Microbiology 3 Flashcards
What are the major phyla making up the gut flora?
- Firmicutes
- Bacteroides
- Proteobacteria
Describe Firmicutes
- Majority Gram +ve
- Some form endospores
- Mollicutes (Mycoplasmas) lack cell walls altogether
- Some sub groups have porous pseudo outer membrane casuign Gram -ve staining
- Found in various environments
- Commensals and pathogens
List the important Gram +ve Firmicutes
- Listeria
- Staphylococcus
- Enterococcus
- Lactobacillus
- Streptococcus
List the important Gram +ve endospore forming Firmicutes
- Clostridium
- Bacillus
Describe Bacteroides
- Composed of 3 large classes of bacteria
- Bacteroidales, Bacteroides, Porphyromonas
- Widely distributed in environment
- Rarely pathogenic
- Some evidence for opportunistic infection by Bacteroides (abundant in faeces)
- Bacteroides, Porphyromonas Gram -ve
Describe Proteobacteria
- All Gram -ve
- Includes commensals and pathogens
- Defined by rRNA sequences
- Diversity of forms
- Either facultative or obligate anaerobes
- Heterotrophic (numerous exceptions)
- Divided into 5 sections: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon
Give an example of alpha Proteobacteria
Rickettsia
Give examples of beta Proteobacteria
- Neissericeae
- Burkholderia
What are the families within gamma Proteobacteria?
- Psuedomonadaceae
- Enterobacteriaceae
- Vibrionaeceae
Give an example of Psuedomonadaceae
Pseudomonas
Give examples of Enterobacteriaceae
- Escherichia
- Salmonella
- Proteus
- Klebsiella
- Yersinia
- Enterobacter
- Shigella
- Citrobacter
Give an example of Vibrionaceae
Vibrio
Give an example of delta Proteobacteria
Myxobacteria
Give an example of epsilon proteobacteria
- Helicobacter
- Campylobacter
Describe Alphaproteobacteria
- Symbionts of plants and animals
- Important group, contains pathogens (Rickettsiaceae)
- Minute Gram -ve, obligate intracellular pathogens
- Not GI
- Rickettsia rickettsii = rocky mountain spotted fever in US, vector bourn (ticks)
- Rickettsia typhi - rodent vectors
Describe Betaproteobacteria
- Aerobic or facultative
- Several groups
- highly versatile in degradation capacities
- Range from plant pathogens, environmental organisms to pathogenic species
Describe Gammaproteobacteria
- 3 important groups
- Important pathogens
- Not all are GI importance
Describe Epsilonproteobacteria
- Contains Vibrio pathogens Helicobacter and Campylobacter
- Microaerophilic
Describe Actinobacteria
- Contains Mycobacteria (acid fast) and Bifidobacterium (Gram +ve)
- Corynebacterium
- Range of organisms, some cause disease, some healthy commensals
Describe the genus Bacteroides
- Gram -ve
- Rod
- Anaerobic
- Non-endospore
- Variable motility between species
- Novel membrane sphingolipids and mesodiaminopimelic acid in peptidoglycan layer
- Major component of GI flora
- Complex molecules to simpler ones in host intestine
- Simple sugars when available, main source of energy is polysaccharide from plant sources
Describe the genus Lactobacillus
- Gram +ve
- Facultative anaerobe/microaerophilic
- Firmicutes
- Lactose and other sugars to lactic acid
- Common and benign
- Mucosa of reproductive and GIT
- makes environment acidic, inhibitis growht of someharmful bacteria
Describe the genus Clostridia
- Gram +ve
- Rod
- Obligate anaerobes
- Can produce endospores
- Pathogenic
- Botulinum, dificile, perfringes, tetani all important species
Describe the genus Streptococci
- Gram +ve
- Coccoid
- Firmicutes phylum
- May be commensal or pathogenic
- Lots of species
- Distinguish by haemolysis, serology and biochemical testing
- Grow in chains or pairs
Describe Enterococcus faecalis
- Gram +ve
- Non-motile
- Commensal
- Facultatitve anaerobe
- Catalase -ve
- Gamma haemolytic
- Niche gastrointestinal tracts of mammals
- May be opportunistic pathogen