution
2. deletion
3. insertion
Gene transfer (pick up genes from environment)
1. transformation e.g. vis plasmid
2. Transduction e.g. via phage
3. Conjugation e.g. via sex pilus
What is the function of pilli?
Or fimbiae (bristle like projections)
- adhere to surfaces + deliver toxins to host
What are the two first classifications of bacteria?
- Obligate intracellular bacteria (bacteria not grown in a lab)
- Bacteria that may be cultured on Artificial media
What are 3 species of obligate intracellular bacteria?
- Rickettsia
- Chlamydia
- Coxiella
What are mollicutes bacteria?
Bacteria grown on an agar plate with no cell wall
What are 3 types of bacteria grown on artificial media as filaments?
- Actinomyces
- Nocardia
- Streptomyces
What are 3 types of bacteria that grow as single cells?
- Rods
- Cocci
- Spirochaetes - leptospira, treponema, borrelia
What are 2 types of aerobic gram positive cocci bacteria?
- Staphylococcus
- Streptococcus
How would you describe the arrangement of staphylococci?
Clusters of cocci
How would you describe the arrangement of streptococci?
Chains of cocci
Which parts of the body are exposed to bacteria?
- mouth
- esophagus
- stomach
- intestines
- bowel
- vagina & vaginal canal
What parts of the body need to stay sterile?
- blood
- lungs
- bile duct
- kidney
Explain the steps for a gram stain
- apply a primary stain such crystal violet to heat fixed bacteria
- Add iodide which binds to crystal violet and helps fix it to cell wall
- Decolourise with ethanol or acetone
- counterstain with safranin (pink)
Come In And Stain
Crystal violet
Iodide
Alcohol
Safranin
What does the coagulase test distinguish?
Distinguishes S.aureus from other staphylococci
- coagulase positive
What is the oxidase test used for?
Tests if micro-organism contains a cytochrome oxidase
- implies organism able to use oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor
How does Haemolysis distinguish bacteria?
Some secrete enzyme that break down blood to get more nutrients
Alpha
- partial lysis
- greening
Beta (Better)
- complete lysis
- clear
Gamma
- no lysis
What is the main drug to treat staphylococcus aureus infection?
Flucloxacillin
How is staphylococcus aureus spread?
- aerosol
- touch
What are virulence factors for S.aureus?
- pore forming toxins
- proteases
- Toxic shock syndrom toxin
- protein A (surface protein which binds to antibodies in wrong orientation)
What is MRSA?
Methicillin resistant S.aureus
- resistant to major antibiotics
- beta lactams
- gentamicin
What are types of toxin mediated S.aureus infections?
- scalded skin syndrome
- toxic shock syndrome
- food poisoning
causes bodily reaction without infecting
What are 2 types of coagulase-negative staphylococci?
- S.epidermidis
- infections are opportunistic
- able to form persistent biofilms - S.saprophyticus
- acute cystitis
What are antigenic zero-grouping?
Lancefield grouping A-H: a method of grouping catalyse negative, coagulase negative bacteria based on bacterial carbohydrate cell surface antigens
Group A = S.pyogenes
Group B = S.agalactiae
What is the Lancefield microbead agglutination test?
- Antiserum (antibodies) made that recognise each group
- Tagged to tiny plastic beads
added to a suspension of bacteria - Antibodies bind bacteria and beads clump together
- Visible to naked eye
What are S.pyogenes virulence factors?
Exported factors
Enzymes
- streptokinase
Toxins
- streptolysins
- erythrogenic toxin
Surface factors
- M protein (surface protein)
What is the result for the optochin test?
- resistant = Viridans group (S.oralis)
- sensitive = S.pneumoniae
What are the virulence factors of S.pneumoniae?
- capsule
- inflammatory wall constituents
- cytotoxin
What are the characteristics of viridians group streptococci?
- alpha haemolytic
- optochin resistant
- cause deep organ abscesses
What are 3 main types of gram positive aerobic bacilli?
- listeria monocytogenes (soft cheese)
- Bacillus anthraces (spore forming)
- corynebacterium diphtheria (upper resp infection)
What are 3 main subtypes of clostridia anaerobic gram positive bacilli?
Clostridia = spore forming, survive in environment, produce toxins
- C.tetani (tetanus)
- C.botulinum (botulism - paralysis)
- C.difficile (diarrhoea)
What are the 2 types of virulence factors?
- colonisation factors = adhesions, invasions, nutrient acquisition, defence against the host
- toxins = usually secreted proteins (damage, subversion)
What are characteristics of enterobacteria?
- gram negative
- rods
- mobile (flagella)
- some colonise intestinal tract
(AKA. Phylum Proteobacteria)
Does salmonella or shigella have flagella?
Salmonella does making it motile
What are the 4 main shape groups of gram negative bacteria?
- Proteobacteria = all are rod-shaped except Neisseria + Campylobacter
- Bacteroids = rod-shaped
- Chlamydia = round, pleomorphic
- Spirochaetes = spiral/helical
What are the characteristics of E.coli and what infections it causes?
commensals = live in the stomach of healthy people, but when bacteria amount increases when you eat contaminated food they try to look for a new host and release toxins that make you ill
- Wound infections
- UTIs
- Gastroenteritis
What are characteristics of a shigella infection?
Gastroenteritis with dysentery (diarrhoea with blood and mucus)
- acid tolerant
- person to person spread or contaminated food/water
- entry through colonic M cells
- induced uptake
What are the 2 species of salmonella?
- S.enterica (responsible for salmonellosis)
- S. bongori (rare - contact with reptiles)
What 2 main infections does salmonella enterica cause?
- Gastroenteritis/enterocolitis
- food poisoning - Enteric fever - typhoid
- poor drinking water/sanitation
Explain the pathogenesis of salmonellosis?
- invasion of gut epithelium
- transcytosed to basolateral membrane
- enters submucosal macrophages
- intracellular survival/replication
How does gastroenteritis cause illness?
- Bacterial-mediated endocytosis
- Induction of interleukin-8 release
- Neutrophil recruitment and migration
- Neutrophil-induced tissue injury
- Fluid and electrolyte loss - diarrhoea
Inflammation/necrosis of gut mucosa
How does enteric fever cause illness?
- Bacterial-mediated endocytosis (brought into cell)
- Transcytosis (transported across interior of cell) to basolateral membrane
- Survival in macrophage - systemic
spread
Initially, little damage to gut mucosa
Examples of main Gram positive cocci.
Staphylococci
Streptococci
Enterococci
Examples of main gram negative cocci.
Neisseria
Moraxella
Veillonella
Examples of main gram positive bacilli.
Bacillus
Corynebacteria
Diptheriae
Listeria Monocytogenes
Examples of main gram negative bacilli
E. coli
Campylobacter
Pseudomonas
Salmonella
Shigella
Proteus
Define serovars.
(Or serotypes)
Are strains that have ANTIGENIC properties that differ from other strains of the same species.
Define pathovars.
(or Pathotypes)
Are strains that are distinguished by possession of particular PATHOGENIC mechanisms
rather than being based on antigenic differences.
Define biovars.
(Or biotypes)
Are variant bacterial strains that differ physiologically or biochemically from other strains in a particular species.
What are the different types of agar?
- Blood agar
- Chocolate agar
- CLED agar
- MacConkey agar
- Gonococcus agar
- XLD agar
- Sabourard agar
What test could be done to distinguish between different streptococci?
Blood agar haemolysis
What further test can be done for the streptococci in the beta haemolysis group?
Serogrouping (Lancefield grouping A,B,C,G)
- detecting surface antigens
What kind of bacteria is MacConkey agar used with?
Gram Negative bacilli
What does MacConkey agar contain and detect?
MacConkey agar contains bile salts, lactose and pH indicator.
If an organism ferments lactose, lactic acid will be produced and the agar will appear a red/pink colour.
Non- lactose fermenting = white
What are the main examples of mycobacteria?
Rods
M. tuberculosis
M.Leprae - leprosy
M. Avium - AIDs
M.Kansasii - chronic lung
What are some characteristics of mycobacteria?
- rods, bacilli
- Aerobic
- non-spore forming
- non-motile
- slow reproduction
- slow response to treatment
- slow growing
- cell wall contains high molecular weight lipids
- survive inside macrophages (TB escapes to cytosol to avoid phagosomal killing)
What do you stain mycobacteria with?
Resistant to gram stain (wax-like, thick cell walls
- acid fast bacilli
How is TB transmitted?
Aerosol
Person to person
How does TB affect the body?
- Initial contact made by alveolar macrophages
- Bacilli taken in lymphatics to hilarious lymph nodes
- Leads to cell mediated immune response from T cells
- Primary infection contained but CMA persists
(latent TB - no clinical disease, detectable CMI to TB)
Explain how TB can cause a systemic infection.
- failure in immunity
- granulomas form around bacilli in apex of lungs (more air and less blood supply)
- Cause necrosis
- Resulting in abscess forming and caseous material coughed up (how its first diagnosed usually)
- Lungs can then fill with fluid
- Spread to other tissue in the body
How does TB cause formation of granulomas?
Macrophage surround bacteria (inside macrophage),
Keeping them walled off due to fibroblasts around the edge
What is blood agar used for and its characteristics?
Streptococcus and others
- non-selective
What is chocolate agar used for and its characteristics?
- Fastidious (sensitive)
- For neisseria
What is MacConkey used for and its characteristics?
- For lactose status
- enteric gram negatives
- contains indicator
What is CLED used for and its characteristics?
- Stops motile proteus swarming
- lactose status
- urinary gram negatives
What is XLD used for and its characteristics?
- selective (salmonella & shigella)
- both ferment lactose
- shigella = red
- salmonella = red with black dots
Can you grow chlamydia on agar?
No, chlamydia is an obligate intracellular parasite
How can you detect chlamydia?
Serum antibodies or PCR.
What are the 5 ways viruses can cause disease?
- Direct destruction of host cells
- Modification of host cell
- “Over-reactivity” of immune system
- Damage through cell proliferation
- Evasion of host defences
What is a virus?
An infectious, obligate intracellular parasite comprising genetic material (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat and/or a membrane
What shapes do viruses come in?
- helical
- Icosahedral
- Complex
What are differences between bacteria and viruses?
Bacteria
- cell wall
- organelles
- DNA or RNA
- living
Viruses
- none of the things above
- dependent on host cell
Are viruses always enveloped?
No
Can be enveloped or non-enveloped
envelope = lipid coat derived from plasma membrane of the host cell
How do viruses replicate?
- Attachment to specific receptor
- Cell entry (uncoatinf of vision within cell)
- Host cell interaction + replication
- migration of genome to cell nucleus
- transcription to mRNA using host materials
- translation of viral mRNA to produce: structural proteins, viral genome, non-structural proteins (enzymes) - Assembly of viron
- Release of new virus particles: burst out or budding/exocytosis
How do viruses caused direct destruction of host cells?
host cell lysis and death after a viral replication period of 4 hrs
e.g. poliovirus
How do viruses cause disease by modification of host cell? example?
atrophies villi and flattens epithelial cells
decreases small intestine surface area
nutrients incl sugar not absorbed
hyperosmotic state
profuse diarrhoea
e.g. rotavirus
What is an example of a virus that causes ‘over-reactivity’ of immune system?
e.g. hep B
How do viruses cause damage through cell proliferation? Example?
e.g. human papillomavirus -> cervical cancer
- Acquisition through contact
- Partial viral replication and expression of some HPV proteins
- viral DNA integrated into host chromosome
- Continuous expression of oncoprotein causing cellular DNA mutations
- Dysplasia and neoplasia
- Cell proliferation and metastatic spread
What are the different ways viruses evade the host defences?
- cellular level
- virus not detectable
- cell to cell spread (avoids immune system - molecular level
- antigenic variability e.g. flu
- prevention of host cell apoptosis
- down regulation of interferon and other intracellular host defence proteins
- interference with host cell antigen processing pathways e.g. HIV
Why do viruses vary so much in the clinical syndromes they can cause?
- different host cells and tissues that they can infect
- different methods of interaction with the host cell
What 2 viruses does varicella zoster virus cause?
Primary infection = Chickenpox
Secondary reactivation = Shingles
What are some features of chickenpox?
- common in childhood
- highly contagious
- usually benign
- serious in certain groups e.g. adults, pregnancy, smokers, immunocompromised
What are some features of chickenpox?
- common in childhood
- highly contagious
- usually benign
- period in certain groups e.g. adults, pregnancy, smokers, immunocompromised
What are some complications of chickenpox?
- dehydration
- haemorrhage change
- cerebellar ataxia
- vermicelli pneumonia
- congenital (foetal) varicella syndrome
How do you confirm the diagnosis for chickenpox?
- pop lesion with a sterile needle
- absorb vesicle contents onto swab
- replace swab in cassette and send for PCR
How does viral dormancy occur?
- Virus evades the immune system
- lies dormant in dorsal root or cerebral ganglion
- localised reactivation = shingles
Define infectivity.
The ability to become established in host, can involve adherence and immune escape
Define invasiveness
The capacity to penetrate mucosal surfaces to reach normally sterile sites
What are the 4 stages of pathogenesis?
- exposure (contact, gain entry to host)
- adhesion (colonisation)
- invasion
- infection
cycle is complete when the pathogen exits the host and is transmitted to a new host.
What are commensal microorganisms?
The resident flora and usually nonpathogenic
- can cause disease if overgrown
- asymptomatic carriage of potential pathogens
What are the 4 types of pathogens for infections?
- viruses
- bacteria
- protozoa (parasitology)
- helminths (parasitology)