General Introduction to Bacteria With Special Thanks to Megan Rokop and Ms. Boehm

1. General Introduction to BacteriaWith Special Thanks to Megan Rokop and Ms. Boehm

2. Necessary to make many everyday foods including yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, soy sauce, vinegar Used to clean up various forms of pollution including oil spills, pesticides, sewage Produce antibiotics that we can use to the fight bacteria that make us sick Produce Botox so we can all have wrinkle-free foreheads Fun Facts about Bacteria Fun Fact: Bacteria comprise about 1/20th of your total body weight!

3. Classification of Bacteria • Bacteria are the most abundant organisms on earth.

4. The domain Bacteria is often referred to as eubacteria • The most common type of bacteria found on earth • Examples: Streptococcus, Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum, • Salmonella • The domain Archaeaare prokaryotic like bacteria but are not bacteria • Archaea are thought to resemble the very first cells on earth • Some live in extreme conditions such as the “halophiles” (salt lovers) in Utah’s Great Salt Lake • May be at least as closely related to eukaryotes as they are to bacteria

5. Identification of Bacteria

6. Bacterial Shapes Sphere shaped: coccus Rod shaped: bacillus Spiral shaped: spirochete • Bacteria have three basic shapes. • These images are magnified by more than 10,000 times! • They are all surrounded by some type of cell wall

7. Staining Bacteria Gram-positive Gram-negative: Double membrane doesn’t hold purple dye Thick peptidoglycan layer holds purple dye

8. DNA Cell Wall Structure Gram-Negative Gram-Positive Holds Purple Dye Will Not Hold Purple Dye Outer Membrane Peptidoglycan Peptidoglycan PlasmaMembrane PlasmaMembrane

9. The Genetics of Bacteria

10. Bacteria Are Prokaryotic • The main DNA is a long circular loop, one single chromosome, not contained within a nucleus • Many bacteria also contain plasmids, a smaller loop of DNA • It is the plasmid that allows these asexual organisms to have variation, and can also make the bacteria pathogenic!

12. Bacterial Conjugation Often it is the plasmid that contains genes that are pathogenic to humans!

13. Bacterial Growth and Division

14. Bacterial Growth and Division • Most bacteria divide every 20 minutes • They will form bacterial colonies • Bacteria divide by a process called prokaryotic fission • The product from one bacterium dividing would be two • genetically identical daughter cells

16. Good vs. Bad Bacteria • There are many different kinds of bacteria, most of which will not make you sick and may actually help you: • Staphylococcus epidermidis lives harmlessly on your skin • Escherichia play a nutritional role in the intestinal tract by synthesizing vitamins, especially vitamin K. • Neisseria subflava lives harmlessly in most people’s mouths • Fun Fact: The human body contains 20 times more microbes than it does cells! • But, there are also some that can make you sick…

17. Bacteria Can Cause Many Different Illnesses • Strep Throat - Streptococcus pyogenes • Ear Infections - Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis • Meningitis – Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae • Tuberculosis – Mycobacterium avium, M. tuberculosis • Gonorrhea – Neisseria gonorrhoeae • Syphilis – Treponema pallidum

18. Food Microbiology Delicious or Dangerous?

19. Food Microbiology • Microorganisms are a part of the food we eat every day, specifically bacteria • Most of these bacteria are harmless, non-pathogenic • BUT some of these bacteria are harmful to us, pathogenic • Is the food “delicious or dangerous????”

20. Delicious Food Microbiology • Yogurt has bacteria added to it that give it a slightly sour taste • “active yogurt cultures” • Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Bifidobacteria • Cheeses can be fermented with various bacteria • Swiss cheese -Propionibacterium • Blue cheese -Penicillium roqueforti and Lactobacillus • Finally, many pickled vegetables get their flavor from bacteria • Sauerkraut – Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus • Pickles – Lactic acid bacteria

21. Dangerous Food MicrobiologyContaminated Food Can Make You Sick Escherichia coli O157:H7 *Source: spinach, ground beef, frozen pizza *Symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea (often bloody) Clostridium botulinum -botulism*Source: soil, water, non-acid canned foods*Symptoms: flaccid paralysis and possible death (or a smooth face) Salmonella typhimurium – salmonella*Source: eggs, chicken meat, dairy products*Symptoms: headache, chills, vomiting, diarrhea

22. Facts about Foodborne Illness • “The CDC estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 Americans die each year from foodborne illness.” • Uncooked foods are the largest source of foodborne illness in the US (raw meat, uncooked eggs, raw vegetables, etc.)

23. Case Study Outbreak of E. coli in Spinach, 2006

24. What happened? • There are rare cases of E. coli 0157:H7 contamination each year • In late August of 2006, the CDC noticed a dramatic spike in cases • The hypothesis was that this was a foodborne illness, but the source was unknown

25. Who was affected? • E. coli O157:H7 outbreak resulted in 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths • The contaminated spinach was found in 26 states.

26. Source traced to spinach • The CDC narrowed the source down to fresh spinach coming from an isolated farm in southern California • Normally fresh vegetables do not harbor pathogenic bacteria • The CDC, in September 2006, reported an apparent outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to the consumption of bagged spinach

27. How did the spinach get contaminated? • Environmental risk factors for E. coli O157:H7 contamination at or near the spinach field: • the presence of wild pigs in the proximity of irrigation wells used to grow produce for ready-to-eat packaging • surface waterways exposed to feces from cattle and wildlife • The strain of E. coli is normally found in the intestinal tract of cows, pigs and deer.

28. How did the CDC identify E. coli 0157:H7? • The CDC cultured the bacteria from the spinach and placed it on a • food source E. coli likes to eat, such as EMB (eosin methylene blue) agar • E. coli grows pink colonies on EMB agar • No other bacteria will grow pink on this • media. • The CDC was able to distinguish the E. coli 0157:H7 strain from other • E. coli strains by doing gel electrophoresis of the DNA. • The genetic fingerprint will be different- do you know why?

29. How could our class identify E. coli? • 3 methods of potential identification methods: • Look at shape under the microscope • Gram staining • EMB agar 3. 1. 2.

30. Symptoms of E. coli 0157:H7 infection • Type of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) • Hemorrhagic (bloody) diarrhea • Abdominal pain • Kidney failure

31. How does E. coli 0157:H7 make you sick? • E. coli 0157:H7 produces a toxin, verotoxin, similar to a shiga toxin • Verotoxin invades the cells of the intestine and inhibits protein synthesis • Inhibition of protein synthesis = cell death

32. How can we avoid getting sick? • Cook the food • E. coli 0157:H7 (on spinach) can be killed by cooking at 160° F for 15 seconds • Cook meat until grey/brown in color and juices run clear to kill bacteria

33. How can food contamination be prevented pre-consumer? • Irradiation is one possible solution • Process of irradiating foods with ionizing radiation (gamma rays or high energy electrons) to destroy microorganisms contaminating the food • According to CDC, irradiation does NOT change nutritional value, composition of the food, or make the food dangerous • Cool fact: astronauts eat irradiated food in space!

34. Summary • Bacteria are the most abundant organisms on earth • Some bacteria never cause us harm and can be helpful to us (non-pathogenic) • Some bacteria are harmful to us (pathogenic) • Toxins produced by bacteria can damage our cells • Outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 in spinach • Contamination and infection can be prevented by a variety of methods • Cooking – you can do at home • Irradiation – can be done by producers