How bacteria endospores are different from cysts of protozoa and how they are alike.
Endospores are usually stable and dormant structures that are found in the phylum of Firmicute. They are generally not productive, and their central role is to ensure that the bacteria survive during severe environmental conditions. This makes them resistant to various rays, destructive enzymes, and temperature. They mostly live in water and soil where they can be able to survive for a long time. On the contrary, Cysts are considered to be stages that are possessed by protozoans and have thick membrane layers that protect them from being damaged. Cysts that live outside their hosts have thicker walls than those that live inside the tissues. Additionally, endospores are produced in singles, while the cells that produce cysts usually gives rise to two of them.
Both endospores and cysts have thick walls that protect them from harsh environments. The two are also not formed through any reproductive process.
Question 2:How bacteriophages may be used to treat bacterial diseases and their disadvantages.
Bacteriophages are viruses that can be used in phage therapy to cure some diseases caused by bacteria. These viruses are harmless to humans or animals and only kills the bacteria found in the body. They are therefore considered to be the enemies of bacteria alone. Firstly, they destroy the bacteria by bursting or lysing them. This process is achieved when the bacteriophages bind on the bacteria and inject its genes, which can either be Deoxyribonucleic acids or Ribonucleic acids. They then reproduce inside the bacteria and increases in number rapidly in each of the bacteria they infect. In the process, the bacteria break apart, and the viruses are released. The infections can only survive inside the bacteria, and when the bacteria are dead, they become dormant and would not affect the host.
One of the disadvantages of using bacteriophages is that the preparation of the virus is usually tricky, and not the diseases related to the virus have fully been cured. Additionally, to identify the correct therapeutic bacteriophage is hard. The future emergence of bacteria that will be resistant to the virus is also possible because the bacteria are capable of developing several defense mechanisms to counter viral infections.
Question 3: Treating anaerobic infections by manipulating gas content
Anaerobic infections are infections that are caused by anaerobic bacteria that occur on their own in the body of organisms. Naturally, they may not be able to cause infections, but when the body is injured, or the immune system becomes weak, they can easily cause infections. Some of the suggestions of treating these infections by manipulating the content of the gas include maintaining oxygen levels adequately in the body as this will destroy the anaerobic bacteria because they cannot survive in the oxygenated environment since oxygen neutralizes their free radicals.
Question 4: Proving that a bacterium is resistant to antibiotics
One of the culture methods used to test that a bacterium has become resistant to an antibiotic is the disk diffusion method. Under this method, a media which is usually Mueller-Hinton agar is evenly spread on the plate that contains the isolate being experimented and that has been diluted at standard concentrations. The antibiotic under observations should also be prepared and dispensed onto the agar surface, followed by even spreading of the mixture. The antibiotic under investigation would start diffusing outward from the medium disk, which creates a difference in the antibiotic concentration gradient where the highest concentration is those that found closer to the drive. The mixture should be left overnight for incubation, after which the growth of the bacteria is observed. In case the experimental isolate was susceptible to the antibiotic under observation, there will be no growth around the medium disk. This zone, where there is no growth, is known as the zone of inhibition. It is usually measured in mm and then compared to a standard chart that contains different categories to assist in determining whether the isolate was susceptible or intermediately resistant.