preview

Staphylococcus Aureus : A Type Of Penicillin

Better Essays

Mitchell Okula
Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus
Introduction
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that infects of the skin of an animal that creates horrific pain to the host. The name is broken down into three parts in Latin. “Staphyle” meaning “a bunch of grapes”, coccus which means “spherical bacterium” and aureus which best means “golden or gold-colored.” This name came about in Latin because when looked at under a microscope, the bacteria are all clumped together like grapes on a vine and the color is gold. (Harper n.d.) This bacterium is Gram-positive meaning that within the walls of the cell, peptidoglycan exceptionally thick. (Bruckner 2012) (PHAC 2012) A different strain of this bacterium called MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a bigger problem because it is unaffected by a type of penicillin, Methicillin. The first known sighting this particular resistant strain was first documented in 1961 by British scientists in England. (NiAID NIH 2008) Penicillin is used to create antibiotics because it in a way interferes with the cell wall of the strain and weakens it causing it to loose structure and die. By a strain becoming resistant, it learns the make-up of the antibiotic to change itself for the best chance of survival. (Tufts EDU 2014)
Methods
This experiment was done to better understand what types of antibiotics do well against the strain of S. aureus, MRSA. The experiment consisted of various types of antibiotics to see if there would be any

Get Access