Urine culture is performed in order to specifically identify organisms that may be causing a urinary tract infection (UTI). Urine in the bladder is often sterile as it is free from microorganisms. It becomes inundated with microorganisms (especially those of the normal micro-flora) when it leaves the bladder. UTI is very common in patients that […]
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Microbe Lab, Techniques in Microbiology Lab
Blood culture is the most important diagnostic method for detecting and diagnosing bacteraemia (presence of bacteria in blood) and fungimia (i.e. presence of pathogenic fungi in blood) in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Blood specimen required for blood culture technique should be collected from the patient prior to antibiotic therapy in order to increase the sensitivity
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Microbe Lab, Techniques in Microbiology Lab
Stool culture is demanded in the bacteriology laboratory as method for detecting and diagnosing enteric bacterial infections (i.e. infections caused by pathogens in the Enterobacteriaceae family e.g. Salmonella species and Shigella species) that lead to enteric fever, diarrhea and dysentery. Stool culture can also be requested when patients present with other gastrointestinal infections such as
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Microbe Lab, Bacteriology, Techniques in Microbiology Lab
The laboratory diagnosis of fungal infection is mainly based on microscopy and cultural techniques. Several culture media exist for the selective isolation of pathogenic fungi from clinically important specimens. The choice of culture media to be used is largely dependent on the type of mycoses and the category of samples to be analyzed amongst other
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Microbe Lab, Techniques in Microbiology Lab
Mycotoxins are exotoxins produced by fungi. The area of microbiology that studies fungi and the toxins they produce (i.e. mycotoxins) is known as mycotoxicology. The disease condition provoked by the intake of mycotoxins in human or animal hosts is generally known as mycotoxicoses. Mycotoxins are pharmacologically active secondary metabolites produced by toxin-producing fungi in food,
Oral thrush (oral candidiasis) is a localized fungal infection caused by C. albicans in the oral cavity of humans such as the tongue, lips and gums. Oral thrush is a fungal infection of the mouth; and thrush or oral thrush is an infection of the mouth caused by the Candida fungus which is a yeast
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Mycology
Generally, parasites can be classified into two major groups: Endoparasites are parasites that live inside the body of their hosts inclusive of animals and humans. They are known as internal parasites. Endoparasites are found in blood, tissues, gastrointestinal tract or digestive system and in the internal body organs of their hosts. They remain inside the
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Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Transpeptidation reaction is the chemical reaction that forms the peptide cross-links or bonds during the synthesis of peptidoglycan (murein) in a bacterial cell wall. Peptidoglycan or murein is a polysaccharide molecule that consists mainly of alternating repeats of N-acetylglusamine (NAG) and N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM). Murein is a bacterial cell wall polymer that contains short peptide
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Microbial Physiology & Metabolism
Cell wall is a layer that is present outside the plasma or cytoplasmic membrane of a prokaryotic cell. It is present in both Gram-positive bacteria (Figure 1) and Gram-negative bacteria (2) even though some bacteria (e.g. Mycoplasmas) are wall-less i.e. they do not possess cell wall. Wall-less bacteria do not react to the Gram stain
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Microbial Physiology & Metabolism
Eukaryotic cells are organisms or cells that have a membrane-bound nucleus. They are distinct group of organisms that have a unit membrane-enclosed nucleus and other organelles such as the mitochondria that are membrane-bound . They are different from prokaryotic cells which lack membrane-bound nucleus. The term eukaryote is derived from the Greek word eu which
