BACTERIA AND VIRUSES

ANTIBIOTICS
AND
BACTERIAL RESISTANCE TO
ANTIBIOTICS

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 Module One: What We Will Learn

• What are microbes?

• What are viruses?
• What are bacteria?
– Where do they live?
– What is their structure?
• Bacteria and humans
– How to identify bacteria
– Colonization
– Host cell defenses
– How bacteria cause infection

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 What Are Microbes?
• Microscopic living organisms
• Four major types of microbes:
1. Viruses
2. Bacteria
3. Fungi
4. Parasites
– We will provide some information about
viruses and then spend most of our time
focusing on bacteria.

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 Viruses and Bacteria
Viruses Bacteria
• Genetic material (DNA or • Independent cell
RNA) in a protective coat • Able to live and reproduce
outside human or animal cells
• Attach themselves to a host
cell to reproduce inside that
cell

Rhinovirus (cold) Streptococcus pneumoniae

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 What Are Viruses?
• The smallest infectious particles with a core of
genetic material (DNA or RNA)
• Surrounded by:
– a protein,
– a lipid (fat), or
– a combination of a lipid and a sugar-protein coat

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What Some Viruses Look Like
(not to scale)

HIV Influenza Virus

• Human • Flu
immunodeficiency virus
(HI-V budding in green)

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 Influenza Virus Structure

N spike
(neuraminidase)

Lipid Envelope

Matrix protein

Nucleocapsid

RNA
H spike
(hemagglutinin)

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 Viruses Invade Host Cells
• Viruses lack some of the machinery
to grow and reproduce by themselves
• A virus invades a live host cell inside
your body and starts replicating itself
• The host cell releases the copied
viruses
• Each released virus will look for a
new live host cell to invade and
repeat the process Virus infecting a cell

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 The Host Defends Itself
• The Immune System
– Detects the virus
– Produces specific antibodies to inactivate
the virus
– Sends white blood cells to fight and destroy
the virus

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 What Are Some Diseases
Caused by Viruses?
• Common cold
• Influenza
• Measles, chickenpox, mononucleosis
• Herpes (e.g., cold sores)
• HIV
• Genital warts (Human Papillomavirus or HPV can
result in cervical cancer)
• Hepatitis
• Rabies
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 How Do We Contract Viruses?
• Simple contact with an infected person
(shaking hands [direct contact] or sneezing
[respiratory or airborne spread])
• Exchange of bodily fluids such as saliva
• Sexual contact (e.g., HIV, HPV)
• Contaminated food or water
• Insects (e.g., mosquitoes)
• Infected animals (e.g., animals with rabies)
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 The Power of a Sneeze
• Did you know that
a sneeze can blast
microbes into the
air at 100 miles per
hour?!

Photograph of a real sneeze

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 Other Facts About Viruses
• Some viral infections can be prevented by vaccines
(e.g., influenza, HPV, hepatitis B, measles and
mumps)
• Treatment for the common cold is
directed toward relief of symptoms
with over-the-counter (OTC)
medicines while the body’s
immune system is fighting the virus
• Antiviral medications are available for
certain viruses

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 What Are Bacteria?
• Single-celled microscopic organisms
• Larger than viruses but smaller than
human cells
– Majority play a positive role in nature:
• Aid in digestion
• Digest sewage into simple chemicals
• Extract nitrogen from air and make it available to plants
for protein production
– Some are harmful (pathogenic):
• Damage tissues or produce toxins that cause disease

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What Some Bacteria Look Like
(not to scale)

Streptococcus pyogenes
Escherichia coli (E. coli)
(Group A Streptococcus)
• Urinary Tract Infection
• Strep throat (pharyngitis),
skin infections

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 Example of Bacterial Structure
Cell (Cytoplasmic) membrane
Pili

Ribosomes Cell wall

Flagella

Plasmids
Chromosome

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Natural Habitats of Bacteria
Environment
– Soil, plants, water
Animals and Humans
– Skin
– Upper airway and mouth
– Gastrointestinal tract
– Genital tract

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 Most Bacteria Are Harmless
And Even Beneficial
• Soil, water, plants
– Recycle organic matter and wastes
• Animals
– Aid in digestion of cellulose in stomachs of cows
• Humans
– Occupy (colonize) sites that might otherwise be
invaded by harmful (pathogenic) bacteria
– Aid in digestion

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Bacteria May Inhabit Other Sites
• Bacteria may survive for various times on a
variety of surfaces
– toilets
– sinks
– cell phones
– desks
– remote controls
– food
– computers

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 Colonization vs. Infection
• Colonization: The presence of
bacteria in or on your body
without causing any symptoms
of infection
• Infection: Bacteria invade and damage
tissue, or produce a toxin that damages
tissue

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 Identification of Bacteria
Generally identified by:
1. shape when viewed with the
microscope
2. a procedure called the Gram stain
which is positive or negative,
depending on the absence or
presence of an outer
membrane and the thickness
of the cell wall
3. whether they require oxygen to grow or are poisoned by
oxygen
4. nutrients they can use to grow
5. identification of sequences of proteins made by the
bacteria, or sequences of the bacteria’s DNA or RNA

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 Host Defenses Against Pathogenic Bacteria

• First line of defense is a barrier

preventing entry into the tissue:
– Intact skin
– Lining of upper airway, gastrointestinal (GI)
tract, vagina
– Stomach acid
– Frequent flushing out of eyes by tears, or of
bladder by urine
– Mucus in the lungs and coughing

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 Host Defenses Against Pathogenic
Bacteria (cont.)
• Immune System
– Detects bacteria and their products
– Produces specific antibodies (proteins)
• Antibodies work at the infection site to:
– Bind and inactivate the bacteria
– Cause inflammation and increase blood flow
– Recruit white blood cells to ingest and kill the
bacteria

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How Do Bacteria Damage
the Host Cell?
I am a sneaky
fighter!

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 How Bacteria Cause Infection

• Pathogenic bacteria have certain disease-

producing features
• These features are called “virulence
factors”

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 Bacterial Offense
“Virulence Factors”
• Allow bacteria to attach to host cells
• Produce toxic compounds that A colored transmission electron

damage host cells or surround tissue micrograph of Streptococcus

bacteria attached to a human
tonsil cell.

• Produce proteins that either disrupt

the host cells or stimulate uptake into the host
cells, allowing them to penetrate deeper into
various parts of the body
• Produce factors that inhibit the host’s immune
response
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The Battle Between Bacteria and Host
• Pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria attack
healthy host cells
• Three potential outcomes:
1. host cell wins, bacteria are removed, cell
recovers, or
2. bacteria win and kill the host cell, or
3. bacteria and host cell live together

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End of Module I

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