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Borrelia burgdorferi is a microaerophile, requiring small amounts of oxygen in order to undergo glycolysis and survive. Like all other Borrelia sps., this bacterium is also gram-negative and a spirochete. Borrelia colonies are often smaller, rounded, and white with an elevated center. [7] B. burgdorferi possesses flagella that allow it motility.
B. burgdorferi is a highly specialized, motile, two-membrane, flat-waved spirochete, ranging from about 9 to 32 μm in length. [44] Because of its double-membrane envelope, it is often mistakenly described as Gram negative, [45] though it stains weakly in Gram stain.
Borrelia species have an outer membrane that contains a substance similar to lipopolysaccharides, an inner membrane, and a layer of peptidoglycan in a periplasmic space, which classifies them as Gram-negative. [5] However, this result is not easily visualized using Gram staining. [5] They are typically 20–30 μm long and 0.2–0.3 μm wide. [5]
Gram stain (Gram staining or Gram's method), is a method of staining used to classify bacterial species into two large groups: gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria. It may also be used to diagnose a fungal infection. [1] The name comes from the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram, who developed the technique in 1884. [2]
Gram-positive cell walls are thick and the peptidoglycan (also known as murein) layer constitutes almost 95% of the cell wall in some Gram-positive bacteria and as little as 5-10% of the cell wall in Gram-negative bacteria. The peptidoglycan layer takes up the crystal violet dye and stains purple in the Gram stain.
Owing to their morphological properties, spirochetes are difficult to Gram-stain but may be visualized using dark field microscopy or Warthin–Starry stain. [35] Examples include: Leptospira species, which cause leptospirosis. Borrelia species, such as Borrelia burgdorferi, a tick-borne bacterium that causes Lyme disease
Borrelia [31] Borrelia burgdorferi; Borrelia garinii; Borrelia afzelii; Borrelia recurrentis; Negative, stains poorly Spirochete: Anaerobic Extracellular Brucella [31] Brucella abortus; Brucella canis; Brucella melitensis; Brucella suis; Negative Coccobacilli: Aerobic Intracellular Campylobacter [31] Campylobacter jejuni; Negative Spiral rods ...
Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of Borrelia bacteria, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus Ixodes. [4] [9] [10] The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migrans (EM), which appears at the site of the tick bite about a week afterwards. [1]