Define pathogen
An organism that causes disease
Define commensal organisms
Bacteria that are normally found at various non-sterile body sites
Describe the human microbiome
The population (or consortium) of human-colonizing microbes
Name/identify the body sites that are most hospitable to bacteria and have their own microbiomes
?
Describe why skin is difficult for microbes to colonize
It’s dry, salty, acidic, or has protective oils
What is associated with acne?
Propionibacterium acnes
Describe factors that make the mouth hospitable to bacteria
What is associated with tooth decay?
Streptococcus mutans
Describe the mucociliary escalator in terms of its important components and its function and explain why it is important for lung function
Lining of trachea is covered with cilia that move to produce the escalator and sweeps foreign particles up and out of the lung
**we inhale microbes, we have to get rid of them
What is associated with stomach ulcers?
Helicobacter pylori
What location in the body has the most resident bacteria?
The intestine
Describe/identify factors that can influence the composition of the gut microbiota
Define dysbiosis
An imbalance in the proportions of different commensal microbes in the gut
Define probiotics
Bacteria that are purposely ingested to promote a healthy gut microbiota
Describe fecal microbiotal transplants
A potential way to restore microbiotal populations
**Isolate healthy bacteria from fecal species and introduce it into a non-healthy species (dysbiosis) to try to restore health
Describe how scientists assess the composition of a microbiotal community (what method is most commonly used)
Extracting the DNA from a sample and subjecting it to 16s rDNA sequencing
Define opportunistic pathogen
An organism that typically only causes disease in an immunocompromised or already-sick individual
Distinguish among physical/chemical barriers, innate immune functions, and adaptive immune functions
Identify 3 physical barriers to microbes entering the body
Describe the functions of chemical barriers: lysozyme, peroxidase, iron-binding proteins, and defensins
Describe pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)
Patterns that could be associated with “suspicious” behavior (immune system might see it that way, as it’s the “police officer”)
**molecular patterns specifically associated with pathogens
Identify phagocytic cells that recognize and engulf pathogens to destroy them
Describe the process of phagocytosis and how it kills microbes – what is in the lysosome?
Describe pattern recognition (PRRs) in terms of their function and name 2 classes of PRRs