Bugs in the system

An Introduction to Infection
and Microbiology

Dr. Najim A. Yassin

(Assistant Professor in Molecular Medical Microbiology)
25th February 2024
 Learning Objectives (LO)

 1. What is infection?
 2. What causes infection?
 3. Why do particular individuals get particular infections?
 4. What influences the outcome of infection?
 5. Compare and contrast the key properties of bacteria and viruses as
distinct from eukaryotic cells.
 6. Explain the significance of the Gram and acid fast stains for the
classification and detection of bacteria.
 7. Explain the terms pathogen and non-pathogen.
 8. Explain the general significance of genome composition, envelope
and replication strategy for the classification and detection of viruses
 Infection

 Entry into and multiplication of an infectious agent

(pathogen) in the tissues of the host resulting in tissue
damage/injurious effects.

 Primary infection = acute infection that causes initial

illness
 Secondary infection = caused by opportunistic pathogen
as a result of primary infection e.g. (HIV) AIDS →
Candida albicans mycosis
 Subclinical infection = does not cause noticeable illness,
person is asymptomatic (e.g. Hepatitis A)
The relative sizes of microbes
 Kinds of Infectious Agents

 Prions
– Slow viruses? – particles of protein
• Accumulate in nervous tissue and brain tissue
– Cause degenerative disease in the central
nervous system (e.g., mad cow disease, scrapie
of sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
of human).
 Kinds of Infectious Agents

 Viruses
 Protein coat surrounding
nucleic acid core
 Have no metabolic
enzymes of their own
 Insert their genome into
a host cell’s DNA
 Use that cell’s metabolic
machinery to make new viruses
 Kinds of Infectious Agents

 Bacteria (Prokaryotes)
– Cells without membrane-bound organelles
– Can live independently
– Use infected organism for food and shelter
 Kinds of Infectious Agents

 Fungi (Eukaryotes)
– Most require a cooler temperature than human core
body temperature
– So most infections are on the surface of the body

Tinea is a fungal
infection of the skin
 Kinds of Infectious Agents

 Parasites (Eukaryotes)
– Protozoa: malaria, giardiasis
– Helminthes: tapeworms
– Arthropods: ticks, mosquitoes, fleas

Giardia lamblia Tapeworm Ticks

 Differences Between Eucaryotic and
Procaryotic Cells
Procaryotes Eucaryotes
Nucleus Absent Present
Membranous
Organelles Absent Present
Cell Wall Chemically complex When present, simple
Ribosomes Smaller (70S) Larger (80S)
DNA Single circular Multiple linear
chromosome chromosomes (histones)
Cell Division Binary fission Mitosis
Tissue Classification
 1. Epithelial tissue
 2. Connective (Support) tissue
 3. Muscle tissue
 4. Nervous tissue
 Bacterial cells
Distribution

Bacteria on the point of a pin

 We need special stains and microscopy
techniques to see microbes

 • The Gram stain allows us to detect and begin to classify

most bacteria
 • Acid fast stains allow us to detect the bacterial causes of
tuberculosis and leprosy.
 • Both these staining methods are applied millions of
times every day to help in the diagnosis and treatment of
infection
The Gram stain
 The Gram stain

 Positively charged crystal violet binds to negatively

charged cell components
 Iodine forms large molecular complexes with crystal
violet
 Acetone or methanol extract the complexes through the
Gram-negative but not through the Gram-positive
bacterial cell wall
 A red dye is used to stain the now unstained Gram-
negative cells.
 The difference in extraction reveals a fundamental and
medically important feature in bacteria
 Bacterial Structure

 Shape: cocci, rods/bacilli (note arrangements),

coccobaccilli
 Variations: curved, spiral, filamentous.
 Internal structures: Spores, inclusion granules
 External structures: fimbriae/pili, flagellae, capsule
 The cell envelope
Common Arrangements of Cocci
 Bacterial Structure

Spores Inclusion granules Capsule

Pili Flagellae
 Other cell envelope types (not
visualized with Gram stain)

 Mycobacteria:– Acid Fast Stain (AFBs).

Auramine - fluorescent, Z-N –bright field stains.

 Mycoplasmas: No peptidoglycan

 Too small: rickettsia, chlamydia

 Acid Fast Stains

 Smears for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB)

 •Rapid but relatively insensitive
 •+ve AFB smear = infective patient

Ziehl-Neelsen Fluorescent
 Cell walls
Clinical importance

 • Detection and diagnosis via Gram and Acid fast stains

 • Endotoxin effects (Gram negative LPS)
 • Target for antibiotics
– Beta-lactams (penicilllins and cephalosporins)
– Glycopeptides
– Isoniazid (TB)
 Bacterial Growth

 • Broth turbidity (Planktonic)

 • Colonies
 • Biofilms
 Growth in Broth

 • Replication by binary fission giving rise to:

Lag, Exponential (log) and Stationary
phases of growth recognized (in broth)
Colonies
Biofilms
Biofilms
 Requirements for Growth

 1. Specific Energy source

 2. Specific Building blocks

 3. Specific Atmosphere
 Growth Atmosphere

 Aerobes

 Facultative organisms

 Anaerobes
Bacteria – what you will need to
know
 ORGANISM Gram Reaction DISEASE(S)
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus pyogenes
Group B streptococci
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Neisseria meningitidis
Neisseria gonnorrhoeae
Clostridium perfringens
*Clostridium difficile
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium leprae
Escherichia coli
Salmonella spp.
Shigella