Experiment : Gut Health And Food Safety Blog

6. Humans should not be concerned about the bacteriophages infecting other cells because each bacteriophage is particular to a certain bacteria. If the bacterial cell exhibits traits that are desirable to the certain bacteriophage, then the phage will chose to bind and infect it, otherwise people have nothing to worry about.

Viruses are microscopic particles that invade and take over both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. They consist of two structures, which are the nucleic acid and capsid. The nucleic acid contains all genetic material in the form of DNA or RNA, and is enclosed in the capsid, which is the protein coating that helps the virus attach to and penetrate the host cell. In some cases, certain viruses have a membrane surrounding the capsid, called an envelope. This structure allows viruses to become more stealthy and protected. There are two cycles in which a virus can go into: lytic and lysogenic. The lytic cycle consists of the virus attaching to a cell, injecting its DNA, and creating more viruses, which proceed to destroy the host. On the other hand, the lysogenic cycle includes the virus attaching to the cell, injecting its DNA, which combines with the cell’s DNA in order for it to become provirus. Then, the provirus DNA may eventually switch to the lytic cycle and destroy the host.

Some phages infect bacteria to destroy them, which is called lysic lifestyle, while other phages infect bacteria and stay dormant inside them for a while, which is referred to as a lysogenic lifestyle. A phage infects the bacteria cell by injecting its genetic material into the bacteria’s cytoplasm. This allows the bacteria synthesis process to start making the phage’s genetic code instead of its own. Once the bacteria have made enough phages to handle, the walls will break and release all of the phage that was created. The phages that were made are now resetting the process and beginning again by infecting the other near bacteria by injecting their genetic material once again. Those phages that stay within the bacteria and not burst the bacteria will continue to reproduce the phages own genetic code. (Griffiths,

The titer of recombinant phage was determined with the number of plaques on the E.coli K plates and the titer of total phage progeny was determined with the number of plaque on the E.coli B plates.

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacillus that is renowned for being the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in adult patients. C. difficile is present as normal intestinal flora within 3% to 5% of healthy people2, while its spores are ubiquitous in the environment, especially in hospital settings. It grows at an optimal temperature and pH of 37ºC and 6.5–7.5 respectively.1 It is an obligate anaerobic as it thrives in the absence of oxygen. It is highly motile with the presence of peritrichous flagella, which are evenly spread out along its surface. As briefly mentioned above, this evolving pathogen produces endospores. The bacterium produces dormant spores, which are extremely hardy and resistant to antibiotics, the host’s innate immune system, and once shed into the environment through the host’s feces, they are resistant to unfavorable aerobic conditions3 as well as several types of bleach-free disinfectants, which are commonly used in hospitals.3 The spores will germinate under the favorable conditions of the intestinal tract, resulting in the multiplication of vegetative cells, colonizing in the gastrointestinal tract. The vegetative cells release two powerful exotoxins upon adherence to the epithelial cells of the GI tract. Pathogenic strains of C. difficile produce two exotoxins: toxin A and toxin B. Toxin A is an enterotoxin that causes fluid excretion, resulting in fluid accumulation and watery diarrhea. Toxin B is a potent

Clostridium difficile involves a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium, which is a normal element of the colon flora in people. The Clostridium difficile can cause antibiotic-associated diarrhea when the competing bacteria in the gut flora are all killed by antibiotic treatment. The Clostridium difficile infection is one of the serious healthcare-related infection and also a rising health care problem. In the early 1970s, the Clostridium difficile has been known to have the ability to cause pseudomembranous colitis. As stated, the infection is the most cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea (Aktories & Wilkins, 2000). Individuals that are colonized with clostridium difficile serve as the reservoir for infection and this is by contaminating the environment with spores of such bacteria. This will lead to the spread of the organism on the health care worker’s hands or even through the use of medical equipment. In this paper, we are going to focus on the effective prevention strategies for clostridium difficile. What are the effective prevention strategies for clostridium difficile?

The main objectives of this experiment included making dilutions of solutions, plating phage or bacteria, and determining the number of bacterial viruses or phage in a suspension. It was also conducted to demonstrate that two different mutants of phage T4 can exchange genetic material to give rise to wild-type phage. The experiment was used to distinguish mutants from wild-type by their host specificity. The recombination in bacteriophage was performed to determine the concentration of unadsorbed phage from the U series plates, total concentration from B series, and concentration of

In the article, Poop Pills Sound Gross, but Cure Serious Gut Infections, by Associated Press, doctors have found a way to put healthy people's poop into pills-and these pills are now being used to cure serious gut infections. In the article it states that, “Half a million Americans get Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, infections and about 14,000 die.” This was when poop pills were not invented yet and they had treatments that were very uncomfortable and very pricy. They did get rid off the bad bacteria in that area, but it destroyed the healthy, good bacteria and could cause reinfections of C-diff. C-diff is an infection in our bodies that gives us issues when we go to the bathroom. The, one time treatment created by Dr. Thomas Louie

The study is important to detect if there is a relationship between the amount of phages and the mucus layers in the body because this could help to fight infection from viruses. The information found from the study clearly displays the symbiotic relationship between the phage and the mucus layer of the metazoan host. However, the flow of the article is hard to follow and there are many different experiments briefly explained which could be expanded to help better connect all the experiments. Although the study shows that less bacteria adherence and more phage

For instance, the bacterium is usually an oval shape or sometimes just a regular sphere. It also has spikes that stick at of it. The Bubonic Plague bacteria consists of DNA, RNA, proteins, polysaccharides (pol-ee-sak-uh-rides), and phospholipids (fos-fo-lih-pids). It also includes a cytoplasm, nucleoid, flagella, pili, ribosomes, cytoplasm membrane, cell wall, and capsule. It lacks well-defined nuclei and membrane-bound organelles, also chromosomes. The function is to keep the bacterium from drying out and protect it from phagocytosis (fag-o-sci-toe-sis) also known as engulfing which is when you ingest a small cell or

The use of C. difficile phages as a treatment for CDI would involve orally giving patients a C. difficile specific phage preparation. The phages would attach to the receptors on the C. difficile cells, and following the phage DNA entering the cell, would undergo replication and ultimately lyse the bacterial cell, releasing phage virions to infect surrounding C. difficile cells. This infection and lysis process would be repeated until all the C. difficile cells are killed and the infection is cleared. Phage therapy offers select advantages over existing antibiotic treatments. They include the specific nature of the phage–bacterial interaction, which would avoid exacerbating the gut dysbiosis (disruption of gut microbiota) that can be associated

The most widely recognized versatile hereditary components are bacteriophage and bacterial plasmids, which all has a specific technique that takes into consideration exchange between microscopic organisms. Bacteriophages (phages) or bacterial infections appear to have the best effect on staphylococcal differing qualities and advancement. All phages are characterized into one of three particular gatherings: lytic, calm, and interminable. Lytic phages are individuals from the Myoviridae family that have been utilized as a part of phage treatment, since microscopic organisms lyse totally amid arrival of descendants phages. Microbes contaminated with endless phages discharge descendants into the extracellular condition without murdering the host, which permits microorganisms to develop and separate. Mild phages, which are individuals from the Siphoviridae family, shape the most various gathering among all phages. Mild phages can lyse microscopic organisms after contamination, yet they regularly frame a long haul association with the host cell, whereby the phage DNA incorporates into the staphylococcal genome as a prophage . Phages can affect articulation of destructiveness determinants by

Bacteriophages can also multiply at the site of infection and continue to do so until the bacteria is cleared from

We collected 5 soil samples on campus (Latitude: N 33° 44' 55.8269" Longitude: W 84° 24' 54.6172") and placed them in a 15-mL conical tube. For this procedure we wanted to create a suitable nutrient rich environment for the host

The primary function of the digestive system is to transfer nutrients, water, and electrolytes from the food consume into the body’s internal environment. The ingested food is essential as an energy source, or fuel, from which the cells can generate ATP to carry out their particular energy-dependent activities such as contraction, transport, synthesis, secretion and even renewal of body tissues. Three primary categories of food ingested by humans which are carbohydrates, proteins and fats emerge as large molecules. These large molecules cannot cross plasma membranes intact to be absorbed from the lumen of the digestive tract into the blood or lymph; hence, it must undergo degradation in size (Sherwood, 2013). This