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The word bacteria is the plural of the Neo-Latin bacterium, ... characterises bacteria based on the structural characteristics of their cell walls. [176] ...
Although some gram-negative bacteria can be recognized by "bench tests", diagnosis in the modern microbiology lab usually involves MALDI-TOF and/or multitarget assay. One of the several unique characteristics of gram-negative bacteria is the structure of the bacterial outer membrane.
Bacteria (prokaryotes, together with Archaea) share many common features. These commonalities include the lack of a nuclear membrane, unicellularity, division by binary-fission and generally small size. The various species can be differentiated through the comparison of several characteristics, allowing their identification and classification.
There are two main types of bacterial cell walls, those of Gram-positive bacteria and those of Gram-negative bacteria, which are differentiated by their Gram staining characteristics. For both these types of bacteria, particles of approximately 2 nm can pass through the peptidoglycan. [3]
In gram-positive bacteria, the S-layer is attached to the peptidoglycan layer. Gram-negative bacteria's S-layer is attached directly to the outer membrane. Specific to gram-positive bacteria is the presence of teichoic acids in the cell wall. Some of these are lipoteichoic acids, which have a lipid component in the cell membrane that can assist ...
Spiral bacteria are another major bacterial cell morphology. [2] [30] [31] [32] Spiral bacteria can be sub-classified as spirilla, spirochetes, or vibrios based on the number of twists per cell, cell thickness, cell flexibility, and motility. [33] Bacteria are known to evolve specific traits to survive in their ideal environment. [34]
Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. [1] This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and many are beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number of these pathogenic species in humans is estimated to be fewer than a hundred. [2]
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria and their relation to medicine. Bacteriology evolved from physicians needing to apply the germ theory to address the concerns relating to disease spreading in hospitals the 19th century. [5] Identification and characterizing of bacteria being associated to diseases led to advances in pathogenic bacteriology.