Spores
Spores, Bacterial
Heat and stain resistant, metabolically inactive bodies formed within the vegetative cells of bacteria of the genera Bacillus and Clostridium.
Spores, Fungal
Reproductive bodies produced by fungi.
Spores, Protozoan
A vegetative stage in the life cycle of sporozoan protozoa. It is characteristic of members of the phyla APICOMPLEXA and MICROSPORIDIA.
Picolinic Acids
Bacillus megaterium
Host Specificity
Bacillus cereus
Bacillus
Host-Parasite Interactions
Hot Temperature
Presence of warmth or heat or a temperature notably higher than an accustomed norm.
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Anthrax
An acute infection caused by the spore-forming bacteria BACILLUS ANTHRACIS. It commonly affects hoofed animals such as sheep and goats. Infection in humans often involves the skin (cutaneous anthrax), the lungs (inhalation anthrax), or the gastrointestinal tract. Anthrax is not contagious and can be treated with antibiotics.
Molecular Sequence Data
Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.
Clostridium botulinum
A species of anaerobic, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria in the family Clostridiaceae that produces proteins with characteristic neurotoxicity. It is the etiologic agent of BOTULISM in humans, wild fowl, HORSES; and CATTLE. Seven subtypes (sometimes called antigenic types, or strains) exist, each producing a different botulinum toxin (BOTULINUM TOXINS). The organism and its spores are widely distributed in nature.
Clostridium perfringens
Air Microbiology
Sterilization
Mutation
Microsporidia
Microbial Viability
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Any of the processes by which cytoplasmic or intercellular factors influence the differential control of gene action in bacteria.
Culture Media
Any liquid or solid preparation made specifically for the growth, storage, or transport of microorganisms or other types of cells. The variety of media that exist allow for the culturing of specific microorganisms and cell types, such as differential media, selective media, test media, and defined media. Solid media consist of liquid media that have been solidified with an agent such as AGAR or GELATIN.
Protozoan Infections, Animal
Encephalitozoon
A genus of FUNGI originally considered a member of the class SPOROZOEA but now recognized as part of the class MICROSPOREA.
Microsporidiosis
DNA, Bacterial
Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.
Species Specificity
The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species.
Encephalitozoon cuniculi
A species of parasitic FUNGI. This intracellular parasite is found in the BRAIN; HEART; and KIDNEYS of several MAMMALS. Transmission is probably by ingestion of the spores (SPORES, FUNGAL).
Amino Acid Sequence
Virulence
The degree of pathogenicity within a group or species of microorganisms or viruses as indicated by case fatality rates and/or the ability of the organism to invade the tissues of the host. The pathogenic capacity of an organism is determined by its VIRULENCE FACTORS.
Fungi
A kingdom of eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms that live parasitically as saprobes, including MUSHROOMS; YEASTS; smuts, molds, etc. They reproduce either sexually or asexually, and have life cycles that range from simple to complex. Filamentous fungi, commonly known as molds, refer to those that grow as multicellular colonies.
Base Sequence
Ferns
Seedless nonflowering plants of the class Filicinae. They reproduce by spores that appear as dots on the underside of feathery fronds. In earlier classifications the Pteridophyta included the club mosses, horsetails, ferns, and various fossil groups. In more recent classifications, pteridophytes and spermatophytes (seed-bearing plants) are classified in the Subkingdom Tracheobionta (also known as Tracheophyta).
Symbiosis
Ascomycota
Encephalitozoonosis
Infection with FUNGI of the genus ENCEPHALITOZOON. Lesions commonly occur in the BRAIN and KIDNEY tubules. Other sites of infection in MAMMALS are the LIVER; ADRENAL GLANDS; OPTIC NERVES; RETINA; and MYOCARDIUM.
Colony Count, Microbial
Enumeration by direct count of viable, isolated bacterial, archaeal, or fungal CELLS or SPORES capable of growth on solid CULTURE MEDIA. The method is used routinely by environmental microbiologists for quantifying organisms in AIR; FOOD; and WATER; by clinicians for measuring patients' microbial load; and in antimicrobial drug testing.
Dictyostelium
A genus of protozoa, formerly also considered a fungus. Its natural habitat is decaying forest leaves, where it feeds on bacteria. D. discoideum is the best-known species and is widely used in biomedical research.
Clostridium
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Basidiomycota
Genes, Bacterial
The functional hereditary units of BACTERIA.
Cell Wall
Temperature
The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.
Microscopy, Phase-Contrast
Microscopy, Electron
Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.
Microsporida
An order of parasitic FUNGI found mostly in ARTHROPODS; FISHES; and in some VERTEBRATES including humans. It comprises two suborders: Pansporoblastina and APANSPOROBLASTINA.
Sigma Factor
Stachybotrys
Anthrax Vaccines
Vaccines or candidate vaccines used to prevent ANTHRAX.
Mycorrhizae
Symbiotic combination (dual organism) of the MYCELIUM of FUNGI with the roots of plants (PLANT ROOTS). The roots of almost all higher plants exhibit this mutually beneficial relationship, whereby the fungus supplies water and mineral salts to the plant, and the plant supplies CARBOHYDRATES to the fungus. There are two major types of mycorrhizae: ectomycorrhizae and endomycorrhizae.
Cladosporium
A mitosporic Loculoascomycetes fungal genus including some economically important plant parasites. Teleomorphs include Mycosphaerella and Venturia.
Alanine
Muramic Acids
Compounds consisting of glucosamine and lactate joined by an ether linkage. They occur naturally as N-acetyl derivatives in peptidoglycan, the characteristic polysaccharide composing bacterial cell walls. (From Dorland, 28th ed)
Humidity
A measure of the amount of WATER VAPOR in the air.
Immunity, Innate
The capacity of a normal organism to remain unaffected by microorganisms and their toxins. It results from the presence of naturally occurring ANTI-INFECTIVE AGENTS, constitutional factors such as BODY TEMPERATURE and immediate acting immune cells such as NATURAL KILLER CELLS.
Integration Host Factors
Bacterial proteins that are used by BACTERIOPHAGES to incorporate their DNA into the DNA of the "host" bacteria. They are DNA-binding proteins that function in genetic recombination as well as in transcriptional and translational regulation.
Myxozoa
Fish Diseases
Alternaria
Environmental Microbiology
The study of microorganisms living in a variety of environments (air, soil, water, etc.) and their pathogenic relationship to other organisms including man.
Ultraviolet Rays
That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum immediately below the visible range and extending into the x-ray frequencies. The longer wavelengths (near-UV or biotic or vital rays) are necessary for the endogenous synthesis of vitamin D and are also called antirachitic rays; the shorter, ionizing wavelengths (far-UV or abiotic or extravital rays) are viricidal, bactericidal, mutagenic, and carcinogenic and are used as disinfectants.
Muramidase
A basic enzyme that is present in saliva, tears, egg white, and many animal fluids. It functions as an antibacterial agent. The enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of 1,4-beta-linkages between N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in peptidoglycan and between N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in chitodextrin. EC 3.2.1.17.
Plasmids
Escherichia coli
A species of gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria (GRAM-NEGATIVE FACULTATIVELY ANAEROBIC RODS) commonly found in the lower part of the intestine of warm-blooded animals. It is usually nonpathogenic, but some strains are known to produce DIARRHEA and pyogenic infections. Pathogenic strains (virotypes) are classified by their specific pathogenic mechanisms such as toxins (ENTEROTOXIGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI), etc.
Virus Replication
Clostridium difficile
Myxococcus xanthus
Models, Biological
Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of biological processes or diseases. For disease models in living animals, DISEASE MODELS, ANIMAL is available. Biological models include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.
Virulence Factors
Those components of an organism that determine its capacity to cause disease but are not required for its viability per se. Two classes have been characterized: TOXINS, BIOLOGICAL and surface adhesion molecules that effect the ability of the microorganism to invade and colonize a host. (From Davis et al., Microbiology, 4th ed. p486)
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Inbred C57BL mice are a strain of laboratory mice that have been produced by many generations of brother-sister matings, resulting in a high degree of genetic uniformity and homozygosity, making them widely used for biomedical research, including studies on genetics, immunology, cancer, and neuroscience.
Phenotype
Gene Deletion
A genetic rearrangement through loss of segments of DNA or RNA, bringing sequences which are normally separated into close proximity. This deletion may be detected using cytogenetic techniques and can also be inferred from the phenotype, indicating a deletion at one specific locus.
Decontamination
Eukaryota
One of the three domains of life (the others being BACTERIA and ARCHAEA), also called Eukarya. These are organisms whose cells are enclosed in membranes and possess a nucleus. They comprise almost all multicellular and many unicellular organisms, and are traditionally divided into groups (sometimes called kingdoms) including ANIMALS; PLANTS; FUNGI; and various algae and other taxa that were previously part of the old kingdom Protista.
Radiation Effects
Streptomyces
Cloning, Molecular
Parasitic Diseases, Animal
Disinfectants
Substances used on inanimate objects that destroy harmful microorganisms or inhibit their activity. Disinfectants are classed as complete, destroying SPORES as well as vegetative forms of microorganisms, or incomplete, destroying only vegetative forms of the organisms. They are distinguished from ANTISEPTICS, which are local anti-infective agents used on humans and other animals. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 11th ed)
Wasps
Immunocompromised Host
Disinfection
Macrophages
The relatively long-lived phagocytic cell of mammalian tissues that are derived from blood MONOCYTES. Main types are PERITONEAL MACROPHAGES; ALVEOLAR MACROPHAGES; HISTIOCYTES; KUPFFER CELLS of the liver; and OSTEOCLASTS. They may further differentiate within chronic inflammatory lesions to EPITHELIOID CELLS or may fuse to form FOREIGN BODY GIANT CELLS or LANGHANS GIANT CELLS. (from The Dictionary of Cell Biology, Lackie and Dow, 3rd ed.)
Enterocytozoon
A genus of parasitic FUNGI in the family Enterocytozoonidae, which infects humans. Enterocytozoon bieneusi has been found in the intestines of patients with AIDS.
Meiosis
Bacteriological Techniques
Techniques used in studying bacteria.
Soil Microbiology
Fruiting Bodies, Fungal
RNA, Bacterial
Ribonucleic acid in bacteria having regulatory and catalytic roles as well as involvement in protein synthesis.
DNA, Fungal
Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of fungi.
Parasites
Bacteria
One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Microscopy in which the object is examined directly by an electron beam scanning the specimen point-by-point. The image is constructed by detecting the products of specimen interactions that are projected above the plane of the sample, such as backscattered electrons. Although SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY also scans the specimen point by point with the electron beam, the image is constructed by detecting the electrons, or their interaction products that are transmitted through the sample plane, so that is a form of TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.
Food Microbiology
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Peptidoglycan
Peptidoglycan is a complex, cross-linked polymer of carbohydrates and peptides that forms the rigid layer of the bacterial cell wall, providing structural support and protection while contributing to the bacterium's susceptibility or resistance to certain antibiotics.
Phycomyces
A genus of zygomycetous fungi in the family Mucoraceae, order MUCORALES, forming mycelia having a metallic sheen. It has been used for research on phototropism.
Mycelium
The body of a fungus which is made up of HYPHAE.
Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
Any of the processes by which nuclear, cytoplasmic, or intercellular factors influence the differential control of gene action in fungi.
Hyphae
Sequence Alignment
The arrangement of two or more amino acid or base sequences from an organism or organisms in such a way as to align areas of the sequences sharing common properties. The degree of relatedness or homology between the sequences is predicted computationally or statistically based on weights assigned to the elements aligned between the sequences. This in turn can serve as a potential indicator of the genetic relatedness between the organisms.
Polymerase Chain Reaction
In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.
Bacterial Adhesion
Physicochemical property of fimbriated (FIMBRIAE, BACTERIAL) and non-fimbriated bacteria of attaching to cells, tissue, and nonbiological surfaces. It is a factor in bacterial colonization and pathogenicity.
Mitosporic Fungi
Larva
Genes, Fungal
The functional hereditary units of FUNGI.
Bacterial Toxins
Toxic substances formed in or elaborated by bacteria; they are usually proteins with high molecular weight and antigenicity; some are used as antibiotics and some to skin test for the presence of or susceptibility to certain diseases.
Microscopy, Fluorescence
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
Pest Control, Biological
Chondrosarcoma
A slowly growing malignant neoplasm derived from cartilage cells, occurring most frequently in pelvic bones or near the ends of long bones, in middle-aged and old people. Most chondrosarcomas arise de novo, but some may develop in a preexisting benign cartilaginous lesion or in patients with ENCHONDROMATOSIS. (Stedman, 25th ed)
Aspergillus fumigatus
Myxomycetes
Genetic Complementation Test
Peracetic Acid
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Transcription, Genetic
Recombination, Genetic
Spacecraft
Biological Evolution
Pasteurization
Bacillus thuringiensis
A species of gram-positive bacteria which may be pathogenic for certain insects. It is used for the biological control of the Gypsy moth.
Antigens, Bacterial
Substances elaborated by bacteria that have antigenic activity.
Penicillium
A mitosporic Trichocomaceae fungal genus that develops fruiting organs resembling a broom. When identified, teleomorphs include EUPENICILLIUM and TALAROMYCES. Several species (but especially PENICILLIUM CHRYSOGENUM) are sources of the antibiotic penicillin.
Life Cycle Stages
Streptomyces griseus
Microsporum
A mitosporic Oxygenales fungal genus causing various diseases of the skin and hair. The species Microsporum canis produces TINEA CAPITIS and tinea corporis, which usually are acquired from domestic cats and dogs. Teleomorphs includes Arthroderma (Nannizzia). (Alexopoulos et al., Introductory Mycology, 4th edition, p305)
Aspergillus
A genus of mitosporic fungi containing about 100 species and eleven different teleomorphs in the family Trichocomaceae.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Diatrizoate
A commonly used x-ray contrast medium. As DIATRIZOATE MEGLUMINE and as Diatrizoate sodium, it is used for gastrointestinal studies, angiography, and urography.
Phagocytosis
Membrane Proteins
Meteorological Concepts
Myxococcales
Cells, Cultured
Transcription Factors
DNA, Ribosomal
Mutagenesis, Insertional
Mutagenesis where the mutation is caused by the introduction of foreign DNA sequences into a gene or extragenic sequence. This may occur spontaneously in vivo or be experimentally induced in vivo or in vitro. Proviral DNA insertions into or adjacent to a cellular proto-oncogene can interrupt GENETIC TRANSLATION of the coding sequences or interfere with recognition of regulatory elements and cause unregulated expression of the proto-oncogene resulting in tumor formation.
Methyl Green
Disease Models, Animal
Water
Rhizopus
A genus of zygomycetous fungi of the family Mucoraceae, order MUCORALES, a common saprophyte and facultative parasite of mature fruits and vegetables. It may cause cerebral mycoses in diabetes and cutaneous infection in severely burned patients.
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Evolution, Molecular
Geobacillus stearothermophilus
A species of GRAM-POSITIVE ENDOSPORE-FORMING BACTERIA in the family BACILLACEAE, found in soil, hot springs, Arctic waters, ocean sediments, and spoiled food products.
Operon
In bacteria, a group of metabolically related genes, with a common promoter, whose transcription into a single polycistronic MESSENGER RNA is under the control of an OPERATOR REGION.