We compulsively wash our hands, spray our countertops and grimace when someone sneezes near us—in fact, we do everything we can to avoid unnecessary encounters with the germ world. But the truth is we are practically walking petri dishes, rife with bacterial colonies from our skin to the deepest recesses of our guts. All the bacteria living inside you would fill…
(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…
To isolate plasmid DNA, you crack your cells open and perform a miniprep, trying hard to avoid contaminating genomic DNA. For genomic DNA, you crack your cells open in a different way and try to isolate as much of the contents as possible. So what’s the difference in the protocols? In this article, we will look at plasmid and genomic DNA extraction, and the ways…
Bloodborne Pathogens: Awareness and Prevention Bloodborne pathogens are infectious microorganisms that are transmitted through the blood when someone’s skin gets cut or pricked by a sharp object that contains traces of contaminated blood. Bloodborne pathogens are dangerous because there is no way to get them out of the bloodstream once they enter a person’s body…
Plants host distinct bacterial communities on and inside various plant organs, of which those associated with roots and the leaf surface are best characterized. The phylogenetic composition of these communities is defined by relatively few bacterial phyla, including Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. A synthesis of available data suggests…
As you take steps to avoid the germs and viruses that proliferate as winter progresses, you ve no doubt received a good share of advice on how to avoid catching whatever s going around. ABCNews OnCall+ spoke with experts about some of the popular myths about germs that tend to spread as fast as the bacteria themselves this time of year. Is a dog s mouth cleaner…
Smooth muscle cells and pericytes, together called mural cells, coordinate numerous vascular functions. Canonically, smooth muscle cells are ring-shaped and cover arterioles with circumferential processes, whereas pericytes extend thin processes that run longitudinally along capillaries. Nearly a century ago, Zimmerman described mural cells with mixed features…
For bacteria, the structural integrity of its cell wall is of utmost importance for survival, and to this end, a rigid scaffold called peptidoglycan, comprised of sugar molecules and peptides, is synthesized and located outside the cytoplasmic membrane of the cell. Disruption of this peptidoglycan layer has for many years been a prime target for effective antibiotics…
Living cells are divided into two types - prokaryotic and eukaryotic (sometimes spelled procaryotic and eucaryotic). This division is based on internal complexity. The following interactive animations provide graphic roadmaps to the organization of both of these cell types. Prokaryotic Cell Model For life all cells have basic needs. Cells have diverged in their…
Structure: Like many other protists, the structure of Amoeba proteus is relatively simple. It is a single celled organism that appears transparent and gelatin like – with an arguably “forever” changing shape, with a nucleus and membrane bound organelles (such as food vacuoles, contractile vacuoles, golgi apparatus, mitochondria etc.). As mentionned above, Amoeba…
The illustration shows a generalised bacterium with many of the main components illustrated. No real organism would have all of these features. The image above is 400 pixels across and the original is 5, 438 pixels across. CELL WALL The top half of the diagram shows a Gram +ve bacterium with its thick peptidoglycan outer wall closely apposed to the inner plasma…
Fourteen years ago, during the darkest moments of the “stem-cell wars” pitting American scientists against the White House of George W. Bush, one group of advocates could be counted on to urge research using cells from human embryos: parents of children with type 1 diabetes. Motivated by scientists who told them these cells would lead to amazing cures, they spent…
