Microbiology 3302 Lab

Hello my name is Vibrio parahaemolyticus and I am a Gammaproteobacteria of the Vibrio genus. I have a curved rod-like figure and a single flagellum for getting around. I always wear my gram negative coat to protect me against all the nasty things out there that would harm me. I prefer hanging out at places where oxygen is present but I can do just fine even without it. In the presence of oxygen I can use my magical oxidase enzyme to help me grow faster. For those reasons humans label me as a facultative anaerobe. I’m not a picky eater, although my favorite food is glucose I have no problems eating galactose when glucose is not available. However, I refuse to eat that disgusting stuff called sucrose.

I prefer moist salty water so I’m usually found near coastal waters. I make my home in the many friendly sea creatures there especially the comfy shellfish. I am usually content in my home but from time to time I like to travel to exotic locations. The most popular destination is in the human gastrointestinal tract where I can get around freely,  host many parties, and make many new friends. You can tell I’m having a blast when you experience diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and pain. Humans refer to this a gastroenteritis and it is recommended that you drink plenty of water when that happens (helps with all the alcohol too!). Of course, I am also a generous host. My ability to host such wonderful parties is due to my virulent Type III Secretion System. Using this system I can inject my “thermostable direct hemolysin” party favors directly into my guest’s cytoplasm! Friendly cells who come in contact with me will explode with joy. You can see my party favors at work by putting me on a blood agar plate and observing the β-hemolytic activity.

I come from the large family of the Vibrio genus. My family also have curved rod-like figures and wear gram negative coats. Like me, my family prefers salty water and produce oxidase for aerobic metabolism. My most famous sibling is Vibrio cholerae who is known to cause cholera. Others in my family, like Vibrio anguillarum can cause vibriosis while Vibrio fluvialis can cause diarrhea. The Vibrio family comes from a long line of Gammaproteobacteria. This includes the orders of Enterobacteriales, Legionellales, Pseudomonadales and many more.

I was in the news recently for throwing awesome parties in 104 humans spanning 13 different states in a period of five months in 2013. Every year I throw parties in as many as 35,000 humans and make many times that in cellular friends! To all my human fans out there, don’t be shy and invite me in for great parties in your tummy! Below is a photo of me so you could admire my curves. Feel free to drop by sometime and invite me over. I’ll stock up on party favors and look forward some fun times!

References:

[1] Tortora, Gerard J., et al. Microbiology An Introduction 11th edition. Pearson Education, Inc. 2013.

[2] Microbiology Laboratory. McGraw-Hill Education. 2014.

[3] “Vibrio_parahaemolyticus.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrio_parahaemolyticus>

[4] ” Identification of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Strains at the Species Level by PCR Targeted to the toxR Gene.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2010. <http://www.cdc.gov/vibrio/vibriop.html>

[5] “Improved Method for Detection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Seafood.” US National Library of Medicine: National Institute of Health. 2001. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC93376/>

[6] “Beta-galactosidase.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta-galactosidase>

[7] “104 sickened: increase in Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections associated with consumption of Atlantic coast shellfish — 2013.” 18 April 2014 <http://barfblog.com/2014/04/104-sickened-increase-in-vibrio-parahaemolyticus-infections-associated-with-consumption-of-atlantic-coast-shellfish-2013/>

Images:

http://www.ehagroup.com/resources/pathogens/vibrio-parahaemolyticus/

03/31/13

To whom it may concern

I, Staphylococcus intermedius, has a cell wall consists of a very thick peptidoglycan layer. I am a Gram positive member of the bacterial genus Staphylococcus consisting of clustered cocci. I am facultative anaerobes, but mainly grow by aerobic respiration, or fermentation that produces lactic acid. My Secretions are numerous, but include surface associated adhesins, endotoxins, exoenzymes, capsular polysaccharide. the capsule is responsible for enhanced virulence of a mucoid strain. I am a type of bacteria that causes skin infections in dogs. The Low levels of this bacteria that are normally present on the dog’s skin and mucus membranes, and generally do not cause a problem. However, all it takes is a small wound or irritation to make the dog lick a certain area of his skin repeatedly, transferring bacteria from the mouth to the skin. Once exposed to air, the bacteria take advantage of their new living conditions to begin reproducing out of control and cause an infection. Often these conditions include an immune related disease in the dog, malnutrition, injury or trauma or other change in the dog’s environment. Also, I am responsible for canine pyoderma, a widespread inflammatory skin disease. I am a very rare human pathogen; however, I am an animal pathogen, mostly dogs. I am known to carry many virulence factors. Strains of this species were originally isolated from the anterior nares of pigeons, dogs, mink, and horses. Many, but not all, of the isolated strains show coagulase activity. Clinical tests for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus may produce false positives by detecting S. intermedius, as this species shares some phenotypic traits with methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains. I am also generate toxins and enzymes that can destroy both red and white blood cells. My family members are Staphylococcaceae, but also I do have a close relative named streptococci in which we have similar shape, they form chains because they divide only in one plane . My friends are S. pseudintermedius, S.delphini. I also have beautiful pictures of me and you will be able to see them below. However, I hope you would consider all the information I gave above and would be enough to convince that I am a famous disease in animals especially in dogs.

Hello)))!!! We are Streptococcus pyogenes . We have very complex wall structure. Our outermost capsule made of hyaluronic acid that is very similar to out host connective tissue. Therefore, we can escape those bad neighbors- macrophages and build our colony-houses located usually in respiratory neighborhood.  We are very positive guys, everyone call us Gram-positive, Hmm,what does it mean???but still, Yes!!!- we are positive!!! Even if we live in facultative anaerobic place, not motile and do not produce spores, we still happy, because we close to our friends and live in a long chains of cocci or in pairs!!! Plus, we called “Virulence Factors Group A Streptococcus” and beta- hemolytic. AAAAA!!!!! We are the best and the first as you see!!! You studied in laboratory class that our metabolism is fermentative. We need an enriched media that supplied with highly nutritious materials as blood. You saw results of Beta-hemolysis, where we produced toxin that formed clear zone on blood agar, showing our ability to destroy red blood cells. Actually, we destroy white blood cells as well!!!

We love to go for a vacation to 4 stars “Throat” palace as the most frequent pathogen-guests. For them it might be too much of us because they don’t expect to see us in big groups. But, we are very generous to all of them, because we always leave big tips and presents as a headache, swollen lymph nodes, fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and nausea, scarlet fever, impetigo.

Our best memorable and unforgettable vacation was in 5 stars “Skin& Deep Tissue” palace. It was very expensive place, so we do not visit very often that hotel. Our friends and family members-Streptococcaceae were so happy there, because we had good variety of food and it was all inclusive. Therefore, we had our fiesta together. We ate as much as we could.  We usually started to eat from” Skin” appetizers, followed by entrees and main dishes as” Deep tissues” and finished with expensive beverages as “Bloody cells”. We became very famous in those hotels))), because we always left huge tips called Necrotizing fasciitis!!! They even gave us nick name – “Flesh eaters”.

So, among of those experiences we had, we came to one conclusion and wanted to give suggestion. Travel to 5 stars all-inclusive hotels only!!! They are the best!!!

Hello !!!

Just want you to know how human seems to be strong!!! But look how this small bacteria can kill !!!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002415/

Mississippi doctors make medical history made with first ‘functional cure’ of unnamed two-year-old born with the virus who now needs no medication

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/03/us-doctors-cure-child-born-hiv

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