Category: Microbiology

Directions for the students: There are 4 essay questions. Please be sure to complete all of them with thorough substantive responses. Citations are required for all responses. There is no time limit.
Provide an example of an organism within each of the four main nutritional categories of microbes and describe how each obtains its essential nutrients.
Provide evidence in support of or refuting the following statement: Microbial life can exist in the complete absence of both sunlight or organic nutrients.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technology that requires high temperatures to reproduce DNA fragments. Explain why the discovery of thermophilic archaea and their associated DNA polymerases was critical to the success of this technique.
Summarize how the electron transport chain functions to produce ATP in a bacterial cell versus eukaryotic cell. Explain whether or not the term chemiosmosis accurately illustrates this process.

Define the term ubiquitous and explain whether this term can be used appropriately to describe bacteria and archaea.
Based upon your knowledge of cell wall structure, explain how the microbes causing meningitis and typhoid fever can induce fever and systemic shock in an infected patient.
Summarize the endosymbiotic theory and explain how it accounts for major structural similarities and differences between bacterial and eukaryotic cells.
Summarize the general life cycle of a protozoan, explaining the importance of the various stages in disease transmission and species identification

Go over the signs, symptoms, and treatment of Hansen’s disease (leprosy). Be sure to cite any sources you use in APA format. WIkipedia is not a source. This is for a microbiology college discussion post. Please do not use AI or plagiarize.

DISCUSSION 1
In order to fully appreciate our current knowledge about the field of Microbiology, we must first know where we began: Before microbes were discovered, what did we think actually caused infectious diseases? Have we always understood the role that handwashing plays in disease prevention? Who were the first individuals to pave the way for aseptic practices (such as the sterilization of surgical tools) and what was life like before these practices began?
Our first discussion board for Unit I deals with identifying some of the major contributors to the development of the field of microbiology! Choose an individual from the list below and research the contribution that they made to advancing the field of microbiology (Note: I have included some key words beside each option so that you can pick the one that interests you the most).
In your discussion, make sure you clearly identify (1) what contribution(s) your chosen individual made to the field of microbiology and (2) how their contribution(s) changed the way we operate within the laboratory or medical environment today. Have fun with it – feel free to include any interesting information you find!
Option 1: Paul Ehrlich (choose Ehrlich if you are interested in chemotherapy, magic bullets, syphilis treatments, etc.)
DISCUSSION 2
Charley is having a bad week – she’s feeling awful and has had to call in sick to work two days in a row. She decides “enough is enough” and goes to her doctor’s office where she is informed that she has a bacterial infection and is prescribed a dose of antibiotics. A few days after taking the antibiotics, she starts to feel better. Butwhy? Why do we take antibiotics for bacterial infections? How do antibiotics work? And how exactly do antibiotics kill bacterial cells while leaving our own, human cells alone?
The answer to these questions lies in the cellular and structural differences that exist between bacterial (prokaryotic) and human (eukaryotic) cells. While these differences are highlighted in Chapters 3 & 4, we will refer back to this information throughout the remainder of the course – so it is important that we get a firm understanding of these differences now! Our second discussion board for this unit of information deals with identifying prokaryotic and eukaryotic differences and understanding how our knowledge of these differences can play important roles within the medical field, such as antibiotic development.
Choose a process/structure from the list below and research the way that bacterial and human cells differ in your chosen process/structure.
Option 1: Ribosomes/Protein Synthesis
Option 2: Cell wall
Option 3: Cell membrane
Option 4: DNA Synthesis
Option 5: RNA Synthesis
Option 6: Folic Acid Synthesis
In your discussion, make sure you (1) identify how bacterial (prokaryotic) and human (eukaryotic) cells differ in your chosen structure/process and (2) a clear explanation on why targeting this prokaryotic process/structure with an antibiotic within the body would not be toxic to human cells!
DISCUSSION 3
All microbes (with the exception of prions) have some genetic component to them – either a DNA or RNA genome that they can pass on to their offspring and that contain their gene sequences and, thus, encode their characteristics. The reason why microbes differ from one another in terms of what organisms they can infect, how deadly of a disease they can cause, and even what shape they are can all boil down to the genetic code contained within their genome. Thus, in order to appreciate how certain mutations can lead to effects like antibiotic resistance and ineffective vaccines, we need to have a solid understanding of the field of genetics. Our last discussion board for this unit will provide us with a more in-depth look at some of the particulars of genomes and their effects on an organism’s characteristics.
Below you will find different options of discussion board questions – for your initial post, choose one to answer in-detail.
Option 1 – Define a facultative gene and include a real-life human or microbial example of a facultative gene in your discussion (other than those highlighted in the lecture notes). Your discussion should include (1) the definition of a facultative gene and (2) the function of the gene’s encoded protein within the cell and why it makes sense, based on its function, that it is facultatively regulated
Option 2 – Define a constitutive gene and include a real-life human or microbial example of a constitutive gene in your discussion (other than those highlighted in the lecture notes). Your discussion should include (1) the definition of a constitutive gene and (2) the function of the gene’s encoded protein within the cell and why it makes sense, based on its function, that it is constitutively regulated
Option 3 – If a missense mutation occurred on a microbial genome, would we expect this mutation be helpful, harmful, or neither helpful nor harmful to the microorganism? Your discussion should include (1) the definition of a missense mutation and (2) a thorough explanation of potentially how a missense mutation could affect the protein function, phenotype, and overall health of the microbe!
Option 4 – If a silent mutation occurred on a microbial genome, would we expect this mutation be helpful, harmful, or neither helpful nor harmful to the microorganism? Your discussion should include (1) the definition of a silent mutation and (2) a thorough explanation of potentially how a silent mutation could affect the protein function, phenotype, and overall health of the microbe!
Option 5 – If a nonsense mutation occurred on a microbial genome, would we expect this mutation be helpful, harmful, or neither helpful nor harmful to the microorganism? Your discussion should include (1) the definition of a nonsense mutation and (2) a thorough explanation of potentially how a nonsense mutation could affect the protein function, phenotype, and overall health of the microbe!
Option 6 – If an insertion mutation occurred on a microbial genome, would we expect this mutation be helpful, harmful, or neither helpful nor harmful to the microorganism? Your discussion should include (1) the definition of an insertion mutation and (2) a thorough explanation of how an insertion mutation could potentially affect the protein function, phenotype, and overall health of the microbe!
Option 7 – If a deletion mutation occurred on a microbial genome, would we expect this mutation be helpful, harmful, or neither helpful nor harmful to the microorganism? Your discussion should include (1) the definition of a deletion mutation and (2) a thorough explanation of potentially how a deletion mutation could affect the protein function, phenotype, and overall health of the microbe!

You will respond to another classmate with a substantive comment in a minimum of 100, and a maximum of 150 words, moving the science discussion forward in an area of interest after reading your classmate’s main discussion.  You may report another news article on the microbe if you wish, though it is not required
Again, you should provide student original writing, paraphrasing from credible sources, cite your source for this post in text in parentheses, and provide full end reference information in APA 7th Edition format
Respond to each post that I am going to add to the files. Please follow the instructions. Add word count at the end.

The review should be typed Times New Roman 12 pt font and double spaced with 1 inch margins.
The review should be at least 5 pages of content to earn a 100 .
You will submit an electronic copy of your paper into turnitin.com to check for plagiarism and AI use. I will give you the details on how to do that.
Plagiarism, including the use of AI (such as chatGPT), is strictly forbidden. I reserve the right to reduce any student’s grade to a level I see fit based on plagiarism and AI use levels.
We have a reserve at the library (can check out books), or you can pick your own book and ask me to approve it.
I will grade based on length of summary and length of analysis, so don’t give me 5 pages of summary and a paragraph of analysis, I want close to equal summary and analysis. Follow the guidelines when writing the analysis.

Acces the following site Sciencedaily Once you are in, look across the top menu tab, click on ‘News’, from the navigation bar to the left, scroll down to ‘Health & Medicine’, click to access, again, look to the left and scroll down to ‘Infectious Diseases’, click on that and you will open the page ‘Top Articles’. Select an article you like to read and discuss, you can also read related articles shown on the side of the main article. For more article choices, go to the bottom of the page and select next page until you can find one.
After you read through all the materials you want, write a short report (min 2 paragraphs )(in your own words) to relay the contents of the news to the rest of the class and also express your own opinion.

Scientists
are concerned that bacteria will be resistant to all antibiotics within
the next decade. Using your knowledge of genetics, describe how
bacterial populations can develop drug resistance in such a short time
frame. Explain why the following statement is false: Sexual reproduction
is the only mechanism for genetic change. How can bacteriophages impact
bacterial genetics? What extracellular appendages and mechanisms can
bacteria use to introduce new genes to neighboring bacteria? Use
references in MLA format.

Based on what you learned from the Videos about antimicrobial resistance , discuss the following in two paragraphs (a paragraph should be a minimum of 150 words).
How do bacteria develop resistance (first paragraph)
What can be done to reduce antimicrobial resistance? (2nd paragraph)

How do our microflora affect us?
Based what you have learned from the websites and articles about microflora, write a two paragraph discussion on how
microflora influence our health and what can we do to sustain a healthy
microflora in our body.
Be sure to do the following before starting your discussion
Go to http://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp/index and learn about Human Microbiome Project.
Go to https://www.bbc.com/news/health-18422288 and listen to the BBC radio program on Human Microbiomes
.Read these articles https://carlzimmer.com/tending-the-bodys-microbial…

Some of My Best Friends Are Germs