MECHANISM OF ACTION OF ANTIBIOTICS: Antibacterial Agents

The antibiotics described above including those not described in this work are used to treat infections caused by disease causing microorganisms (bacteria). Majority of them exert a highly selective toxic action upon their target microbial cells but have little or no toxicity towards mammalian cells. These antibiotics can therefore be administered at concentrations sufficient enough […]

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Antimicrobial Agents & Antibiotics, Pharmaceutical Microbiology, ,

REASONS FOR THE HIGH FREQUENCY OF PARASITES & PARASITIC DISEASES IN TROPICAL & SUBTROPICAL REGIONS

Parasitic diseases are usually common in rainforest parts of the world (the tropical and subtropical regions) because such environment favour the existence of the causative agents of such infections. For example, malaria caused by Plasmodium species is more prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions than in temperate regions where the environmental condition is cold and

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Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology), , , ,

PYROGEN TEST

A pyrogen is simply defined as a fever-causing (inducing) agent that includes toxins of microorganisms. The phrase “pyrogens” is derived from the Greek word “Pyros” to mean “Fire”. Pyrogens are the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) component or endotoxins of bacteria especially Gram negative organisms. They also include the cell wall components of both Gram negative and Gram

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Food Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Microbiology, , , , , , , , , , , ,

CELLS THAT CAN BE CULTURED IN VITRO USING CELL CULTURE TECHNIQUE

The living cells that are cultured may include: When a whole organ or intact organ fragments of an organism (plant or animal) are removed from an organism and cultured in vitro for the purpose of studying their function and development, the process is called organ culture. The culturing of cells, tissues or organs occurs in

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Cell Culture Notes, , , , , ,

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES

An epidemiological study usually involves two important steps that must be put into consideration prior to the investigation of disease/infection outbreak. The first step in any epidemiological study is to define the hypothesis to be tested. The hypothesis must take into consideration the description of the exposure and possible outcome of the disease. The second

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Epidemiology, ,

MICROBIOTA OF DENTAL DISEASES: Dental Plaque, Dental Caries, Gingivitis, Periodontitis

The microbiota of dental diseases describes the microorganisms (inclusive of normal flora of the oral cavity and other pathogenic microorganisms) that cause several pathological conditions in the oral cavity – especially as it pertains to the teeth and its associated vessels or structures. The diseases of the teeth include dental plaque, periodontitis, dental caries or

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Microbiology of Oral Infection, , , , , ,

PREPARATION OF BACTERIAL SMEAR & HEAT FIXING

Bacterial smear is defined as a dehydrated or dried preparation of a bacterial suspension (cells) on a clean glass slide. The source of bacteria for the preparation or making of a smear can be from an agar slant, broth (liquid) culture and from a culture plate. A smear is simply a bacterial preparation made on

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Medical Microbiology, Microbe Lab, Techniques in Microbiology Lab, , , ,

FUNGAL MORPHOLOGY

Fungi unlike other groups of microorganisms possess or have unique structures which distinguish them from other microbial cells. Morphologically, fungi exist in any of the following structural forms: MYCELIUM (PLURAL: MYCELIA) Mycelium is the long branching structures of fungal hyphae (Figure 1). Mycelia are specialized structures used by fungal cells to absorb nutrients from their

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Mycology, , , ,

PARTS OF A CELL AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

The cells of all living organisms share several structural characteristics together. Some of the many structural components of a cell (which co-ordinates the cells activities and their functions) are as follows: NUCLEUS Nucleus is the control center of the eukaryotic cell that contains deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is the genetic material of the cell which

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Microbial Physiology & Metabolism, , , , , ,