Bacteria Basics
Where can bacteria live?
Where is everywhere?
One way bacteria become resistant: random changes in their DNA.
What are mutations (or spontaneous mutations)?
The evolutionary process where individuals with a helpful trait survive and reproduce more.
What is natural selection?
Bacteria develop resistance through mutations or this other process.
What is horizontal gene transfer?
Antibiotics act as this, killing susceptible bacteria but letting resistant ones survive.
What is a selective pressure?
Bacteria act as these in the environment, storing and sharing antibiotic-resistant genes.
What are gene reservoirs?
What are the three types of horizontal gene transfer?
What are conjugation, transduction, transformation?
Bacteria show natural selection when they develop resistance to these medicines.
What are antibiotics?
Producing enzymes that destroy the structure of the antibiotic (one example of adaptation).
What is enzymatic inactivation?
Two common ways people misuse antibiotics (prescribed when not needed + not finishing the full course).
What is overuse and misuse of antibiotics?
Where can bacteria thrive?
What are moist, warm, and nutrient/protein-rich environments?
This process creates variation in the gene pool.
What is genetic variation (or leads to genetic variations)?
A bacterium with a resistance mutation passes the trait to its offspring through this.
What is reproduction (or passing on the trait to offspring)?
Changing the spot where the antibiotic normally binds.
What is target site modification?
Antibiotics given to healthy farm animals is one example of this type of exposure.
What is environmental exposure (or antibiotics in agriculture/livestock)?
Two major hotspots where resistant genes are exchanged between bacteria.
What are hospital wastewater and agriculture?
Only these bacteria keep multiplying when antibiotics are present.
What are resistant bacteria?
Over time, resistant bacteria become more common because they have greater this.
What is fitness?
A slimy protective layer that keeps antibiotics out (biofilm formation).
What is biofilm formation?
A place where close contact and high antibiotic use speed up the spread.
What are hospital settings?
Enzymes made by bacteria that break down antibiotics so they can survive in polluted areas.
What are enzymes that degrade antibiotics?
RNA mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis can cause resistance to this drug.
What is rifampin?
The diagram on slide 6 that shows the population changing from mostly susceptible to mostly
What is the natural selection of resistant bacteria model?
All of these adaptations increase the bacteria’s survival and reproduction, which means greater
What is fitness?
The graph on page 8 that shows the increase in MRSA, VRE, and FQRP resistance over time.
What is the increase in antibiotic resistance graph (or NNIS 1999 graph)?