Spirochetes Unwound: 100 (micro)meter dash

Sunday, July 22, 2012

100 (micro)meter dash

A fun read in the current issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology is an essay entitled "The Microbial Olympics, " just in time for the Summer Olympics. You will find stories about microbes competing in boxing, javelin, pathogen relay, diving, and other Olympic events. Flagellated bacteria compete in the 100 micrometer dash, which you can watch below. (Note that some of the contestants were genetically modified.)

Source

Lane assignments:

E. coli chimera (has sodium-driven flagellar motors instead of its normal proton-driven motors)
E. coli (proton-driven flagellar motors)
Vibrio alginolyticus, puller (clockwise-locked flagellum "pulls" cell body from front)
Vibrio alginolyticus, pusher (counterclockwise-locked flagellum "pushes" cell body from back)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Rhodobacter sphaeroides
Rhodospirillum rubrum
Yersinia enterocolitica

Reference

Youle M, Rohwer F, Stacy A, Whiteley M, Steel BC, Delalez NJ, Nord AL, Berry RM, Armitage JP, Kamoun S, Hogenhout S, Diggle SP, Gurney J, Pollitt EJG, Boetius A, and Cary SC (August 2012). Nature Reviews Microbiology 10(8):583-588. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro2837

No comments:

Post a Comment

Common Spirochete Diseases

Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease caused by several members of the Borrelia burgdorferi complex. B. burgdorferi, B. garinii, and B. afzelii account for most cases worldwide. A rash may appear at the site of the tick bite, and the patient may experience flu-like symptoms. Left untreated, the patient may suffer from neurologic, arthritic, and cardiac complications.

The syphilis agent Treponema pallidum is most commonly acquired by sexual contact. A skin lesion called a chancre appears at the site of initial contact with the spirochete. T. pallidum later spreads to other sites in the body to cause the flu-like symptoms and rash of secondary syphilis. Once secondary syphilis resolves, the spirochete may persist for years without causing problems. Later, tertiary syphilis can result in damage to vital tissues. Neurosyphilis and cardiovascular syphilis are two common forms of tertiary syphilis.

Leptospira lives in the kidneys of rodents and other reservoir hosts and is shed via urine into the environment. Humans acquire the spirochete by contact of abraded skin or mucous membranes with infectious urine or contaminated water or soil. Leptospirosis patients may initially experience flu-like symptoms. Jaundice and impaired kidney function occur in the potentially deadly form of leptospirosis called Weil's disease.

Pages

Sunday, July 22, 2012

100 (micro)meter dash

No comments:

Post a Comment