...Marine Mycology: An Overview of Pathogens, and Secondary Metabolites Introduction and History The golden age of marine mycology occurred from 1960-1990 with the research and discovery of most of the roughly 500 species of obligate marine fungi. Much of said research was conducted from 1980-2000; this 30 year period saw the report of nearly half of the marine fungal species currently known (Jones et al. 2009; Jones, 2011). That being said, marine fungi are vastly understudied and under rated in comparison to marine plants, animals, and other microorganisms; frequently they are omitted or only briefly referenced in marine biodiversity and ecology text books (Jones and Pang, 2012). The cladistics of marine fungi is currently in a state of flux, with new taxa being discovered as molecular techniques such as DNA and RNA analysis via polymerase chain reactions, and gel electrophoresis are implemented (Ald et al 2005). Even though fungus-like organisms such as oomycetes are not fungi, marine mycologists often study them as they perform similar functions, and until recently most had been classified as fungi based on their morphological similarities (Jones, 2011). These fungus-like organisms are eukaryotic, heterotrophic, zoospores, have chitin containing cell walls, and similar life cycles to fungi (Neuhauser et al. 2012). Conventionally terrestrial or freshwater species are also included in the marine fungal group as facultative species; this is due to their active ecological...
Words: 4679 - Pages: 19
...Unknown Identification Introduction to Microbiology Lab Professor M Biology Lab 1913 11/11/2014 I. Introduction A series of tests was completed in order to identify an unknown microorganism. A gram stain reaction test was done. A gram stain reaction test is used to differentiate between two bacterial species. The two species; gram positive and gram negative bacteria have varying properties of their cell wall structural composition. The gram positive bacteria contain a thick peptidoglycan layer in their cell wall which retains the primary crystal violet stain. The crystal violet is washed from the fixed stain and gram-negative bacteria appear red after the decolorizer washes the primary stain due to their more porous higher lipid content walls and the safranin counter stain adheres to their thinner cell wall. The microscopic examination of the bacteria after staining allows for the morphology of the organism to be determined because as the cell is killed during the staining process it retains its rigid structure allowing for morphology determination. A fermentation test was done. Three different carbohydrates are used to determine whether the organism can ferment a sugar as well as if a gas is produced during heterofermentation. A phenol red broth is used which retains a red color at a pH of 7.4 indicating no fermentation of a sugar. When an acid is produced during fermentation, the pH of the broth will lower and the broth will turn yellow. The sugars...
Words: 1675 - Pages: 7
...Introduction: The microbiology of food and the environment are two very important fields in the large scope of microbiological research. Because microorganisms exist almost everywhere, it is important to determine the influences that they place on the food we depend on for survival, and the environment in which we humans call home. In this lab, we conducted five experiments in these two fields, and in doing so gained a better understanding of the influences and importance of microbes in food and the environment. The first exercise was the enumeration of soil microbes. This experiment showcased the immense diversity of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi found in soil. This diversity ranges from microbes that are beneficial to the environment by decomposing dead organic matter into energy sources usable by other organisms, to the pathogenic bacterial and fungal spores that can infect humans and animals alike. The techniques used are serial dilutions, which allow for quantification and a close estimation of the amount of said organisms found in a soil sample. (1) The second exercise that we conducted was the microbiology of water experiment. This is a very important standardized experiment used to determine the density of coliforms found in a 100 mL sample of water. It also can be used more specifically to determine the density of Escherichia coli, which can cause food poisoning amongst other illnesses. The techniques used are the multiple tube fermentation method, which involves...
Words: 3244 - Pages: 13
...PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF MICROBIAL SPOILAGE IN CITRUS FRUITS 5.2 SUMMARY AND CONCLUTION REFERENCES CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Consumption of citrus fruits and fruit juices has substantially risen over the last few years, mostly due to the increasing demand for low-caloric food products with fresh-like characteristics. In addition, there is scientific evidence that consumption of Citrus fruits and vegetables helps prevent many degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular problems and several cancers (Rico et al., 2007). Fresh fruits have a natural protective barrier that acts effectively against most plant spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. However, as a consequence of inappropriate manipulation during the handling, cutting, shredding, and maintenance of the fruit at ambient temperature and storage conditions, both pathogenic and deteriorative microorganisms may contaminate a product, thus increasing the risk of microbial diseases and spoilage (Beuchat, 1996; Díaz-Cinco et al., 2005). In fact, the number of outbreaks and cases of illness caused by consumption of citrus fruits and unpasteurized juices has increased in the last years (Harris et al., 2003), especially in developing Countries like Nigeria....
Words: 9949 - Pages: 40
...than reproduction. Genetic transformation, a form of horizontal gene transfer, involves the altering of a cell through the uptake of naked DNA. Naked DNA refers to DNA which has been released from lysed or disrupted cells and is taken up by a recipient cell. If a cell is able to take up naked DNA, they are referred to as competent. This finding is accredited to Frederick Griffith, a bacteriologist who conducted an experiment in which a nonpathogenic strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae was exposed to a heat-killed pathogenic strain of the same bacteria. Griffith observed that although the virulent strain had been heat-killed; the DNA was able to survive the heating process and was taken up by the “resistant” strain of bacteria through gene transformation. In this lab, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that a susceptible strain of bacteria, known as the S-strain, will grow in the presence of an antibiotic if it is combined with the DNA from the lysed pathogenic cell. Methods To demonstrate Griffith’s findings, an experiment was conducted with a competent prokaryotic cell known as Acinetobacter. This bacterium is Gram-negative, rod-shaped, and typically found in soil and water. During this experiment, three sessions were completed in order to observe whether gene transformation had successfully taken place. In the first session, 1.0 mL of a resistant strain (R-strain) of Acinetobacter broth was transferred into a sterile tube, along...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURAL ASSIGNMENT COURSE TITLE: AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOLOGY COURSE CODE: AGN201N INDEX NUMBER: AG/AGR/11/0036 QUESTION: 1. Examples of pathogenic bacteria and their corresponding diseases. 2. Examples of useful bacteria and their importance 30TH August, 2012 Bacteria are living things that belong to a group all by themselves. They are small, single cell organisms called prokaryotes that do not contain a nucleus and are usually found in very large groups because they can quickly multiply. There are many different kinds of bacteria that are all separated into different types and groups, each group having its very own unique qualities that sets it apart from all the rest. A pathogen is a microorganism – in the widest sense, such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus – that causes disease in its host. The host may be an animal (including humans), a plant, or even another microorganism. Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that cause bacterial infection. Below is a table of some pathogenic bacteria and their corresponding diseases. PATHOGENIC BACTERIA | PATHOGENIC DISEASE | Clostridium perfringens | * Gas gangrene * Acute food poisoning * Anaerobic cellulitis | Streptococcus pyogenes | * Streptococcal pharyngitis * Scarlet fever * Rheumatic fever * Impetigo and...
Words: 799 - Pages: 4
...scientist by the name of David Bergey was the first person who proposed the system of bacterial classification in which bacteria are grouped according to Gram reaction, metabolism, and morphology. The first edition of Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology was published in 1984. This book can be used to identify a microorganism. The purpose of this experiment is to identify an unknown bacteria using the skills learned in microbiology laboratory this semester. Materials and Methods This experiment was conducted at Louisiana State University in Shreveport...
Words: 934 - Pages: 4
...Valery Taustsiakou G00296946 30th November 2015 Co-workers: Aishlinn Jennings, Veronica Gomes. Urinary Tract Cases and STI cases UTI/ Case 2 Clinical details: * 20year old female presented to student health clinic with characteristic UTI symptoms. * Her symptoms were dysuria, frequent and painful micturition for previous 2 days. * It was reported that she has not observed any blood in her urine. * Her temperature was checked and was normal. * An absence of flank pain was reported. * A mid-stream urine sample (MSU) sample was collected and sent to the microbiology laboratory for investigation. * The specimen was cultured on chromogenic UTI agar and CLED agar. * A diagnosis of UTI or cystits was made at the student health clinic. * This diagnosis requires laboratory confirmation. Results: Table 1. White cell count (WCC), red cell count (RCC) and bacterial colony count results from patient’s midstream urine sample. Parameter | Number counted | Count (no./mm) | Reported/cmm | units (CFU/ul) | units (CFU/ml) | White cell count (WCC) | 374 | 374,000 | >100WCC/cmm | - | - | Red cell count (RCC) | 27 | 2,700 | Present | - | - | Bacterial colony count | 200* | - | - | - | 2x105* | *= Macroscopic bacterial colony count was performed by the supervisor within a mixed but sparse colonial growth on the Orientation Chromagar medium. The macroscopic appearance of the urine samples was a cloudy turbid fluid. One epithelial cell was observed within...
Words: 4554 - Pages: 19
...Bacterium Research: Thiobacillus Thiobacillus are small, Gram-negative, rod-shaped cells (0.3–0.5 × 0.9–4.0 µm). Some species are motile by means of polar flagella. No resting stages known. Energy is derived by the oxidation of one or more reduced sulfur compounds, including sulfides, sulfur, thiosulfate, polythionates, and thiocyanate. Sulfate is the end product of sulfur-compound oxidation, but sulfur, sulfite, and polythionates may be accumulated by most species, sometimes transiently. All species can fix carbon dioxide by means of the Benson–Calvin cycle and are capable of autotrophic growth; some species are obligate chemolithotrophic, (this means a bacterium that obtains its energy from inorganic compounds containing iron, nitrogen, or sulfur, and not from living on decaying organisms) while others are chemoorganotrophic. The genus currently includes obligate aerobes and facultative denitrifiers. Denitrifiers contribute to the nitrogen cycle which consists of the ongoing processes that Nitrogen has to undertake as it is the largest gas compound in the atmosphere. Their primary purpose being to metabolize nitrogenous compounds, with the assistance of the nitrate reductase enzyme, to turn oxides back to nitrogen gas or nitrous oxides for energy generation. The process of denitrification lowers the fertility rate of reproduction of the soil and thus is less common in areas where the land is rather well-cultivated. But this loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere can eventually...
Words: 1873 - Pages: 8
...Blood pressure cuffs: friend or foe? Walker N, Gupta R, Cheesbrough J. Source Department of Microbiology, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Preston, UK. nwalker@doctors.org.uk Abstract A study to assess the level of bacterial contamination of blood pressure cuffs in use on hospital wards was performed. Viable organisms were recovered from all the 24 cuffs sampled at a density of between 1000 and >25 000 colony-forming units/100 cm2. Potential pathogens were isolated from 14 cuffs (58%). Eleven cuffs grew a single pathogen and three cuffs grew a mixture, yielding a total of 18 isolates. Meticillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from eight (33%) cuffs, meticillin-resistant S. aureus was isolated from two (8%) cuffs and Clostridium difficile was isolated from eight (33%) cuffs. This study serves as a reminder that hands are not the only fomite to go from patient to patient on hospital wards, and that measures should be taken to reduce the risks posed by blood pressure cuffs. AANA J. 1996 Apr;64(2):141-5. Nondisposable sphygmomanometer cuffs harbor frequent bacterial colonization and significant contamination by organic and inorganic matter. Base-Smith V. Source University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health, Ohio, USA. Abstract In the hurried milieu of operating rooms, emergency departments, and intensive care units, contaminated sphygmomanometers (blood pressure cuffs) may not be routinely sanitized or replaced with clean...
Words: 1407 - Pages: 6
...Chapter 1 notes 1.1 ubiquitous= found everywhere, found in all natural habitats (microbes). Microbiology- is a specialized area of biology that deals with tiny life forms that are not readily observe without magnification. microscopic= small to see. microbes= small life. -Groups of Organisms that we will be studying : bacteria, viruses, funny, protozoa, algae and helminths (parasitic worm) -Microbiology consider the largest and most complex of biological sciences. Here we study the aspects of microbes- their genetics, their physiology, characteristics that may be harmful or beneficial, the ways they interact with the environment, the way they interact wit other organisms, and their uses in industry and agriculture. -Some professions of microbiology are: Geomicrobiologist (earth), marine microbiologist, medical technologist (pathogenic microbes and diseases), nurse epidemiologist and astrobiologist. 1.2 Prokaryotic- simple cells that lack a nucleus (referring it as karyon) found 3.5 billion years ago. Eukaryotes- more complex, contain a nucleus and other complex internal structures found 1.8 billion years ago. (the early eukaryotes probably similar to algae and protozoa, started lines of evolution that eventually gave rise to fungi, plants and multicellular animas such as worms and insects) organelles= are structure in cells that are bound by one or more membranes. ex. mitochondria. All prokaryotes are microorganisms and include the bacteria and archaeons...
Words: 1201 - Pages: 5
...Task 11 A. Identify at least five environments in which you are likely to find microbial life. Microorganisms are everywhere: in the air, soil, water, rocks, plants and animals and humans. Some thrive in intense heat, while others require extreme subzero temperatures. B. Describe five vital functions microbes serve. They produce oxygen by oxygenic photosynthesis which occurs in algae and cyanobacteria; also through decomposition they release mineral nutrients such as potassium and nitrogen from dead organic matter, making it available for primary producers, thus maintaining soil fertility. Some bacteria’s are able to remove nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it to ammonia. Planktonic algae and cyanobacteria float in the ocean and are the main source of carbon and food from which marine life is derived i.e. they are main food chain in the ocean. Some microbes also protect the human body when the “good bacteria’s” serve the function of normal flora. Other functions are carbon dioxide fixation. Microbes are also used by scientist to make medicine, food and enzymes (Levinson, 2014). C. Describe what type of growth you observed in the following dishes (e.g., number of colonies, shape, color, and defining characteristics): The air dish had six colonies, most are coccus shaped although one is rather large and coccobacilli shaped, with a cream color. Observation of the soil dish showed lots of tiny colonies. It's shaped like a coccus and looked cream/whitish in color with...
Words: 580 - Pages: 3
...bacterial pathogens such as Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pyogens, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabillis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by paper disc method. The butanolic extract of Abelmoschus esculentus was more active against almost 90% of the organism tested. It was followed by Ethyl acetate, Methanol, Petroleum ether, Chloroform in inhibiting the growth of organism tested. Key Words: Abelmoschus esculentus, Pathogens, Antibacterial assay, Malvaceae, Disc diffusion method INTRODUCTION Many drug resistant bacterial strains were developed due to the increased use of a number of antibacterial drugs. It also created the problem in controlling the growth of infectious disease causing pathogenic bacteria. Moreover synthetic drugs produce side effect to the users1.To circumvent this problem, scientists...
Words: 2583 - Pages: 11
...Aeromonas Hydrophila: The Improbable Culprit Edwin Myrick Abstract This study examines the structure and influences of Aeromonas Hydrophila, as a stand-alone bacterium and as it contribute to Necrotizing Fasciitis. Aeromonas Hydrophila impacts both aquatic life and humans, although the infection is not commonly known. This study examines those influences and explores medical case studies where individuals experienced illness, amputation, and even death. Aeromonas Hydrophila: The Improbable Culprit As the summer months begin to elevate the mercury level, nature’s creeks and streams provide cooling entertainment from the elements. People have long used these waterways for recreation activities, such as fishing, walking, swimming, and canoeing; unsuspecting of the dangers. Most bacteria are harmless, but certain types can cause complications and disease. The flesh eating bacteria Aeromonas Hydrophila, can create unthinkable devastation through minor cuts and scratches; causing sickness, amputation, and even death. The world has thousands of micro-living organisms called bacteria, these unicellular microorganisms have cell walls, but no structured nucleus, some of these microorganisms can cause disease (Hogan, 2005). Thousands of bacteria inhibit our environment every day, many of them unidentified but not all of them are unhealthy. Bacterial cells consist of shapes; spherical, rodlike, spiral, helical, and comm-shaped (Lerner, 2005). The...
Words: 1944 - Pages: 8
...Section A: Basic Microbiology 1 SCOPE AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MICROBIOLOGY “Science contributes to our culture in many ways, as a creative intellectual activity in its own right, as a light which has served to illuminate man’s place in the uni-verse, and as the source of understanding of man’s own nature” —John F. Kennedy (1917–63) The President of America The bacterium Escherichia coli INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE MICROBIOLOGY is a specialized area of biology (Gr. bios-life+ logos-to study) that concerns with the study of microbes ordinarily too small to be seen without magnification. Microorganisms are microscopic (Gr. mikros-small+ scopein-to see) and independently living cells that, like humans, live in communities. Microorganisms include a large and diverse group of microscopic organisms that exist as single cell or cell clusters (e.g., bacteria, archaea, fungi, algae, protozoa and helminths) and the viruses, which are microscopic but not cellular. While bacteria and archaea are classed as prokaryotes (Gr. pro-before+ karyon-nucleus) the fungi, algae, protozoa and helminths are eukaryotes (Gr. eu-true or good+ karyon-nucleus). Microorganisms are present everywhere on earth, which includes humans, animals, plants and other living creatures, soil,water and atmosphere. Microorganisms are relevant to all of our lives in a multitude of ways. Sometimes, the influence of microorganisms on human life is beneficial, whereas at other times, it is detrimental. For example...
Words: 9515 - Pages: 39
