Spherical

Diplococcus Pneumoniae
Diplococcus Pneumoniae is a minute, slightly lancet-shaped, non-motile, nonliquefying, optionally anaerobic diplococcus. Usually occurs in pairs, surrounded by a capsule that is not present when the organism is grown on culture medium. It is found in the sputum of lobar pneumonia, in the exudate of meningitis, and sometimes in the saliva of healthy people. Is the common cause of croupous pneumonia, but is also found in inflammations of theserous membranes.

Stains
Ordinary methods and Gram's.

Fig. 83. - Gonococci in Urethral Pus (McFarland).

Culture
Grows best at 370 C, but has a range from 240 to 420 C. Will grow upon all culture media except potato. Gelatin plates (15 per cent, gelatin) give colonies that are small, round, circumscribed white points. On agar-agar the growth is almost invisible.

Streptococcus

The RightHealth Community Author: Steven Miller Streptococcus is a spherical positive bacterium that is responsible for causing meningitis, bacterial pneumonia, endocarditis, erysipelas and flesh eating bacteria called necrotizing fasciitis. There are some non-pathogenic streptococcus strand and they are present in some varieties of cheese and the human mouth, skin, intestines, and upper respiratory tract.

When streptococcus bacteria are stained by the Gram Staining it turns dark blue or violet. This means that this bacterium doesn't have an outer membrane like other types of bacteria. This particular bacteria is also known to cause hemolysis and this means that this particular bacteria can break down blood cells by digesting them. There are non-hemolytic streptococci and they rarely cause illness.

Streptococcus also is broken down in various groups which include A, B, C, D and G. These groups define different kinds of the bacteria strain and the problems that they pose to the health of humans. Many strains of streptococcus can be treated with antibiotics.

Staphylococcus

Staphylococcus, bunch of grapes", is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria. Under the microscope they appear round (cocci), and form in grape-like clusters. The Staphylococcus genus includes at least forty species. Of these, nine have two subspecies and one has three subspecies. Most are harmless and reside normally on the skin and mucous membranes of humans and other organisms. Found worldwide, they are a small component of soil microbial flora. Spherical Gram-positive parasitic bacteria that tend to form irregular colonies; some cause boils, septicemia or infections.

Sarcina lutea

Sarcina lutea is an older name (not used anymore) for Micrococcus luteus. It is a Gram positive bacterium in the Firmicutes phylum. It is found in soil and air, and can also live on human skin, and in the mouth. Micrococcus luteus is a Grampositive, spherical, saprotrophic bacterium that belongs to the

family Micrococcaceae. An obligate aerobe, M. luteus is found in soil, dust, water and air, and as part of the normal flora of the mammalian skin. The bacterium also colonizes the human mouth, mucosae,oropharynx and upper respiratory tract. Considered a contaminant in sick patients, M. luteus is resistant to reduced water potential and can tolerate drying and high salt concentrations. M. luteus is coagulase negative, bacitracin susceptible, and forms bright yellow colonies on nutrient agar. To confirm it is not Staphylococcus aureus, a bacitracin susceptibility test can be performed. M. luteus has been shown to survive in oligotrophic environments for extended periods of time. Recent work by Greenblat et al. demonstrate that Micrococcus luteus has survived for at least 34,000 to 170,000 years on the basis of 16S rRNA analysis, and possibly much longer. [Micrococcus luteus was formerly known as Micrococcus lysodeikticus .Micrococcus luteus reclassify as Kocuria rhizophila.

Rod-shaped
Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis, known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium commonly found in soil. A member of the genus Bacillus, B. subtilis is rod-shaped, and has the ability to form a tough, protective endospore, allowing the organism to tolerate extreme environmental conditions. Unlike several other well-known species, B. subtilis has historically been classified as an obligate aerobe, though recent research has demonstrated that this is not strictly correct.

Clostridium botulinum

Clostridium botulinum is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that produces neurotoxins, known as botulinum neurotoxins types A-G, that cause the flaccid muscular paralysis seen in botulism. It is also the main paralytic agent in botox. C. botulinum is an anaerobic spore-former, which produces oval, subterminal endospores and is commonly found in soil. Clostridium botulinum is a rod-shaped microorganism. It is an obligate anaerobe, meaning that oxygen is poisonous to the cells. However, C. botulinumtolerates traces of oxygen due to the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) which is an important antioxidant defense in nearly all cells exposed to oxygen.C. botulinum is only able to produce the neurotoxin during sporulation, which can only happen in an anaerobic environment. Other bacterial species produce spores in an unfavorable growth environment to preserve the organism's viability and permit survival in a dormant state until the spores are exposed to favorable conditions. In the laboratory Clostridium botulinum is usually isolated in tryptose sulfite cycloserine (TSC) growth media in an anaerobic environment with less than 2% of oxygen. This can be achieved by several commercial kits that use a chemical reaction to replace O2 with CO2 (E.J. GasPak System). C. botulinumis a lipase negative microorganism that grows between pH of 4.8 and 7 and it can't use lactose as a primary carbon source, characteristics important during a biochemical identification.

Corynebacterium diphtheria

Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. It is also known as the Klebs-Lffler bacillus, because it was discovered in 1884 by German bacteriologists Edwin Klebs (1834 1912) and Friedrich Lffler (1852 1915).

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms). Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls. The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2, and by preventing the establishment of pathogenicbacteria within the intestine.[4][5] E. coli and related bacteria constitute about 0.1% of gut flora, and fecal-oral transmission is the major route through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease. Cells are able to survive outside the body for a limited amount of time, which makes them ideal indicator organisms to test environmental samples for fecal contamination. The bacterium can also be grown easily and inexpensively in a laboratory setting, and has been intensively investigated for over 60 years. E. coli is the most widely studied prokaryotic model organism, and an important species in the fields ofbiotechnology and microbiology, where it has served as the host organism for the majority of work with recombinant DNA. German peadiatrician and bacteriologist Theodor Escherich discovered E. coli in 1885, and it is now classified as part of the Enterobacteriaceae family of gammaproteobacteria.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases oftuberculosis.First

discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, M. tuberculosis has an unusual, waxy coating on the cell surface (primarily mycolic acid), which makes the cells impervious to Gram staining so acid-fast detection techniques are used instead. The physiology of M. tuberculosis is highlyaerobic and requires high levels of oxygen. Primarily a pathogen of the mammalian respiratory system, MTB infects the lungs. The most frequently used diagnostic methods for TB are the tuberculin skin test, acid-fast stain, and chest radiographs. The M. tuberculosis genome was sequenced in 1998.

Proteus vulgaris

Proteus vulgaris is a rod-shaped, Gram negative bacterium that inhabits the intestinal tracts of humans and animals. It can be found in soil, water and fecal matter. It is grouped with the enterobacteriaceae and is an opportunistic pathogen of humans. It is known to cause urinary tract infections and wound infections. The term Proteus signifies changeability of form, as personified in the Homeric poems in Proteus, "the old man of the sea," who tends the sealflocks of Poseidon and has the gift of endless transformation. The first use of the term Proteus in bacteriological nomenclature was made by Hauser (1885) who described under this term three types of organisms which he isolated from putrefied meat. One of the three species Hauser identified was Proteus vulgaris so this organism has a long history in Microbiology. Over the past two decades the genus Proteus, and in particular P. vulgaris, has undergone a number of major taxonomic revisions. In 1982, P. vulgaris was separated into three biogroups on the basis of indole production. Biogroup one was indole negative and represented a new species: P. penneri; while biogroup two and three remained together as P. vulgaris.

Spirals
Spiral shaped cells can be one of two types: either rigid called spirilla (singular spirillum) or flexible called spirochaetes (singular spirochaete). Spiral-shaped bacteria are distinguished by their length, the number and size of the spirals, and direction of the coil. Short segments or incomplete spirals are common, as the comma-shaped Vibrios. The spirochetes of syphilis are typical spiral bacteria. Diseases caused by spirochaetes include the following: syphilis, yaws, leptosporosis, and Lyme disease.

Spirals come in one of three forms, a vibrio, a spirillum, or a spirochete. A. vibrio: a curved or comma-shaped rod

Vibrio is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria possessing a curved rod shape, several species of which can cause food borne, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood. Typically found in saltwater, Vibrio is facultative anaerobes that test positive for oxidase and do not form spores. All members of the genus are motile and have polar flagella with sheaths. Recent phylogenies have been constructed based on a suite of genes (multi-locus sequence analysis). The name Vibrio derives from Filippo Pacini who isolated microorganisms he called "vibrions" from cholera patients in 1854.

Pathogenic strains Several species of Vibrio are pathogens. Most disease causing strains are associated with gastroenteritis but can also infect open wounds and cause septicemia. It can be carried by numerous sea-living animals, such as crabs or prawns, and has been known to cause fatal infections in humans during exposure. Pathogenic Vibrio include V. cholerae (the causative agent of cholera), V. parahaemolyticus, and V. vulnificus.Vibrio cholerae is generally transmitted via contaminated water. Pathogenic Vibrio can cause foodborne infection, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood. Vibrio vulnificus outbreaks commonly occur in warm climates and small, generally lethal, outbreaks occur regularly. An outbreak occurred in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and several lethal cases occur most years in Florida. V. parahaemolyticus is also associated with the Kanagawa phenomenon, in which strains isolated from humanhosts (clinical isolates) are hemolytic on blood agar plates, while those isolated from non-human sources are non-hemolytic. Many Vibrio are also zoonotic. They cause disease in fish and shellfish, and are common causes of mortality among domestic marine life.

Other strains Vibrio fischeri, Photobacterium phosphoreum, and V. harveyi are notable for their ability to communicate. BothV. fischeri and Ph. phosphoreum are symbiotes of other marine organisms (typically jellyfish, fish, or squid), and produce light via bioluminescence through the mechanism of quorum sensing. Vibrio harveyi is a pathogen of several aquatic animals and notable as a cause of luminous vibriosis in shrimps (prawns)

Flagella The "typical", early-discovered Vibrio such as V. cholerae have a single polar flagellum (monotrichous) with sheath. Some species such as V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus have both a single polar flagellum with sheath and thin flagella projecting in all directions (peritrichous), and the other species such as V. fischerihave tufts of polar flagella with sheath (lophotrichous). B. spirillum: a thick, rigid spiral

Spirillum in microbiology refers to a bacterium with a cell body that twists like a spiral. It is the third distinct bacterial cell shape type besides coccus and bacillus cells. Spirillum is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria. Spirillum minus is associated with rat-bite fever.

Appearance It is a genus comprising elongated forms having tufts of flagellae at both poles and usually living in stagnant water rich in organic matter. They are twisted and aerobic; certain species are pathogenic for humans. It is the type genus for the family Spirilliaceae in some bacterial classifications.

C. spirochete: a thin, flexible spiral

Spirochaetes (also spelled spirochetes) belong to a phylum of distinctive Gram-negative bacteria, which have long, helically coiled (spiral-shaped) cells. Spirochaetes are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 5 and 250 m and diameters around 0.1-0.6 m. Spirochaetes are distinguished from other bacterial phyla by the location of their flagella, sometimes called axial filaments, which run lengthwise between the bacterial inner membrane and outer membrane in periplasmic space. These cause a twisting motion which allows the spirochaete to move about. When reproducing, a spirochaete will undergo asexual transverse binary fission. Most spirochaetes are free-living and anaerobic, but there are numerous exceptions.

Classification The spirochaetes are divided into three families (Brachyspiraceae, Leptospiraceae, and Spirochaetaceae), all placed within a single order (Spirochaetales). Disease-causing members of this phylum include the following:

Leptospira species, which causes leptospirosis Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease Borrelia recurrentis, which causes relapsing fever Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum, which causes syphilis Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, which causes yaws Brachyspira pilosicoli and Brachyspira spirochetosis aalborgi, which cause intestinal

Cavalier-Smith has postulated larger clade called Gracilicutes.

that

the

Spirochaetes

belong

in

Historical Salvarsan, the first partially organic antimicrobial drug in medical history, was effective against spirochaetes only and was primarily used to cure syphilis.

Leptospira

Leptospira (Greek leptos, "fine, thin" and Latin spira, "coil") is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species. Leptospira was first observed in 1907 in kidney tissue slices of a leptospirosis victim who was described as having died of "yellow fever."

Taxonomy

Leptospira, together with the genera Leptonema and Turneria, is a member of the family Leptospiraceae. The genus Leptospira is divided into 20 species based on DNA hybridization studies. Pathogenic Leptospira Leptospira interrogans Leptospira kirschneri Leptospira noguchii Leptospira alexanderi Leptospira weilii Leptospira genomospecies 1 Leptospira borgpetersenii Leptospira santarosai Leptospira kmetyi Intermediates or opportunistic Leptospira Leptospira inadai Leptospira fainei Leptospira broomii Leptospira licerasiae Leptospira wolffii Non-pathogenic Leptospira Leptospira biflexa Leptospira meyeri Leptospira wolbachii Leptospira genomospecies 3 Leptospira genomospecies 4 Leptospira genomospecies 5 Members of Leptospira are also grouped into serovars according to their antigenic relatedness. There are currently over 200 recognized serovars. A few serovars are found in more than one species of Leptospira. At its 2002 meeting, the Committee on the Taxonomy of Leptospira of the International Union of Microbiological Societies approved the following nomenclature for serovars of Leptospira. Genus and species must of course be italicized, with the serovar name not italicized and with an upper case first letter.

Genus species serovar Serovar_name For example:

Leptospira interrogans serovar Australis Leptospira biflexa serovar Patoc

Morphology Although over 200 serotypes of Leptospira have been described, all members of the genus have similar morphology. Leptospira are spiral-shaped bacteria that are 6-20 m long and 0.1 m in diameter with a wavelength of about 0.5 m. One or both ends of the spirochete are usually hooked. Because they are so thin, live Leptospira are best observed by darkfield microscopy. The bacteria have a number of degrees of freedom; when ready to proliferate via binary fission, the bacterium noticeably bends in the place of the future split.

Cellular structure Leptospira have a Gram-negative-like cell envelope consisting of a cytoplasmic and outer membrane. However, the peptidoglycan layer is associated with the cytoplasmic rather than the outer membrane, an arrangement that is unique to spirochetes. The two flagella of Leptospiraextend from the cytoplasmic membrane at the ends of the bacteria into theperiplasmic space are necessary for the motility of Leptospira. The outer membrane contains a variety of lipoproteins and transmembraneouter membrane proteins. As expected, the protein composition of the outer membrane differs when comparing Leptospira growing in artificial medium with Leptospira present in an infected animal. Several leptospiral outer membrane proteins have been shown to attach to the hostextracellular matrix and to factor H. These proteins may be important foradhesion of Leptospira to host tissues and in resisting complement, respectively. The outer membrane of Leptospira, like those of most other Gram-negative bacteria, contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Differences in the highly immunogenic LPS structure account for the numerous serovars ofLeptospira. Consequently, immunity is serovar specific; current leptospiral vaccines, which consist of one or several serovars of Leptospiraendemic in the population to be immunized, protect only against the serovars contained in the vaccine preparation. Leptospiral LPS has low endotoxin activity. An unusual feature of leptospiral LPS is that it activates host

cells via TLR2 rather than TLR4. The unique structure of the lipid A portion of the LPS molecule may account for this observation. Finally, the LPS O antigen content of L. interrogans differs in an acutely infected versus a chronically infected animal. The role of O antigen changes in the establishment or maintenance of acute or chronic infection, if any, is unknown.

Habitat Leptospira, both pathogenic and saprophytic, can occupy diverse environments, habitats and life cycles; these bacteria are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica. High humidity and neutral (6.9-7.4) pH are essential for their survival in the environment, with stagnant water reservoirs - bogs, shallow lakes, ponds, puddles, etc. - being the natural habitat for the bacteria.

Nutrition Leptospira are typically cultivated at 30 C in Ellinghausen-McCulloughJohnson-Harris (EMJH) medium, which can be supplemented with 0.21% rabbit serum to enhance growth of fastidious strains. Growth of pathogenic Leptospira in an artificial nutrient environment such as EMJH becomes noticeable in 47 days; growth of saprophytic strains occurs within 23 days. The minimal growth temperature of pathogenic species is 13-15 C. Because the minimal growth temperature of the saprophytes is 5-10 C, the ability of Leptospira to grow at 13 C can be used to distinguish saprophytic from pathogenic Leptospiraspecies. The optimal pH for growth of Leptospira is 7.2-7.6. Leptospira are aerobes whose major carbon and energy source during in vitro growth is long-chain fatty acids, which are metabolized by beta-oxidation. Fatty acids are provided in EMJH in the form of Tween. Fatty acid molecules are bound by albumin in EMJH and are released slowly into the medium to prevent its toxic accumulation. Like most bacteria, Leptospira require iron for growth. L. interrogans and L. biflexa have the ability to acquire iron in different forms. A TonB-dependent receptor required for utilization of the ferrous form of the iron has been identified in L. biflexa, and an ortholog of the receptor is encoded in the genome of L. interrogans. L. interrogans can also obtain iron from heme, which is bound to most of the iron in the human body. The HbpA hemin-binding protein, which may be involved in the uptake of hemin, has been identified on the surface of L. interrogans Although other pathogenic species of Leptospira and L. biflexa lack HbpA, yet another hemin-

binding protein, LipL41, may account for their ability to use hemin as a source of iron. Although they do not secrete siderophores, L. biflexa and L. interrogans may be capable of obtaining iron from siderophores secreted by other microorganisms.

Genome The genome of pathogenic Leptospira consists of two chromosomes. The size of the genomes of L. interrogans serovars Copenhageni and Lai is approximately 4.6 Mb. However, the genome of L. borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo is only 3.9 Mb in size with a large number of pseudogenes, gene fragments, and insertion sequences relative to the genomes of L. interrogans. L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii share 2708 genes from which 656 are pathogenic specific genes. The guanine plus cytosine (GC) content is between 35% and 41%. L. borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo is usually transmitted by direct exposure to infected tissues, whereas L. interrogans is often acquired from water or soil contaminated by the urine of carrier animals harboring Leptospirain their kidneys. The high number of defective genes and insertion sequences in L. borgpetersenii Hardjo together with the poor survival outside of the host and difference in transmission patterns compared to L. interrogans suggest that L. borgpetersenii is undergoing insertionsequence mediated genomic decay, with ongoing loss of genes necessary for survival outside of the host animal.

Genotyping Genome sequence determination (of Leptospira) lead to the development of Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) based scheme for species level identification of pathogenic Leptospira species. The pioneering MLST method developed by Niyaz Ahmed in Hyderabad, India and colleagues is widely used for molecular epidemiology studies and holds the potential to replace the highly ambiguous, serotyping method currently in vogue for leptospiral strain identification.

Borrelia

Borrelia is a genus of bacteria of the spirochete phylum. It causes borreliosis, a zoonotic, vector-borne diseasetransmitted primarily by ticks and some by lice, depending on the species. There are 36 known species of Borrelia.

Lyme disease Of the 36 known species of Borrelia, 12 of these species are known to cause Lyme disease or borreliosis and are transmitted by ticks. The major Borrelia species causing Lyme disease are Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii and Borrelia valaisiana.

Relapsing fever Relapsing fever borreliosis often occurs with severe bacteremia. Borrelia recurrentis is transmitted by the human body louse; no other animal reservoir of B. recurrentis is known. Lice that feed on infected humans acquire the Borreliaorganisms that then multiply in the gut of the louse. When an infected louse feeds on an uninfected human, the organism gains access when the victim crushes the louse or scratches the area where the louse is feeding. B. recurrentis infects the person via mucous membranes and then invades the bloodstream. Other tick-borne relapsing infections are acquired from other species, such as Borrelia hermsii or Borrelia parkeri, which can be spread from rodents, and serve

as a reservoir for the infection, via a tick vector. Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia recurrentis cause very similar diseases, although the disease associated withBorrelia hermsii has more relapses and is responsible for more fatalities, while the disease caused by B. recurrentis has longer febrile and afebrile intervals and a longer incubation period. Laboratory test Immunoflourascent or confirm by serology by observing the organism in blood of patient. Genetics All members of the Borrelia genus that have been examined harbor a linear chromosome that is about 900 kbp in length as well as a plethora of both linear and circular plasmids in the 5-220 kbp size range. Genome sequences have been determined for B. burgdorferi, B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. duttonii and B. recurrentis. The chromosomes, which carry the vast majority of the housekeeping genes, appear to be very constant in gene content and organization across the genus. The content of the plasmids, which carry most of the genes that encode the differentially-expressed surface proteins that interact with Borrelia's arthropod andvertebrate hosts, are much more variable. B. burgdorferi strain B31, the B. burgdorferi type strain, has been studied in the most detail and harbors twelve linear and nine circular plasmids that comprise about 612 kbp. The plasmids are unusual, as compared to most bacterial plasmids, in that they contain many paralogous sequences, a large number of pseudogenes and, in some cases, essential genes. In addition, a number of the plasmids have features suggesting that they are prophages. Some correlations between genome content and pathogenicity have been deduced and comparative whole genome analyses promise future progress in this arena.