Medical Bacteriology: Exam #3 Study Questions
1. Name 3 characteristics of the family Vibrionaceae.	
	What general disease is associated with 
		Vibrio vulnificus, V. parahaemolyticus?
2. What is the precise molecular mechanism of action for 
		cholera toxin and how does it 	
	cause the disease symptoms?
	What is the structure of the toxin?
	Is cholera more likely transmitted by hand or fecal 
		contaminated water and food? Why?
	What is the most critical treatment for cholera?
	Is there a vaccine for cholera? What is it? 
	Describe several strategies for development of
		 live attenuated vaccines for cholera. 
3. Define: O1 agglutinable Vibrio cholerae, oral rehydration packet, 
		dysentery (and 3 causes),
		hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), nosocomial
4. Compare and contrast:
	- Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enterohemorrhagic
		 and verotoxigenic E. coli (EHEC/VTEC),
	- Mechanism of action and structure of 
		cholera toxin and E. coli labile toxin (LT)
	- Laboratory isolation of Shigella vs Salmonella 
		vs Campylobacter
	- Disease caused by Salmonella enteritidis vs S. typhi
	- Kauffmann/White vs Ewing/CDC classification
		system for Salmonella
	- Bubonic and pneumonic plague
	- Urban and sylvatic plague (which is most important in the US?)
	- Cystitis vs pyelonephritis vs urosepsis (location and severity)
5. Why is Shigella more likely to spread from 
		person to person than is cholera?
	Describe the pathogenesis of dysentery 
		(local effects and effects of shiga toxin)
	Is there an animal reservoir for Shigella? 
		EHEC? Salmonella typhi? S. enteritidis? 
		Campylobacter?
6. What unique disease is associated with Helicobacter?
	How is it diagnosed and treated?
7. What specimen would be best for isolation of 
		Salmonella typhi early, middle, and
		late in disease? Why?
	Where is S. typhi located in chronic carriers? 
		How does it survive there?
	Why is S. typhi rare in the US, but S. enteritidis is frequent?
	Discuss the old and new typhoid fever vaccines. 
	Why is the current typhoid vaccine considered a 
		possible delivery "vehicle" for other vaccines? (in detail)
8. Describe pathogenesis and establishment of 
		infection withYersinia pestis.
	Describe diagnosis of the plague: clinical and laboratory.
	Is there a vaccine? Who gets it?
9. Give one specific example of opportunistic infection for 
	each of the following compromised states:
	- Genetic predisposition
	- Immunosuppression
	- Physical predisposition
10. What is the number one bacterial cause of 
		urinary tract infections (UTI)?
	Is it exogenous or endogenous?
	Describe clinical and laboratory diagnosis of UTI.
	What media is used to isolate UTI pathogens? 
	What is the purpose of each?
	Should MIC be determined if Enterobacteriaceae 
		is isolated from UTI? Expain.
11. What general characteristics are associated with organisms 
		in the family Pseudomonadaceae (list at least 5)?
	What is the role of the following Pseudomonas aeruginosa 
		virulence factors in disease?
		- Alginate, Exotoxin A, proteases
	Describe the disease and clinical management of 
		the following types of Pseudomonas 
		infections: Chronic lung, burn, neoplasm patient.
	What general type of disease is associated 
		with Aeromonas hydrophila?
12. Describe unique bacteriological characteristics of 
		the genus Corynebacterium.
	Describe the precise mechanism of action of 
		diphtheria toxin and how it causes
		the disease symptoms observed.
	Describe basic experiments which helped to 
		understand the precise role of
		iron in regulation of diphtheria toxin gene expression.
	Explain the statement: "Toxin production by 
		C. diphtheriae is a result of lysogenic conversion"
	Describe experiments which helped to define what 
		the precise host cellular receptor is
		for diphtheria toxin.
	Describe the pathogenesis of diphtheria: Transmission, 
		infection, toxin effects.
	What 3 media are used for primary plating from 
		a patient suspected of having diphtheria?
	What is the most important treatment for diphtheria? Explain.
	Describe on "bioassay" for determining whether a 
		Corynebacterium isolate is toxin positive.
	Why is diptheria very rare in the US?
13. Define: Metachromatic granules, diphtheroid, 
	coryneform, pseudomembrane, CRM
	Facultative intracellular bacteria, 
	miliary tubercles, partial acid fast 
	(and the major organism with this property), 
14. Discuss disease caused by Listeria 
	in fetus, newborn, healthy adults. 
	How does this organism survive 
	inside of macrophages?
	How is Listeria transmitted to humans?
15. Name two bacterial genera which
	 produce many antibiotics used today.
16. What type of disease is typically caused by Nocardia?
	Why does it stain partially acid fast?
	How is this organism transmitted?
17. Describe how sputum is prepared for
	 isolation of Mycobacteria or Nocardia. 
18. Is disease caused by Actinomyces 
		endogenous or exogenous? Explain.
	Describe a typical infection.
	What are sulfur granules and what is
		 their diagnostic significance?
19. What is the literal definition of the term
	 "mycobacterium"?
	What does MOTT stand for?
	How are MOTTs transmitted to humans?
	Which branch of the immune system 
		(humoral or CMI) is most helpful in
		controlling Mycobacterial infections? Explain.
	What is the significance of the 
		M. avium-intracellularae complex?
	What are the Runyon classification criteria?
	Define: Scotochromogenic, photochromogenic. 
20. Compare lung x-ray from tuberculosis with
	 that from lobar pneumonia.
	Why are multiple antibiotics used to
		 treat Mycobacterial infections?
	Why must antibiotics be given for 12 months?
	What media is used to culture M. leprae?
	Contrast host pathogenesis in primary
		 and secondary/reactivation TB.
21. Define: Multiple drug resistant TB, BACTEC, 
	BCG vaccine, Freunds complete	
	adjuvant, muramyl dipeptide, anergy,
	 old tuberculin, PPD
22. Compare tuberculoid and lepromatous leprosy
	 with respect to contagion, 
	host tissue damage, prognosis, 
	skin test response, nerve damage,
	immunecomplex damage.
	What cell types does M. leprae infect?
	Since M. leprae cannot be grown in lab, 
		how can one study the bacteriology
		of the organism?
23. Discuss the statement: Humans are
	 susceptible to infection with 
	M. tuberculosis, but resistant to disease.
	What percent of the world population is 
		estimated to be infected with M. tuberculosis?
	Why is M. bovis no longer a major cause of TB in the US?
	Why is BCG not administered routinely in the US?
24. What is the significance of the following 
	species of the genus Bacillus?
	B. stearothermophilus, B. thurengiensis, 
	B. cereus, B. anthracis
25. Compare the form of anthrax disease in humans
	 vs herbivorous animals.
	How is it transmitted in the US?
26. Describe the precise mechanism of action
	 of the following toxins and how they
	cause the disease symptoms:
	Anthrax toxins (protective antigen, 
		lethal factor, edema factor)
	Botulism toxin, Tetanus toxin, Clostridial alpha toxin
27. Define: Eschar, superoxide dismutase, ischemia,
	 glovebox, anaerobe jar,
	GasPak, palladium, aerotolerance test, 
	debride, passive immunization,
	lockjaw, antibiotic associated enterocolitis (and cause). 
28. Describe 5 situations which predispose 
	one to anaerobic infection.
	Is infection with Bacteroides endogenous 
		or exogenous? Explain.
	If a patient has an anaerobic lung infection, 
		what is the most likely organism?
	If a patient has an anerobic peritoneal abscess, 
		what is the most likely organism?
29. Compare adult botulism and 
	infant botulism with respect to:
	Infection, severity, age distribution, transmission, 
30. How many serotypes of botulism toxin are there? 
	 Which cause disease in humans?
	What is the major treatment for botulism and tetanus?
	Why is serology (looking for antibodies) 
		not used to diagnose botulism?
31. Describe one bioassay (in detail) for detection 
	of botulism or tetanus toxin.
	What is the advantage of bioassays over an 
	immunologically based test like an ELISA?
32. What is one "application" for botulism toxin?
33. Why is tetanus so rare in the US?
34. Define: histotoxic Clostridia,
	 alpha toxin/lecithinase/phospholipase , 
35. What are several methods used to treat 
	clostridial myonecrosis?
 
Journal Reports (2001):
Katsu - If you have cloned the promoter for the Yersinia YfuABC iron 
transport system in front of the lacZ gene, How could you easily determine 
if YfuABC is regulated by Mn++ levels?
 
Jared - What was the general strategy used to determine the role of SodC 
as a Mycobacterial virulence factor?
 
John - How would you determine whether the Moraxella OmpE protein changes 
over time in chronically infected patients?
 
Lee - The genome sequence of Streptococcus pneumoniae has been recently 
determined. If you know the sequence of one choline-binding protein, 
how would you "mine" the genome to determine if the organism can produce 
other choline-binding proteins? 
 
Nicole - Describe a laboratory strategy for testing whether an exotoxin 
inhibits protein synthesis.
 
Shelley - Researchers are working on a vaccine to give to mothers that
will protect newborns from group B Streptococcus meningitis. 
Explain the rationale behind developing a protein-polysaccharide conjugate, 
rather than polysaccharide, vaccine to give to expectant mothers to protect 
the newborn.
 
Zach - Antibodies to Acinetobacter which cross react with neural proteins 
was suggested as a contributing factor to bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy (BSE). Why were IgA, rather than IgG and IgM, antibody 
levels tested in the cattle? 
 
From Mycology
1. Define: dermatophyte (what are the 3 genera?),
	 germ tube, dimorphic fungi,
	ergosterol, azoles, amphotericin B, mycetismus,
	 anthropophilic, zoophilic,
	Saboraud media, conidia 
2. How are fungi isolated and identified in lab?
	Describe tranmission and general disease 
	for the following fungi:
	Dermatophytes, Sporothrix, Coccidioides,
	Histoplasma, Candida, Cryptococcus