Microbiology Video Tutorials @microbiologyvideos - Tumblr Blog

babyvaliuum

C.L.Frost, untitled photograph of cream cheese mould

microbiologyvideos

fungal growth

#fungal growth #microbiology #cheese mold

asapscience

How to tell a microbiologist you love them: get them crocheted petri dishes. [Etsy/Elin Thomas]

microbiologyvideos

Love for Microbiology

#Microbiologist #Petri Dishes #colorful subject

biomedicool

Penicillin

Penicillin is a widely used antibiotic prescribed to treat staphylococci and streptococci bacterial infections.

beta-lactam family

Gram-positive bacteria = thick cell walls containing high levels of peptidoglycan

gram-negative bacteria = thinner cell walls with low levels of peptidoglycan and surrounded by a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) layer that prevents antibiotic entry

penicillin is most effective against gram-positive bacteria where DD-transpeptidase activity is highest.

Examples of penicillins include:

amoxicillin

ampicillin

bacampicillin

oxacillin

penicillin

Mechanism(s)

Penicillin inhibits the bacterial enzyme transpeptidase, responsible for catalysing the final peptidoglycan crosslinking stage of bacterial cell wall synthesis.

Cells wall is weakened and cells swell as water enters and then burst (lysis)

Becomes permanently covalently bonded to the enzymes’s active site (irreversible)

Alternative theory: penicillin mimics D-Ala D-Ala

Or may act as an umbrella inhibitor

Resistance

production of beta-lactamase - destroys the beta-lactam ring of penicillin and makes it ineffective (eg Staphylococcus aureus - most are now resistant)

In response, synthetic penicillin that is resistant to beta-lactamase is in use including egdicloxacillin, oxacillin, nafcillin, and methicillin.

Some is resistant to methicillin - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Demonstrating blanket resistance to all beta-lactam antibiotics -extremely serious health risk.

microbiologyvideos

The Penicillins : Beta-Lactam Groups of Antibiotics

#beta-lactams #penicillins #antibiotics #antimicrobial substances

merismo

A lot of biology-lovers unfortunately see termites as less-cool versions of ants (don’t get me started) but termite microbiomes are at least 30.5 times cooler than those of ants. At least.

Opening up a hindgut of a termite reveals an unbelievable number of bizarre single-celled organisms, most of which have yet to be named or described by science.

What’s more, different species of termites can have radically different microbiomes. Two colonies of termites living in one log can have symbiotic microbes that are literally tens of millions of years apart in evolution (and in some cases, the termites themselves are only separated by a few million years of evolution). In my totally-unbiased opinion, this is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in biology. What purpose do all of these different microbes have? Why is there so much microbial diversity among termites? Why don’t they all just have the same set of microbes?

The more you look into it, the more questions are raised.

Also if you have termites in your house you should totally ship them to me cause LOVE termites

(Click on the images for a quick description. Also, please do not repost these photos. They belong to me and my lab and may be used in some of my future publications. Thank you!)

#symbiotic microbes #termites #evolution #biggest unsolved mysteries in biology