Microbiology 3302 Spring 2013 – Getting Friendly with Bacteria

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  • My life as Enterococcus faecalis
  • #13276

    Alejandra Lopez
    Participant

    Hello my fellow bacterial friends, I am enterococcus faecalis and I am a gram positive bacterium, meaning I will stain a dark violet color. This is because i have multiple layers of peptidoglycan in my cell wall, allowing me to retain the crystal violet dye. l am such an awesome bacteria that i can live in the absence as well as in the presence of oxygen, making me a faculative anaerobe. I am a cocci- shape bacteria arranged in clusters or short chains. I am able to metabolize through the pentose phosphate pathway which allows me to break down the five carbon sugars as well as glucose. Before I go on, I must let you know that I am a human pathogen. I love to spend my time in areas of the body that are rich in nutrients but low in oxygen, such as the gastrointestinal tract, vagina, and oral cavity. On the holidays, I enjoy visiting human stool in large numbers. I am hated the most for invading the hospital environment, thus that in recent years, i have become a bit famous for being the leading cause of nosocomial infections due to my high resistance to most antibiotics. I must confess that i am guilty for being responsible for much of the infections of surgical wounds and urinary tract, but it is my duty to also let others know that Enterococcus faecium has also contributed to this cause. When i am in a bad mood I tend to invade the human bloodstream through invasive procedures, such as indwelling catheters. It is only fair that I let you know that I have become resistant to vancomycin, which can be a threatening infection, so be aware. I am a member of the lactobacillales, allowing me and my friends to produce lactic acid. You must also know that we have no endospores. My friends in this classification tree include Listeria, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Mycoplasmatales. The most recent article that has mention me was in 2005 when there were 7,066 cases of bacteraemia caused by me in the U.S.. Twenty- eight percent of all cases were antibiotic resistant.

    Bibliography:
    Retrieved from: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/2can/genomes/bacteria/Enterococcus_faecalis.html
    Retrieved from: http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/155/6/1749.full
    Microbilogy: An Introduction by Tortora, Funke, Case – etext

    #17041

    Angelica
    Participant

    Hey there!! Let’s be friends!! I see we both love to take over the human body! :)

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