Bacterial adhesinAdhesins are cell-surface components or appendages of bacteria that facilitate adhesion or adherence to other cells or to surfaces, usually in the host they are infecting or living in. Adhesins are a type of virulence factor. Adherence is an essential step in bacterial pathogenesis or infection, required for colonizing a new host. Adhesion and bacterial adhesins are also a potential target for prophylaxis or treatment of bacterial infections. Bacteria are typically found attached to and living in close association with surfaces.
AntibioticAn antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of such infections. They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza; drugs which inhibit growth of viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals rather than antibiotics.
Antibiotic misuseAntibiotic misuse, sometimes called antibiotic abuse or antibiotic overuse, refers to the misuse or overuse of antibiotics, with potentially serious effects on health. It is a contributing factor to the development of antibiotic resistance, including the creation of multidrug-resistant bacteria, informally called "super bugs": relatively harmless bacteria (such as Staphylococcus, Enterococcus and Acinetobacter) can develop resistance to multiple antibiotics and cause life-threatening infections.
Klebsiella pneumoniaeKlebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, non-motile, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium. It appears as a mucoid lactose fermenter on MacConkey agar. Although found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin, and intestines, it can cause destructive changes to human and animal lungs if aspirated, specifically to the alveoli resulting in bloody, brownish or yellow colored jelly-like sputum. In the clinical setting, it is the most significant member of the genus Klebsiella of the Enterobacteriaceae.
Dead SeaThe Dead Sea (اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū; יַם הַמֶּלַח, Yam hamMelaḥ), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and the West Bank and Israel to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. As of 2019, the lake's surface is below sea level, making its shores the lowest land-based elevation on Earth. It is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.
Bacterial pneumoniaBacterial pneumonia is a type of pneumonia caused by bacterial infection. Streptococcus pneumoniae () is the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia in all age groups except newborn infants. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a Gram-positive bacterium that often lives in the throat of people who do not have pneumonia. Other important Gram-positive causes of pneumonia are Staphylococcus aureus () and Bacillus anthracis.
Bacterial taxonomyBacterial taxonomy is subfield of taxonomy devoted to the classification of bacteria specimens into taxonomic ranks. In the scientific classification established by Carl Linnaeus, each species is assigned to a genus resulting in a two-part name. This name denotes the two lowest levels in a hierarchy of ranks, increasingly larger groupings of species based on common traits. Of these ranks, domains are the most general level of categorization. Presently, scientists classify all life into just three domains, Eukaryotes, Bacteria and Archaea.
Pathogenic bacteriaPathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and are often beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number of these pathogenic species in humans is estimated to be fewer than a hundred. By contrast, several thousand species are part of the gut flora present in the digestive tract.
Magnetotactic bacteriaMagnetotactic bacteria (or MTB) are a polyphyletic group of bacteria that orient themselves along the magnetic field lines of Earth's magnetic field. Discovered in 1963 by Salvatore Bellini and rediscovered in 1975 by Richard Blakemore, this alignment is believed to aid these organisms in reaching regions of optimal oxygen concentration. To perform this task, these bacteria have organelles called magnetosomes that contain magnetic crystals.
CarbapenemCarbapenems are a class of very effective antibiotic agents most commonly used for the treatment of severe bacterial infections. This class of antibiotics is usually reserved for known or suspected multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. Similar to penicillins and cephalosporins, carbapenems are members of the beta-lactam antibiotics drug class, which kill bacteria by binding to penicillin-binding proteins, thus inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis.
