Unit 2 Flashcards
Why does DNA replication, transcription and translation in bacteria provide targets for antibiotics?
Because even though the process is relatively the same, different enzymes are responsible
What are three ways in which bacteria can be naturally resistant? Only a few types of bacteria are naturally resistant.
- mycolic acid
- drug efflux pumps
- secretion of toxins and antitoxins (so that they aren’t harmed by their own toxins)
How can bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?
mutations can occur in their genes
Beneficial mutations (like antibiotic resistance) are _____ times less common than detrimental mutations
100
What are three ways by which the problem of antibiotic resistance has reached its current scale?
- binary fission
- natural selection
- gene transfer
What are two ways in which natural selection is promoted in bacteria?
- overuse of antibiotics in humans
2. use of antibiotics in animal feed
Is gene transfer among bacteria rare?
No, it is rampant
What is transposase?
an enzyme that allows for the splicing in and out of a bacterial chromosome
What is an F plasmid?
A fertility plasmid, it causes the bacteria to sprout pili and it promotes conjugation
What is conjugation?
Both the donor and the recipient are alive. Hollow pili (sex) mediate attachment and a copy of the F plasmid is made and sent through the pili to the recipient.
Does conjugation occur during DNA replication?
Yes
How long does it take for conjugation to occur?
10 min
What is transduction?
The process by which a donor cell with an AB resistant gene is infected with a virus that splices into and out of the chromosome taking the AB resistant gene with it. The virus will eventually cause the cell to lyse. The viral DNA will be released and can splice into another cells chromosome giving them the AB resistant gene
How do viruses avoid exonucleases if they are linear segments of DNA?
They fold their ends in order to appear circular.
In transformation how are other bacteria aware of the fact that the bacteria has died?
The ATP spilled out with the rest of its contents acts as a signal to let them know that genes are available
How do the live bacteria “pick up” the lysed cells genes?
- secrete autolysin (which creates holes in their cell membrane)
- secrete endonuclease which cut up the chromosome
- They insert a DNA binding protein into their plasma membrane
- They express an eclipse complex (like carrier proteins)
What is an operon?
gene sequences that are found together and code for a protein that can be turned on or off
What is a repressor? What does it do?
It is a protein that attaches to operator sequences in order to stop the synthesis of certain proteins/products
Inducible operons
default off, nutrient attaches to repressor to turn it on, when the enzyme is needed to act on this nutrient. break things down
Repressible operons
default on, when there is nutrient available and it doesn’t need to be synthesized a repressor will bind to turn these off. synthesize things
Constitutive operons
Always on, because they are for things that the cell will always need
What would be a good way to regulate constitutive operons?
Antibiotic could fit and act as a repressor
Are fungi procaryotic or eucaryotic?
They are eucaryotic
What intracellular components make up fungi?
true nucleus, numerous organelles, cell wall, and ergosterol in PM
What is a fungal cell wall made up of?
chitin and glucan
What is a colony of fungi called?
a thallus
Most of the cells in a thallus are haploid or diploid?
haploid
What are the two forms in which fungal forms grow?
Filamentous and yeast
What is the name of a fungal colony growing end-to-end in a filament?
a hyphae
What is a ceonocytic hypha?
It is a hyphae in which the cytoplasms of the cell are connected, making it essentially a single, continuos hypha
How are nutrients diffused in a hypha?
By diffusion, capillary action
How do hyphae elongate?
mitosis and cytokinesis, at their tips not their bases
What does it mean to say that fungi can reproduce by fragmentation?
Any part of a hypha with a nucleus is capable of initiating a new colony
Hyphae bundle to form thicker strands called _________
mycelia
Vegitative mycelia
grow into underlying nutrient source, with are absorbed and easily shared with other cells in the thallus bc their cytoplams are connected
Reproductive mycelia
grow upwards and produce reproductive spores
What does the yeast form of fungi look like?
unicellular and spherical, without mycelia
How do yeast cells reproduce?
by budding - form a bulge on outer surface where a nucleus copy and starter set of organelles are placed which then pinch off.
What are reproductive spores?
they are dormant and resistant (pigmented) - stored in sporangium (full of individual spores)
What is histidine kinase?
It mediates between the two forms of fungi
What does it mean to say that fungi are dimorphic?
that they can grow in two different forms
When would a fungi grow into a filamentous or yeast form?
amount of N and glucose as well as temp.
What type of molecules to fungi need in order to grow?
Only organic, extremely versatile, any organic molecule will do. But they need frequent or occasional exposure to water.
What strange types of things can be metabolized by fungi? With the addition of a little bit of water
soap scum, damp leather, paint, vinyl, drywall (cellulose)
What does it mean to say that fungi digest externally?
They secrete enzymes into their environment which digest the material into subunits which are then absorbed into the fungi
Fungi are primarily to responsible for decomposing ________________ which they break down into _____________
dead plant material, sugars
What type of digestive enzymes do fungi secrete?
cellulase and pectinase
Fungi are mostly anaerobic or aerobic?
aerobic
yeasts are facultative _____________
anaerobes
If O2 is available
yeast will metabolize CHO by aerobic respiration to CO2 and H20 using O2 as a final e- acceptor
If O2 is unavailable
yeast will ferment CHO forming ethanol and H20
What type of pH do fungi prefer?
they prefer acidic environments 5.6
Why are fungi resistant to desiccation?
Because of their cell wall. They can grow at low moisture levels and in high salt/sugar conc
What is the generation time of fungi?
2 hours at 23 degrees C, 1 hour at 37 degrees C
What types of cells produce asexual spores?
single haploid
Fragments of hyphae are more or less resistant to the environment than vegetative hyphal cells? Why?
More, because the have a thickened cell wall
What is the simplest and least elaborate type of spore?
fragments of hypha
What is a sporangium?
It is a sac in which hundreds of spores form at the end of a reproductive hypha
How do the spores in a sporangium form?
One cell divides repeatedly by mitosis with all daughter cells becoming spores, which are then encased in a sac which eventually ruptures
What other types of spores do reproductive hypha produce besides sporagium?
chains of spores
How are sexual spores produced?
By the fusion or combining of genetically dissimilar parents from two different hyphae colonies
The parent cells are __________ and the zygote is _________ in sexual spore production
haploid, diploid
If the zygote divides by mitosis before undergoing meiosis, how many haploid spores are produced per diploid cell?
4
sexual spores germinate into what?
haploid hyphal cells
sexual spores contain ____________ chromosome combinations than their parents which is beneficial
different
What are mycoses?
human diseases caused by fungi
What does nosocomial mean?
hospital-acquired
What percentage of nosocomial infections are fungal?
40 %
What is the classification of fungal infections based on?
How deep into the body the microorganisms penetrate
Superficial mycoses
It is on the surface of the skin only, filamentous form
Cutaneous mycoses
mycelia (hyphas) growing into the keratinized, dead cells of the skin, to absorb nutrients the fungi secrete keratinase, filamentous form
What are examples of cutaneous mycoses?
ring worm and athletes foot
Subcutaneous mycoses
infection beneath the skin, spores would have to have been directly implanted by a cut or puncture, yeast form.
Systemic mycoses
Can affect any and all of the body tissues and organs, because they are being carried by the bloodstream, yeast form.
How are most systemic mycoses contracted?
By inhaling spores which then germinate in the alveoli, and can then pass into the bloodstream b/c of the narrow boundary between the alveoli and capillaries
What type of fungi cause histoplasmosis?
Histoplasma capsulatum
Describe histoplasmosis
It is a pulmonary infection that is only symptomatic in people with weak or underdeveloped immune systems most people are exposed by age 20 (can cause pneumonia or TB)
Where are Histoplasma capsulatum normally found?
In bird droppings, because they provide organic material, water, and an acidic environment.
How do histoplasma capsulatum yeast survive being phagocytosed?
The yeast cells chelate (adsorb) the Ca+2 in the phagosome, which is what activates its degradative enzymes.
What type of fungi cause cryptococcal meningitis?
Cryptococcus neoformans
Describe cyrptococcal meningitis
The fungi are inhaled and then pass into the bloodstream where they can then pass into the meninges (subarachnoid space)
How could cryptococcus neoformans cause encephalitis?
By crossing over the pia mater and into the nervous tissue of the brain.
What are two drugs that have been used to treat cryptococcal meningitis?
amphotericin B - attaches to ergosterol and rips it out of the PM (problem, it can rip cholesterol out of human cells PM). AND fluconazole - which blocks the synthesis of ergosterol, inhibiting growth.
What type of fungi cause candidiasis?
Candida albicans
Are candida albicans part of the body’s normal flora?
yes
What type of mycosis is candidiasis classified as?
superficial
What is the cascade of events of Candida albicans leading to symptoms?
- eliminate competing MO’s
- This leads to an overgrowth of yeast
- The fermentation byproducts of yeast leads to host cell damage
- The host cell damage leads to inflammation
- Inflammation leads to a limiting of the spread of damage as well as the swelling
- swelling presses on nearby nerves causing pain or itching symptoms