Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Bacteria
Question 1
‘Micro’ is term used to mean extremely small. Microbiology therefore means the study of very small living organisms that are too tiny to be seen without the use of a microscope. These forms of living things are referred to as microorganisms or microbes. The most common example of a microbe is the bacterium (Department of Health 11). A bacterium is a living cell consisting of a fluid referred to as cytoplasm enclosed by cell membrane and a cell wall.
Microbiology as a study of microbes has had a major positive contribution to human health. Until around 1930, microbes were considered the major cause of deaths in humans. Over half of the infants then did not make it to adulthood due to infectious diseases that saw the motility rate remain above 50% (WHO 6). This tragic situation resulted from infections that were caused by pathogenic microbes. The study of these diseases was what emerged as the discipline of microbiology. This newly formed science was the root of advancement in treating different ailments, and it was credited for thinning infection rates significantly.
Microbiology has made the causes of diseases clearer, as it was previously perceived that many ailments had only behavioral and genetic roots. Studying microbiology drew attention to microbial components that cause sickness. According to the World Health Organization’s report, a good example is that of ulcers that were considered as being caused by stress and poor diet (14). It is through the emergence of this discipline that understanding disease-causing microorganisms and ways to fight them was possible. It was established just a fraction of these microbes were the fundamental agents of diseases and the majority of microbes in human bodies are there to enhance our health.
The microorganisms living in our skin and intestines are useful in fighting off diseases. This is especially so since they take up space in the human body consequently preventing probable pathogens from gaining access to our bodies. Other than this protective function, microbes also provide a remedy for the much-needed vitamins such as B12 in our bodies. Human health and nutrition is dependent on healthy farm animals. Microbes in ruminant animals such as cows, goats and others help to degrade plant materials to form nutrients that are essential in plant growth. These nutrients are used to cultivate commercial crops that contribute to human financial prosperity.
Microbes also have major industrial values that include the manufacture of cheese, yogurt, wine, beer including other uses (Department of Health, 2011). They are also the main agents of degradation of all different molecules in the environment. They are the main source of food for a good number of ocean creatures as well as in replenishing oxygen supply (Pollack 243). Microbes are essential as they make nutrients sustain the growth of other living things. In an urban population setting that handles volumes of human sewage, microbes are used to treat contaminated water into clean water. In energy, microbes are also involved in vast areas such as methane-producing bacteria, with methanogen action being a component of natural gas.
Microorganisms have been of much help in cleaning up the much-polluted environment through a process called bioremediation. This process is a cost effective way of cleaning up the atmosphere. Microbes are therefore undoubtedly of much help to human health and in financial development as well. They have contributed in unlocking and exposing fundamental secrets of development in both health and industrial fields.
Question 2
The major deference between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria is that one has a thick cellular wall without a membrane while the other has a thin cellular wall and a membrane. Gram-positive bacteria’s wall contains a thick layer of Peptidoglycan that encircles the cell (The Microbial World 14). On the other hand, gram-negative bacteria’s wall contains a thin layer of peptidoglycan between the cytoplasmic and the outer membrane. Unlike the gram-negative, the gram-positive bacteria do not have a membrane around their wall (The Microbial World 11). This makes it weak to antibiotics such as penicillin that works by destroying the bacterium’s cell wall. It is this for this reason that it is easy to treat gram-positive bacteria with antibiotics. As opposed to the gram-positive form, the gram-negative bacterium is well protected from the destruction of antibiotics.
In between the cytoplasmic and outer membranes is a region in the gram-negative bacteria that is filled with periplasm. Periplasm contains proteins but which is different from that found in cytoplasm. These particular proteins have a variety of functions in cellular processes. These functions include transporting, degradation and motility. The gram-negative bacterium is the hardest to treat with antibiotics since it has an extra membrane covering their cell wall increasing toxicity and resistance to antibiotics.
The periplasm is filled with water and proteins and the membrane blocks free exchanges between it and the cytoplasm. The Peptidoglycan shell provides strength to prokaryotic membranes and it is also found in periplasmic space. This is what makes the gram-negative bacteria difficult to treat with antibiotics. Of the two bacteria, therefore the gram-negative is the hardest to treat with antibiotics.
Bacteria and Food Poisoning
In addition to causing diseases, various bacteria are responsible for food poisoning. Food poisoning arises when one takes in contaminated food or water. Campylobacter is one of the most common bacterium responsible for food poisoning. It causes severe diarrhea and nausea causing the victim to feel weak and exhausted. This type of bacterium is transmitted through contaminated food, untreated water and unprocessed milk. It replicates by dividing itself and that is why it is imperative to put food in the fridge to stop this action. This bacterium requires warmth and dampness to reproduce and for that reason, putting food in the fridge is safe as it stops their replicative action.
If food is contaminated with a small number of bacteria when left in a humid and temperate condition, the bacteria will multiply significantly within a few hours. This would make just a small amount of the food very harmful and if taken it could make someone seriously ill. To avoid this, it therefore is important always make sure that food is stored in conditions that do not favor the growth of bacteria. Sanitation is the only sure way to avoid food poisoning. When poisoned food is swallowed, the effects of the bacteria may not be felt immediately as the bacteria take time to replicate. This delay however depends on what type of bacteria and the quantity taken in.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]