Introduction [edit] Microorganisms or microbes are tiny living things that are found all around us. They are usually too small to be seen with the naked wilie eye. Three of the main groups of microorganisms are: Bacteria [edit] Electron micrograph of H. pylori possessing multiple flagella (negative staining) Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are a large group of unicellular…
Albertí S , Alvarez D , Merino S , et al. (1996) Analysis of complement C3 deposition and degradation on Klebsiella pneumoniae . Infection and Immunity 64: 4726–4732. Bloma AM , Hallströmb T and Riesbeckb K (2009) Complement evasion strategies of pathogens: acquisition of inhibitors and beyond. Molecular Immunology 46: 2808–2817. Bushell SR , Mainprize IL , Wear MA…
Archaeal cell walls differ from bacterial cell walls in their chemical composition and lack of peptidoglycans. Learning Objective State the similarities between the cell walls of archaea and bacteria Terms cytoplasm The contents of a cell except for the nucleus. It includes cytosol, organelles, vesicles, and the cytoskeleton. cellulose A complex carbohydrate that…
With all the attention to the Ebola virus and other pathogens floating around in bodily fluids and the air, we may not be aware that the dirt beneath our feet is home to thousands of bacteria and other microorganisms. Even the soil in New York City, which we might think is somewhat lifeless given the preponderance of concrete and pollution, is as full of life as soils…
Bacteria and antibiotics have been in an arms race since the drugs were invented. But for economic reasons, fewer and fewer of these drugs are being developed today, while the fear of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is ever-growing. This, and the potential threat of a bioterror attack, where say an epidemic-causing bacteria is released into the general population, makes…
Duke scientists have identified microbes that diverged into new species to specialized in colonizing one area after another of the human body. The new analysis used mathematical tools originally developed for geologists. Credit: Jonathan Fuller, Duke University As the human species evolved over the last six million years, our resident microbes did the same, adapting…
Structure and Function of Bacterial Cells (page 7) (This chapter has 10 pages) © Kenneth Todar, PhD The Plasma Membrane The plasma membrane, also called the cytoplasmic membrane, is the most dynamic structure of a procaryotic cell. Its main function is a s a selective permeability barrier that regulates the passage of substances into and out of the cell. The plasma…
Microbes such as bacteria and fungi, are very tiny organisms found in just about every ecosystem or elsewhere in the world and can associate with other diverse types of living things. They may be harmless passengers in humans and can even participate in biological processes. However, they can also cause injury and interfere with your body functions to the point of…
Part I: The critical role of spatial organization in bacterial cell function Lecture Overview Most bacterial cells are many, many times smaller than eukaryotic cells. Since they have no membrane-bound internal organelles, their cellular organization also appears much simpler. Over the last decade, however, scientists have come to understand that that bacterial cells…
Photosynthetic bacteria have been around for longer than the Earth’s atmosphere could sustain human life. It was only recently though that scientists began to unravel the mystery of how these micro-organisms execute the mechanisms of photosynthesis. While scientists still have not been able to put all the pieces of the photosynthetic bacteria puzzle in the right places…
Bacterial Motility - flagella and nanotechnology The diagram above shows a model of a close-up view of the basal components of a bacterial flagella. These are the wheels at the roots of the flagella as mentioned in the introduction to bacteria, if you have not read this introduction then click here to learn the basics of bacterial structure. The diagrams below add…
Animated Healthcare Ltd/SPL Recoding could stop synthetic organisms from sharing their modified DNA, as happens when a virus (red) infects a bacterium (green). The instructions encoded into DNA are thought to follow a universal set of rules across all domains of life. But researchers report today in Science that organisms routinely break these rules. The finding has…
(redirected from competent bacterial cells) Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia. Related to competent bacterial cells: Bacterial transformation competent Medspeak Referring to the ability to perform one or more tasks skillfully and proficiently. Physiology Referring to a valve or vessel that closes normally or appropriately retains…
You may think of unicellular organisms as the simpletons of life on Earth, but Oxytricha trifallax is a prime example of just how remarkably complex single life can be. This unassuming microorganism performs genetic gymnastics during development, unravelling its jigsaw genome and rearranging some quarter-million pieces of DNA. What’s more, it manages the whole process…
