Microbiology

Mold and mildew are fungi that produce tiny spores. Those who are allergic to mold can help manage symptoms by reducing exposure to spores both in the home and outdoors.

Dec 11, 2009 - Tami Port

Mold allergies are common and result in symptoms similar to other allergic reactions. Here is a summary of how allergies to mold and mildew are diagnosed and treated.

Dec 4, 2009 - Tami Port

Mold and mildew, like all fungi, produce tiny spores to reproduce. Fungal spores are found throughout the environment and can cause allergic reaction in some people.

Nov 26, 2009 - Tami Port

Preparing a wet mount of a specimen is the technique typically used to view plant and animal cells. Here is the step by step process of slide preparation.

Nov 4, 2009 - Tami Port

A new study shows a strong correlation between longer life and low protein diets in Drosophila, or fruit flies. Low protein diets slow down mitochondrial degradation.

Oct 8, 2009 - Kristina Bjoran

The stability of cell shape and structure are maintained by cytoskeletal proteins that interact with and transport required functional molecules.

Sep 22, 2009 - Alicia Mae Prater

The following is a troubleshooting guide to the most common problems encountered when trying to view specimens with a compound microscope.

Sep 21, 2009 - Tami Port

The following is a troubleshooting guide to the most common problems encountered when setting up a compound microscope to view specimens.

Sep 21, 2009 - Tami Port

Both plant and animal cells are eukaryotic, with many similarities, but there are also key differences between the cells of plants and animals. Here is a summary.

Sep 3, 2009 - Tami Port

There are three types of symbiotic relationships that microbes can have with their host organism: mutualism, commensalism and parasistism.

Aug 21, 2009 - Tami Port

Archaea are prokaryotes that differ from bacteria and eukaryotes enough to be assigned to their own taxonomic domain. Here is a brief introduction to Archaeans.

Jul 30, 2009 - Tami Port

Oxygen is required for cells to break down organic molecules in the most energy-efficient way. How do microbes that live under conditions of low or no O2 metabolize food?

Jul 15, 2009 - Tami Port

Environmental concerns have necessitated a fresh look at "clean and green" options in agriculture. Biofertilizers are the new "in thing."

Jun 6, 2009 - Jitendra Rathod

Thought to be among the oldest organisms on earth, methanogens live in extreme environments and have adaptations allowing them to thrive in their harsh habitats.

May 3, 2009 - Andrew Meeres

Bacteria and viruses are both tiny infectious agents with the ability to cause disease. So it is not surprising that these microbes are sometimes mistaken as the same.

Apr 23, 2009 - Tami Port

Bacteria are living cells with DNA genomes that direct the production of enzymes required for metabolism. Viruses are not alive. What does the viral genome do?

Apr 23, 2009 - Tami Port

Both bacteria and viruses can cause disease. However, these two types of infectious agents achieve their pathogenicity in different ways.

Apr 14, 2009 - Tami Port

The distinction between species of sexually reproducing organisms is quite clear, but how are the lines drawn for organisms, like bacteria, that reproduce as clones?

Apr 6, 2009 - Tami Port

Types of Streptococcus can be distinguished by cell arrangements, hemolysis pattern that they generate on blood agar and by their antigenic particles.

Mar 26, 2009 - Tami Port

Bacteria in the genus Streptococcus can be classified by species, hemolysis pattern and by their antigens, chemicals to which the human immune system reacts.

Mar 26, 2009 - Tami Port

Think that stress and spicy food cause ulcers? Think again! Although these factors can make an ulcer worse, peptic ulcers are actually caused by the bacterium H. pylori.

Mar 16, 2009 - Tami Port

They are almost everywhere, in the air, soil and water. They are on and inside the bodies of living things. They can help, and they can harm. They are the microbes.

Mar 13, 2009 - Donald Reinhardt

Fimbriae are external structures of Gram- cells which enable bacteria to adhere to surfaces and, as virulence factors, mediate infection of host cells.

Mar 9, 2009 - Tami Port

Most Gram-negative bacteria have hair-like projections external to their cell's wall. One type, fimbriae, allows bacteria to stick together and attach to host cells.

Mar 9, 2009 - Tami Port

Prokaryotic cells can have a variety of surface appendages - flagellum, fimbria or pilus - that enable them to move, adhere to surfaces and even infect host cells.

Mar 6, 2009 - Tami Port

The term croup (pronounced kroop) refers to a hoarse barking cough resulting from inflammation of the upper airways; a condition typically caused by viral infection.

Feb 18, 2009 - Tami Port

What does it mean if a BAP throat culture shows B-hemolysis? Do you have strep throat? Maybe. Here is some additional information on B-hemolytic bacteria.

Feb 9, 2009 - Tami Port

The human body is made up of about 10 trillion cells, but hosts 100 trillion more. The vast majority of cells living on and in the body are bacteria and other microbes.

Feb 1, 2009 - Tami Port

Frustrated by unfulfilled big dreams of high adventure, Robert Koch, a German physician, was destined for smallness, as a pioneer of modern microbiology.

Jan 21, 2009 - Tami Port

Trying to learn the parts of a compound light microscope? Here are clear descriptions and detailed photos to help you become a master of the microscope.

Jan 19, 2009 - Tami Port

Students new to using microscopes typically get frustrated when first trying to look at specimens. Here's how to overcome some of the most common problems.

Jan 16, 2009 - Tami Port

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria naturally found in the digestive tract and vagina and often used to supplement dairy foods such as yogurt.

Nov 15, 2008 - Tami Port

Norovirus infection is the latest plague in the news. Learn about the symptoms, transmission and prevention of this acute gastrointestinal virus.

Nov 10, 2008 - Tami Port

After completing a classroom experiment in which students take oral samples to see if mouthwash reduces the number and variety of bacteria, this is how data are examined.

Nov 4, 2008 - Tami Port

In this simple classroom experiment students take oral swab samples to see if the use of mouthwash reduces the number and variety of oral bacteria found in the mouth.

Nov 4, 2008 - Tami Port

Antibiotics are drugs used to fight bacterial infections. How do these medications work to kill bacteria without harming human cells?

Oct 22, 2008 - Tami Port

Newly discovered cell-sized viruses have an infecting satellite virus, with implications for viruses as life forms, cell origins, the cause of disease and its treatment.

Oct 21, 2008 - Bernard Betts

Heat, applied through boiling and autoclaving is used to sterilize. But how does heat destroy cells and viruses? Here is a simple explanation of heat's mode of action.

Oct 14, 2008 - Tami Port

Students new to using a microscope often get frustrated when trying to view objects, particularly at higher magnifications. Here's how to do it sans the aggravation.

Sep 15, 2008 - Tami Port

Learn about the features of a compound light microscope, the importance of contrast and how to determine total magnification of ocular and objective lenses.

Sep 11, 2008 - Tami Port

The genetic material of a virus can be either DNA or RNA, and if it is single-stranded RNA, the biologist must then make sense of the type of strand.

Aug 27, 2008 - Tami Port

Viral genomes might be small, but, as dsDNA, ssDNA, dsRNA or SS RNA, they show much more variation in form than is found in the genetic material of living cells.

Aug 27, 2008 - Tami Port

In order to view individual bacteria through a light microscope, a bacterial smear must be attached to a slide and then stained. Here is the procedure.

Jul 30, 2008 - Tami Port

The oil immersion objective lens must be used in order to see individual bacteria through a light microscope. Here are the steps required to get a sample in focus.

Jul 30, 2008 - Tami Port

Bacterial controls are often used with differential stains as examples of typical positive and negative stain reactions; helpful references when identifying unknowns.

Jul 30, 2008 - Tami Port

Blood Agar is a bacterial growth medium that can distinguish normal from pathogenic bacteria based on the effect of bacterial hemolytic enzymes on red blood cells.

Jul 19, 2008 - Tami Port

MacConkeys Agar is a special bacterial growth medium that is selective for Gram- bacteria and can differentiate those bacteria that are able to ferment lactose.

Jul 19, 2008 - Tami Port

Gram, Acid Fast and Endospore stains; MacConkey's, Mannitol Salt, and Blood Agar media as well as the API-20 test strip all provide information to identify microbes.

Jul 16, 2008 - Tami Port

Selective media inhibit the growth of certain microbes, providing general information regarding the bacteria that are able to grow on these specialized types of agar.

Jul 16, 2008 - Tami Port

Some bacteria have an additional layer outside of the cell wall called the glycocalyx. This coating of macromolecules protects the cell and helps it adhere to surfaces.

Jul 15, 2008 - Tami Port