IMPORTANT FACTS TO REMEMBER ABOUT BACTERIA

GENUS names will be in italics; names of other groups will not. There will DEFINITELY POSITIVELY ABSOLUTELY be some questions on the test that DO NOT come from this summary. Some bacteria will be mentioned more than once.

GRAM NEGATIVE

First of all remember that they are gram-negative!! Then remember the other major points on this list. Then hit your notes and learn all the rest.

Rickettisa—all are obligate intracellular parasites; all are transmitted by insects & ticks

Brucella—all are obligate parasites

Spirillum—spirals that are large & mostly free-living in water

Burkholderia—split off from Pseudomonas & may contaminate equipment in hospitals

Bordatella—whooping cough

Neiserria—gonorrhea & meningitis

Francisella--tularemia (rabbit fever)

Pseudomonas—nasty wound infections; often acquired in hospitals

Moraxella--"pinkeye"

Legionella—recently discovered; severe pneumonia; acquired by aerosols from water

Coxiella—Q fever, similar to Rickettsia except NOT transmitted by insects

Vibrio—human cholera, spread by contaminated water & occasionally fruit

The enterics (order Enterobacteriales) include:

**Escherichia--most widely studied bacterium, used in production of genetically engineered

products, can cause food poisoning & urinary tract infections--if found in

food or water samples considered evidence of fecal contamination

Salmonella--food poisoning

Shigella--bacillary dysentery

**Klebsiella--pneumonia in debilitated patients

**Serratia--occasionally certain strains cause pneumonia

**Proteus--urinary tract infections

Yersinia--bubonic plague

**Enterobacter

** enterics are considered normal flora, although they may cause trouble in locations

outside the intestines

About the enterics:

All are rods, most are motile

All are facultatively anaerobic

Often biochemical tests are required to make a specific identification

Haemophilus--normal flora of pharynx (throat) but common cause of ear infections

and occasionally meningitis

Campylobacter--foodborne diarrhea in humans, abortions in domestic animals

Helicobacter--ulcers

Cyanobacteria--oxygenic photosynthesis (other photosynthetic bacteria do NOT produce

oxygen

Chlamydia--STD and blindness

Treponema--syphilis

Borrelia--Lyme disease

Bacteroides--deep tissue infections, abdominal infections

Fusobacterium--periodontal disease

GRAM POSITIVE

Mycoplasma--tiny, no cell wall, "walking" pneumonia

Clostridium--tetanus, botulism, endospore-former

Bacillus--anthrax, endospore-former

Lactobacillus--normal flora organism that prevent overgrowth of potentially harmful

species in intestine, vagina, etc.

Streptococcus--tooth decay, "strep" throat, pneumonia (pneumonia vaccine)

Staphylococcus--food poisoning, serious infections, resistance to antibiotics

Listeria--contaminant of food, esp. dairy products & deli meats, damage to fetus

Mycobacterium--acid-fast, waxy cell wall gives resistance to drying, antibiotics,

disinfectants, etc.; tuberculosis and leprosy

Corynebacterium--diphtheria

Streptomyces--soil organism, produces many antibiotics

Actinomyces--soil organism, sometimes causes disease, found in mouth

Nocardia--soil organism, can sometimes cause disease

OXYGEN REQUIREMENTS

AEROBIC MICROAEROPHILIC

Pseudomonas Campylobacter

Neisseria Helicobacter

Mycobacterium

FACULTATIVELY ANAEROBIC AEROLTOLERANT

All enterics Lactobacillus

Bacillus

Staphylococcus

ANAEROBIC (OBLIGATE)

Bacteroides

Fusobacterium

Clostridium

OBLIGATE PARASITES

What does this mean? Examples are:

Brucella

Rickettsia

Chlamydia--can’t make their own ATP

Coxiella

ENDOSPORE-FORMERS

Why is this important?

Clostridium

Bacillus

"STRANGE" CHARACTERISTICS

Legionella--severe pneumonia from inhaling aerosols

Pseudomonas--nasty blue-green pus in wound/burn infections

Coxiella & Rickettsia--can only reproduce inside a mammalian cell

Chlamydia--can't make own ATP, complicated life cycle

Mycoplasma--no cell wall

Lactobacillus--acid production/tolerance of acid conditions

Streptomyces--antibiotic production

Treponema, Rickettsia, Chlamydia--can't be grown on artificial media

Brucella, Rickettsia, Mycobacterium, Listeria--survive phagocytosis

Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, Rickettsia--tiny size

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Remember, other genera may also have this characteristic, but these are the most "famous" for it.

Staphylococcus

Pseudomonas

Some Streptococcus ("flesh-eating" bacteria, some strains that cause pneumonia)

Pathogenic enterics

EXAMPLES OF 3 BASIC SHAPES

COCCUS BACILLUS SPIRAL

Streptococcus Bacillus Vibrio (curved)

Staphylococcus Clostridium Helicobacter (curved)

Neisseria Pseudomonas Campylobacter

All enterics Borrelia

Treponema