...Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood? The rich array of microbiota in our intestines can tell us more than you might think. By PETER ANDREY SMITHJUNE 23, 2015 Eighteen vials were rocking back and forth on a squeaky mechanical device the shape of a butcher scale, and Mark Lyte was beside himself with excitement. ‘‘We actually got some fresh yesterday — freshly frozen,’’ Lyte said to a lab technician. Each vial contained a tiny nugget of monkey feces that were collected at the Harlow primate lab near Madison, Wis., the day before and shipped to Lyte’s lab on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center campus in Abilene, Tex. Lyte’s interest was not in the feces per se but in the hidden form of life they harbor. The digestive tube of a monkey, like that of all vertebrates, contains vast quantities of what biologists call gut microbiota. The genetic material of these trillions of microbes, as well as others living elsewhere in and on the body, is collectively known as the microbiome. Taken together, these bacteria can weigh as much as six pounds, and they make up a sort of organ whose functions have only begun to reveal themselves to science. Lyte has spent his career trying to prove that gut microbes communicate with the nervous system using some of the same neurochemicals that relay messages in the brain. Inside a closet-size room at his lab that afternoon, Lyte hunched over to inspect the vials, whose samples had been spun down in a centrifuge to a radiant...
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...technique. Especially, the in-situ bioremediation which degrades contaminants in-situ by activities of microbes is a safer and more economical technique than the physicochemical one and is being developed for practical application. This paper describes that anaerobic bioremediation which cleans up soil and groundwater contaminated by chloroethene such as TCE in-situ by anaerobic bacteria. 1. Degradative mechanism Anaerobic bioremediation is a remediation technique which injects organics, which become electron donors, together with nutrient salts such as nitrogen and phosphorus into groundwater and degrades contaminants by anaerobic bacteria. It is known that PCE and TCE are dechlorinated reductively by anaerobic bacteria and degraded into dichloroethylene (DCE), vinyl chloride (VC), ethylene and likewise, ethane (Fig. 1). Various types of anaerobic bacteria can degrade not only PCE and TCE but also cis-1,2-DCE. Its speed of degradation is relatively fast. On the other hand, by using cis-1,2- DCE and VC as an electron acceptor, Dehalococcoides bacteria is the only anaerobic bacteria which can completely degrade ethylene and ethane. It has been reported domestically and internationally that, in contaminated sites where Dehalococcoides bacteria is not present, TCE can only be transformed into cis-1,2-DCE but not dechlorinated completely because degradation stops even if a nutritional...
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...non-intact skin and mucous membranes. The most effective, least expensive and simplest way to prevent the spread of infection is by washing your hands. A good reason to wash your hands is the growth and reproduction of bacteria. Bacteria reproduce by a process known as “binary fission.” Each cell of bacteria grows to its maximum size and then divides in the middle to form two new cells of bacteria. “The time required for this growth will take place amount to about 15 to 30 minutes. In only 8 hours, one bacteria cell can multiply to more than 3 billion cells in size, but more importantly, we aren't dealing with just one cell, there are many bacteria cells. Unclean hands alone can be responsible for 500 to 1000 bacteria’s.”(Infection Control Orientation) This is why so much emphasis is placed on good frequent hand washing. Hand washing should be done after interacting with all patients whether or not gloves are worn. You should always wash your hands immediately to avoid transfer of microorganisms to other patients or environments. It may be necessary to wash hands between tasks and procedures on the same patients to prevent cross contamination of different body sites. When washing your hands the equipment you should use is antimicrobial or non-antimicrobial soap, paper towels, and oil free lotion. You should not allow...
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...reveal its shape and morphology and then inoculated into several sequences of media corresponding with the proper biochemical test. After allowing the corresponding time for each biochemical test, data was collected to determine the unknown bacteria. The broth culture in this experiment was determined as Escherichia coli. Introduction All organisms are divided into three domains; bacteria, archaea, and eukarya. The organisms making up domain Bacteria and domain Archaea are all prokaryotes. Although bacteria and archaea look the same, archaea is more closely related to eukarya (Madigan et.al 2009). The ability to adapt to a broad range of habitats helps to explain why prokaryotes are the most abundant organism on earth. The main characteristics of a prokaryote include, no nucleus, circular DNA, and no membrane bound organelles. A key feature of nearly all prokaryotic cells is the cell wall, which maintains cell shape, and provides physical protection. Most bacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan, a network of modified-sugar polymers cross-linked by short polypeptides. All known pathogenic bacteria fall under prokaryotes, but not all bacteria are pathogenic (Madigan et.al 2009). Using a differential staining technique bacteria can be divided into two groups; gram positive or...
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...waste effluents. Even though policies and environmental efforts should continue to be directed towards applying pressure to industry to reduce toxic waste production, biotechnology presents opportunities to detoxify industrial effluents. Bacteria can be altered to produce certain enzymes that metabolize industrial waste components that are toxic to other life, and also new pathways can be designed for the biodegradation of various wastes. Since waste management itself is a well-established industry, genetics and enzymology can be simply "bolted-on" to existing engineering expertise. Examination of effluents from the chemical and petrochemical industries shows that such effluents typically contain either one or a limited range of major toxic components. In some cases other considerations (such as aesthetic ones) can be important for removal of certain components (such as dyes). This means that in general one industry may apply one or a few genetically modified bacterial strains to get rid of its major toxic waste. However, it may be important to contain the "waste-eating" bacteria within the manufacturing plant, and not release these with the waste water. In such cases, filter installations will have to be built to separate the bacteria from the effluent. The release of dyes into the environment constitutes only a small proportion of water pollution, but dyes are visible in small quantities due to their brilliance. Due to this problem, mankind nowadays has concern about the...
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...learning about different culture medias and proper temperature to grow bacteria. Materials used: -Incubator made from box, styrofoam pieces wrapped with foil -Thermometer -S.epidermise sample -L.acidophillus -Lamp -Broth MRS-9ml -Broth,Nutrient -Mask -Gloves -10% bleach -Sterile swab stick -Paper towel A. There is a difference between an Obligate and Faculative Aerobe. • An Obligative aerobe is an organism that requires oxygen to grow. They can only survives in the presence of oxygen. • Faculative aerobe is an organism that can grow in the presence and as well as in the abscense of oxygen but it grows more faster in the abscense of oxygen. B. To grow L.acidophillus and S.epidermice bacteria it needs approximate 37.o degree C temperature. C. To control or to prevent the growth of microorganisms it has two different ways .It is by killing microorganisms or by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Physical or chemical agents are used for it. Agents that kills bacterias are called bactericidal and the agent that slows the growth of bacterias are called bacteriostatics. There are different methods of killing and controlling the growth of microorganisms like Incineration, Sterilization, Irriadiation, Filtration, Toxic Chemicals and gases. Heat is the most common method to kill and control the growth of microbes. Sterilization is a time tested method of killing bacteria in or on the object. Different methods are used for sterilization like...
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...------------------------------------------------- Name: Houry Elmayan ID: 20112959 Course : Bacteriology (Term paper) Instructor: Elie salem sokhn Date: June 6, 2014 Title: Staphylococcus aureus The staphylococci and non-motile, non-spore forming facultative anaerobes that grow by aerobic respiration or by fermentation. Staphylococcus aureus belongs to the familt staphylococcaceae , which are composed of 32 species and 8 sub species in the genus staphylococcus, The staphylococci and non-motile, non-spore forming facultative anaerobes that grow by aerobic respiration or by fermentation, staphylococci are gram positive bacteria with diameters 0.5 and 1.5 μm and characterized by individual cocci, which divide in more than one plane to form the grape-like clusters. The cell wall of S aureus has a tough protective coat which is relatively amorphous in appearance, about 20 to 40 nm thick. Underneath the cell wall is the cytoplasm that is enclosed by the cytoplasmic membrane, peptidoclycan is the basic component of the cell wall. Staphylococci distinguished from streptococci and catalase positive and oxidase negative also positive for nitrate reduction, whereas streptococci are catalase negative and have a different cell wall composition to staphylococci. Staphylococci are tolerant to high concentrations of salt and show resistance to heat. Pathogenic staphylococcus aureus has the ability to produce coagulase and thus clot blood. S. aureus affects all mammalian species...
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...Dangers of Salmonella Jennifer Castro Sci/163 10/17/2013 Mrs. Toohig Title of Paper Salmonella infection, or salmonellosis, is a bacterial disease of the intestinal tract. Salmonella is a group of bacteria that cause typhoid fever, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, enteric fever and other illnesses. People become infected mostly through contaminated water or foods, especially meat, poultry and eggs. Salmonella is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacilli that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. Put simply, Salmonella is a bacterium shaped like a rod with a cell wall composed of peptidoglycan. There are many different kinds of these bacteria. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis are the most common types in the United States. You can get salmonellosis by eating food contaminated with salmonella. Food may become contaminated by the unwashed hands of an infected food handler. A frequent cause is a food handler who does not wash his or her hands with soap after using the bathroom. Salmonella may also be found in the feces of some pets, especially those with diarrhea. You can become infected if you do not wash your hands after contact with these feces. Salmonella bacteria are also found in raw foods such as eggs, milk, chicken, turkey, and meat. If these foods are not processed or cooked well, the bacteria stay alive in the food and can infect someone who eats it. Salmonella infections typically affect the intestines...
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...23 2016 Introduction: Gram staining is based on the ability of bacteria cell wall to retaining the crystal violet dye during solvent treatment. The cell walls for Gram-positive microorganisms have a higher peptidoglycan and lower lipid content than gram-negative bacteria. Bacteria cell walls are stained by the crystal violet. Iodine is subsequently added as a mordant to form the crystal violet-iodine complex so that the dye cannot be removed easily. This step is commonly referred to as fixing the dye. However, subsequent treatment with a decolorizer, which is a mixed solvent of ethanol and acetone, dissolves the lipid layer from the gram-negative cells. The removal of the lipid layer enhances the leaching of the primary stain from the cells into the surrounding solvent. In contrast, the solvent dehydrates the thicker Gram-positive cell walls, closing the pores as the cell wall shrinks during dehydration. As a result, the diffusion of the violet-iodine complex is blocked, and the bacteria remain stained. The length of the de-colorization is critical in differentiating...
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... Growing up we all remember how much our mothers emphasized and encouraged us to drink milk. The reason was simple, milk is a highly nutritious drink. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Bacteria, which is a prokaryotic cell, is found any nutritious place. Since milk is highly nutritious, it makes an ideal home for bacteria. Milk goes through pasteurization. This process reduces the number of bacteria and increases milks shelf life. It reduces the bacteria, but does not kills all of them. Putting it in the fridge slows down the speed of bacteria multiplying. Once you take it out the fridge, and leave it in room temperature, they grow at a high speed. If left over a long period of time, an orderly succession of microorganism communities takes place. In this experiment, me and my partner will work together to observe the environmental conditions, and pattern of succession that takes place in plain whole milk, over a period of eight days. Lactobacillus and streptococcus both survive pasteurization. These two ferment lactose to lactic acid, thus dropping in pH level. This acidic environment causes casein to curdle up. We expect to see yeasts and fungi, because they grow well in acidic environment. METHOD We recorded pH using pH paper of day 0, day 1, day 2, day 4, day 6, and day 8. Than we observed the consistency, odor, and color of each. Than we made slides using the gram stain method for each day. Which is to take a thin smear on the...
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...with a pure culture bacteria sample. Where the sample came from and what kind of bacteria was unknown to the students. We were asked to observe the colony morphology on our plates and to perform the antibiotic sensitivity/resistance test. The plates were put into a 37° incubator oven. The next day the plates were taken out of the oven and we calculated the zone of inhibition. We then performed a gram stain of our bacteria and analyzed it under a microscope. We were then able to assess what kind of bacteria we had and if it was gram positive or negative. Introduction: Simple staining (the use of a single stain) allows a microbiologist to observe the morphology (shape) and arrangement of bacteria. In order to classify bacteria into different groups a differential staining procedure must be done. A differential stain involves the use of two or more stains. Depending on the components of the bacterial cell wall or outer layers, the bacteria will either retain the primary stain or have the primary stain removed in a decolorizing step and then retain the secondary stain. The gram stain is the most common differential stain used in the microbiology laboratory to categorize bacteria. The primary stain is the cationic dye Crystal violet and the secondary stain is the cationic dye Safranin. Since both stains are cationic, they are both attracted to the negatively charged particles in the bacterial cell wall. So what causes some bacteria to retain the Crystal...
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...Keyboarding Abstract The topic of this paper is on Health Hazards caused by the use of a keyboard, areas of discussion will include types of germs, and sanitation solutions. Introduction The Health Hazards from Keyboarding are many, however, the author has chosen to discuss infectious bacterium for this paper, how germs contaminate and transfer from person to person, and what solutions for sanitation can be effective. Germs Keyboards can be highly contaminated with a variety of different germs, the most popular place to find these germs are on hospital keyboards. In hospitals, "computer keyboards are vectors for disease," states Elizabeth McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York who heads the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, a New York-based nonprofit group that advocates for cleaner and safer hospitals. McCaughey states that the bacterium on hospital keyboards can spread the hard to treat staph infection, called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). This bacterium has also been known to cause pneumonia, as well as, infections in the blood stream. Another common place to find these germs are in offices, a recent test was conducted in an office in the United Kingdom by British microbiologist, James Francis, who took a swab to 33 keyboards, a toilet seat, and a toilet door handle. After testing the swabs, he found that four of the keyboards had very high levels of bacteria; one had five times more germs than the toilet seat...
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...Name and course section: LeKesha Hinds Title: Bacterial Morphology- Lab #2 Purpose: Being able to observe morphologies by preparing wet mount slides and learning direct and indirect staining techniques. Procedure: First, set up the microscope. View the prepared slides of bacterial morphology. Use each morphological type as a comparative tool for the remainder of the exercise. Disinfect your work area with a 10%-bleach solution using the Procedures in the Preparation of Disinfecting Solution section in the Appendix. Use the marker pencil to make a dime-sized circle on each of the three slides. Use a clean pipet to add a drop of warm water to the circle on the first slide. With the cotton swab vigorously scrape the inside of your mouth and gums. Smear the swab inside the circle on the first slide, transferring as much material to the drop of water as possible. Cover the drop with a cover slip. Use the pipet to add a drop of water to the circle on the second slide. Use the toothpick to scrape a sample of plaque from your teeth. Transfer the plaque from the toothpick to the drop of water, mixing well to dissolve any clumps. Cover the drop with a cover slip. Use the pipet to add a drop of the S. cerevisiae mixture to the circle of the third slide. Cover the drop with a cover slip. Set the cup of yeast mixture and its pipet aside for later use. Second, do the same as for the first slides. When the slides are completely dry, heat-fix each slide with a flame source. Hold sample...
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...Courtney Tweed Public Health Microbiology Video project essay Why We Should Be More Cautious When Handling Money When eating at some restaurants, employees handle food and money, without ever washing their hands in between. Some businesses require gloves, but then workers will handle money with those gloved hands. This can cause a high risk of cross-contamination. This can cause sporadic cases of infectious intestinal disease among customers (Michaels). Earliest studies showed 13% of US coins and 42% of paper money had potential pathogens. They identified E. coli, P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella, Proteus, and Staphylococcus species.Studies after that saw that 18% of coins and 7% of currency tested had organisms that could be disease producing. E. coli and salmonella enteritidis were shown to transport pathogens even a few days after contact (Michaels). E. coli could survive up to 11 days on some coins, and contaminate other surfaces. The US government takes soiled and tattered notes out of circulation. The important variable depends on where the money has been, as well as activities performed before handling it. It stands to reason that money will bare the microbial imprint of previous activities. The more recent the activity, the higher the microbial count. Also depending on where the study took place, the levels of intestinal disease could be quite high. Old Nigerian currency was found to be so contaminated it was considered a health risk for treasury workers due to impairment...
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...Running head: SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY PAPER Scientific Discovery Paper On Penicillin Tracey Ann Elledge University of Phoenix, Las Vegas NV Creative Minds and Critical Thinking PHL 458 Cornell Horn, M.A.; M.A. December 01, 2009 Scientific Discovery Paper Penicillin is an antibiotic that destroys bacteria by destroying the cell wall of the microorganism. It does this by inactivating an enzyme necessary for the cross linking of bacterial cell walls. The enzyme is known as the Tran peptidase. It accepts the penicillin as a substrate, it the alkanolates a nucleophilic oxygen of the enzyme, rendering it inactive. Cell wall construction stops and the bacteria soon die. The antibiotic nature of the penicillin so due to the strain lactam ring, on opening the ring strain is relieved this makes penicillin more reactive than ordinary amides. Before penicillin a simple pinprick or tiny cut could have been lethal. There are so many people easily catching infections that would rage out of control. Children died regularly from scarlet fever, from infections of the bones, throat, stomach or, brain. Many of us would not be here today had it not been for the discovery of penicillin. In 1928, Alexander Fleming made a chance discovery from an already discarded, contaminated Petri dish. The mold that had contaminated the experiment turned out to contain powerful antibiotic, penicillin. However, though Fleming was credited with the discovery, it was over a decade...
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