Category: Bacteria

Since the invention of mobile cell phones, people have been carrying them wherever they go and using them for long periods of time throughout the day. Today’s cell phones can do everything from making a phone call across the world, to searching the internet and taking high definition photographs of anything in sight. Cell phones also have applications that people do want to close out of, like video games and social media. On average, an American spends four hours on their mobile phone every day (“Demographics”). This is a great deal of time to be using a mobile device, and with all of this usage the phone gets very dirty very quickly. Even after a short period of time, bacterial cultures can start to form on mobile phones (Blankinship 167).

Bacteria are unicellular microorganisms with a simple structure. Unlike many other organisms, bacteria are prokaryotes, meaning they have no nucleus or membrane based structures. Bacteria are found in every habitat and in almost every living thing on earth. In addition, they reproduce asexually by binary fission. Binary fission causes a singular bacterium to split into two bacteria and the process continues so long as the conditions are favorable. This causes the bacteria to multiply very rapidly and efficiently (“About”). The bacteria go through a period of adaptation, and if the environmental conditions are suitable, they start to grow in cultures. If the conditions are not viable, such as the wrong nutrients, insufficient moisture, or unfavorable temperature, the bacteria will begin to die and cease multiplying (Bruslind 9).

Bacteria are found all over the earth and there are thousands of different kinds of bacteria. Advertising suggests that bacteria are bad and numerous products are sold to kill bacteria in an effort to reduce the spread of illness and disease. While antibacterial products can be beneficial in decreasing the spread of harmful bacteria, most bacteria are actually harmless or beneficial to humans (Levy 36). Some bacteria, like the Chlamydia genus, are spherically shaped and can cause many different diseases in humans, such as respiratory and eye infections. This bacterial parasite is classified as gram negative, which means that they have an inner cell wall which appears to be light purple when viewed under a microscope. Most gram negative bacteria cause diseases or harm the human body is some way. Other bacteria, such as the Lactobacillus genus, are rod-shaped beneficial bacteria that produce lactic acids and are widely distributed in dairy products and other animal feeds. This bacteria is classified as gram positive, and its cell wall appears purple under a microscope. Gram positive bacteria can be both helpful and harmful to the human body. Lactobacillus is used in the production of yogurt and fermented vegetables, but Staphylococcus, also a gram positive bacteria can cause food poisoning and numerous types of infections in humans and animals ( Rogers 78-104). Gram positive and gram negative are just two categories of bacteria in a world filled with microorganisms, all performing various functions.

Whether something is living or nonliving, bacteria is able to grow on it. Even in habitats that seem inhospitable, like Antarctica, bacteria can survive and reproduce. Bacteria can grow and spread on to everyday objects (Levy 34-37). When people carry something around with them all day, the item could pick up a large quantity of bacteria, and that bacteria will end up reproducing and growing. There have been studies which confirm the presence of bacteria on commonly used surfaces. In one study, Annand examined the amount of bacteria found on items such as telephones, keyboards, and photocopiers, items which could be found in a high school. This study showed that the bacterial counts on these surfaces increased significantly throughout the day. It also suggested that the high counts of bacteria on phones may occur because exhaled vapor from the user’s mouth supports the growth of bacteria. Today, many individuals carry their mobile phones with them wherever they go. They touch and use their phones frequently throughout the day, and if the conditions are favorable, this could lead to bacterial colonies growing on the person’s phone. Depending on the type of bacteria that is found on the phone, a person may become ill or spread an illness. Some surfaces, if not cleaned properly, potentially contain pathogenic bacteria, which can survive for days or even weeks (Annand, et al 17-23). This suggests that people should wash their hands and mobile phones often to ensure that the bacteria does not affect them (Morubagal et al. 143–151).

If a person’s profession involves being around many people each day, harmful bacteria could potentially spread onto the mobile phone very quickly. For example, a study by Chang showed that the use of cellphones among medical staff in the hospital setting is raising concerns that they could be a source in spreading infections (Chang et al.). While occupation may correlate with the amount of bacteria on a person’s phone, there are a few other factors that affect the amount of contamination. Surprisingly, gender is a prominent factor in bacteria levels on a mobile phone. Females are said to be cleaner than males, and they wash their hands on a more consistent basis. Studies have shown that in the bathroom, a dirty place filled with bacteria, males wash their hands much less than females. When bacteria stays on someone’s hands after bathroom usage, harmful bacteria will begin to reproduce. Hand washing is effective at minimizing bacteria, and should be done every time someone leaves the restroom (Berry).

Overall, cell phones are very common in modern society. Almost every teenager has one, and they are carried around wherever they go. As a result,, bacteria spreads to the phone and then to its user very quickly. People should be sure to wash their hands and phones so bacteria does not travel. Bacteria is not always harmful, but precautions should always be taken so that bacteria is not spread has less chance of causing illness.

Works Cited

1. ‘About Microbiology – Bacteria.’ Microbiology Online, https://microbiologyonline.org/about-microbiology/introducing-microbes/bacteria.
2. Annand, John W., et al. ‘Potential Pathogens and Effective Disinfectants on Public Telephones at a Large Urban United States University.’ Journal of Environmental Health, vol. 71, no. 6, 2009, pp. 24–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26327847.
3. Berry, Thomas D., et al. ‘Examining hand-washing rates and durations in public restrooms: a study of gender difference via personal, environmental, and behavioral determinants.’ Environment and Behavior, vol. 47, no. 8, 23 Mar. 2014, pp. 923-44. SAGE Journals Online, journal.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001391651427590. Accessed 6 Oct. 2019.
4. Blankinship, Lisa Ann, et al. ‘Survey of Antibiotic Resistance in Cell Phone and Computer Keyboard Isolated Bacteria.’ Bios, vol. 84, no. 3, 2013, pp. 165–172. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23595290.
5. Bruslind, Linda. ‘Microbial Growth.’ Oregon State Microbiology, Oregon State, library.open.oregonstate.edu/microbiology/chapter/microbial-growth/.
6. Chih-Hsiang Chang, Szu-Yuan Chen, and Pang-Hsin Hsieh Yuhan Chang. ‘Nasal Colonization and Bacterial Contamination of Mobile Phones Carried by Medical Staff in the Operating Room.’ PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 31 May 2017, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0175811.
7. ‘Demographics of Mobile Device Ownership and Adoption in the United States.’ Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 12 June 2019, www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/.
8. Levy, Janey. The World of Microbes: Bacteria, Viruses, and Other Microorganisms. New York, Rosen Publ., 2011.
9. Morubagal, Raghavendra Rao, et al. ‘Study of Bacterial Flora Associated with Mobile Phones of Healthcare Workers and Non-Healthcare Workers.’ Iranian Journal of Microbiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, June 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5719508/.
10. Rogers, Kara. Bacteria and Viruses. Britannica Educational Publ., 2011.

Enterococci are facultative anaerobic and Gram-positive bacteria often forming normal fecal flora of humans. However, these bacteria are increasingly appearing as primary pathogens among patients with compromised immune systems (Hemalatha, Bhaskaran, Sowmiya, & Anusheela Howlader, 2017). This manifestation is believed to be due to its resistance to various antibiotics along with its ability to form biofilms and acquiring some virulence factors (Santajit & Indrawattana, 2016).

Enterococci in hospitals lead to the urinary tract, soft tissue, and bacteremia infection in patients exposed to different antibiotic classes (Guzman Prieto et al., 2016; Santajit & Indrawattana, 2016). Unfortunately, enterococcal infection treatments are not well developed because of its resistance to the most used antibiotics. Except for one class of cephalosporin, they are resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics including antistaphylococcal penicillins (Khan, Miller, & Arias, 2018).

Bacterial cell walls consist of a modified peptidoglycan layer containing proteins and polymers, which is necessary for the survival of the cell (Pazos & Peters, 2019). This layer of peptidoglycan is developed in bacteria by a synergic action of various proteins. These include several penicillin-binding proteins (PBP) (Pazos & Peters, 2019; Van Dross-Anderson & Ladin, 2018). These may be endopeptidases, transpeptidases, as well as carboxypeptidases, which can modify different peptidoglycans while synthesizing new peptides (Miyachiro, Contreras-Martel, & Dessen, 2019). PBP can be classified according to its enzymatic activity: class A is a multifunctional PBP with glycosyltransferase and transpeptidase activity; class B is a transpeptidase; class C is carboxypeptidase and endopeptidase (Moon et al., 2018).

In enterococci, the reduction in β-lactam antibiotic susceptibility is due to the single low-affinity class PBP (class B) expression (Djorić, Little, & Kristich, 2020). Typically, Enterococcus hirae is often chosen as a model species to study PBPs (Montealegre et al., 2017). The protein is expressed in Escherichia coli and the kinetics of certain PBPs is analyzed to understand its role in providing antibiotic resistance to these species.

The catalytic serine interferes with the penultimate D-Ala carbonyl (of the donor stem peptide) in Class B PBP transpeptidases (Caveney et al., 2019). This releases the C-D-Ala and forms a covalent acyl-enzyme conjugation with the donor stem peptide. Then the D-Ala carbonyl group conjugation experiences a nucleophilic attack by a primary amine present at the end of the side chain of the acceptor stem peptide, creating a bridge between the peptides, thus connecting the glycan strands (Caveney et al., 2019; Maya-Martinez et al., 2019; Walter & Mayer, 2019).

The donor substrate D-Ala-D-Ala sequence is mimicked by beta-lactam antibiotics functioning as inhibitors of cell wall synthesis (Moon et al., 2018; Phillips-Jones & Harding, 2018). Following their discovery as a β-lactam antibiotics target, PBPs are extensively researched, particularly concerning its role in conferring antibiotic resistance to enterococci and staphylococci against β-lactams (Guzman Prieto et al., 2016).

The current study focuses on the kinetic properties of PBP4 isolated from Enterococcus hirae. Limited focus has been given to PBP4 from Enterococci to date. We have overexpressed E. hirae PBP4 in E.coli and checked binding efficiency against β-lactam antibiotics. In addition to SDS PAGE, the kinetic properties are studied by LABCHIP GXII and all the samplings are done using Microlab Hamilton Robotic arms for increased consistency and accuracy. We also investigated the cellular localization of the protein this investigation will provide an insight into the behavior and role of PBP4 in offering β-lactam antibiotic resistance to the species.

While researching for this paper, I’ve learned a little bit more about the history of dental carries and its effects on us even in the early days. I found a few authors who took time to really study the behaviours of oral bacteria that lives in our mouth. This paper also tells the importance of being well educated regarding our oral health. As we all know that bacteria were the first living things on Earth way back a few hundred billion years ago and even today, they still exist and still in abundance. People from the old days didn’t have much tools and knowledge on how to take care of their oral health and they still weren’t aware of the complications of their environment to their oral health and to their overall health. Teeth of some of the early inhabitants were found in many parts of the world and they’ve revealed so much information on their diet, their age, any sort of hygiene, stress-related oral implications and etc, and many scientists were amazed by how a tooth can tell a story of a person even if it was from a long time ago. Depending on where they were in the world, they’ve adapted to their surroundings, and they learned how to use their mouth and teeth to held on things, maybe even use them as a tool and many more. For those who stuck to farming and hunting showed to have a lot lower chance of any type of disease-associated bacteria compared to our world today and that the diversity of species of bacteria in the mouth was much higher back then.

Today, there are almost 700 strains of bacterias that have been found in the mouth of a living person. Some bacterias are beneficial to our mouth and helps aid in the digestion of our food like probiotics and some bacteria protect our gums. There are 2 types of bacterias that will mostly cause harm in our mouth. Streptococcus mutans ​is a type of bacteria that lives in our mouth and feeds on the sugary stuff and starches that we eat but that alone isn’t that bad, but due to its insatiable nature, it produces enamel-eroding acids which makes it the main cause of tooth decay in children and in adults. Another common harmful bacteria is a Porphyromonasginigivalist​hatisn’tthatmuchpresentinthemouthbutwhenitis,ithas been strongly linked to periodontitis where there is inflammation of the gums and the supporting structures of the teeth which is said to be one of the most common human diseases. It does not affect a specific age group, even children can get them especially if not enough attention and importance is given to their oral health. In our world today, only a few people are well educated on the importance of a good and healthy oral health. To some, they may even think of the oral cavity as insignificant to their overall health for which they have no interest in putting much effort in.

However, there are also some people who are really keen and very much involved in taking care of their teeth and oral cavity and enjoys getting educated by their healthcare professionals and always curious about recent studies and new products in the market. It’s a shame to see people especially children who suffers with dental cavities at an early stage in their lives. Parents should be aware of all the implications and consequences of leaving their children unsupervised while eating because most kids munch on their candies every minute of everyday and rarely brush their teeth which is a green light for bacteria to come in and cause trouble in a way that these bacterias feed on the sugars from the food and drinks that we consume for growth. Even adults who eats breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday are at risk of these complications when their daily consumption of fruit and vegetable is low and consumes mostly sugar and starch food.

The process of tooth decay is something that is so simple and yet people are unattentive of it. Many people often shrug the idea of “always brush after a meal because you’ll accumulate bacteria on your teeth”, because they have no access to an oral self care kit when they’re at work, school or at an event but regardless of the location that people are in, most of us tend to delay the brushing a few hours later and just let the residue from the food that they have just consumed stay and have the time of their lives in their mouth. The food that we consume on a regular basis is a determining factor for a bacteria to chronically build up on the surface of our teeth which leads to many problems. A person who eats mostly vegetables and a diet that are low in sugar level compared to a person whose diet mostly revolves around fast food chain restaurants and regularly eats sweets, desserts, regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, energy drinks, processed fruit juices tend to have less plaque and risk for getting a cavity and other oral health problems.

As a future hygienist, I have the responsibility to educate my clients on the things that affect their oral health and overall health as well, whether it’s the food they eat, their daily activities, their hobbies, habits and their emotional interest in making sure they have a healthy mouth. It’s my priority that once they leave the clinic, they have all the information that they will need in order to effectively improve their oral health status so for next time that they come in, we can track their progress and keep improving their knowledge and skills until we get to our goal. I really think nutritional counselling is an important aspect of being a hygienist and a healthcare practitioner because people not only come for us so that their teeth can be saved from any further damage but they come to us so that they can be protected from all the possible risk of their daily lives that might put their oral health in jeopardy.

Being knowledgeable of all the possible impact of our diet could literally save us from getting sick and being susceptible to any type of disease. When patients are aware of the benefits of eating healthy and being active, they’re doing themselves a favour because they are increasing their life expectancy. Consulting with a nutritionist or even the hygienist could make a big impact on a patient’s oral health and lifestyle, maybe change their bad eating habits and substitute them for something nutritious and beneficial for the patient’s health. A person’s needs are specific to that person alone because we all have different metabolism and our body works a little bit differently than others even compared to a family member. Patients should be aware of the consequences of regularly eating junk foods that has no nutrients on them regardless of the bulk of that food that they consume. Just because we eat three times a day doesn’t mean we are nutritious and are repellent to diseases. Nutrition shouldn’t be considered just for the sole purpose of “looking good” but most importantly we should choose to eat healthier so we can avoid any type oral complications that lead to certain diseases. Lifestyle must also be changed in accordance to good diet, proper and regular exercise should be done by every individual catered to what they need to work on, either just by walking for one hour or two or going on a couple of laps in the pool and running a marathon could and will possibly change our health and again improve the quality of our lives.

Since proper nutrition helps us in keeping a healthy and happy oral health, there are still a lot of people who are just incapable of keeping up with the maintenance of their teeth. Socio-economic status plays a big role in people’s health due to the fact that they have shortage of food which makes them malnutritioned for the most part, and most of their dental caries goes untreated which may lead to other oral complications such as infections and abscesses which can be very painful.

Since we now know that improper nutrition and oral bacteria are relatively related to each other as well as other oral diseases and factors, we should be more cautious in what we consume in our diet and we should stick to those food that are beneficial to our oral health and of course general health. Brushing at least twice a day alongside flossing and the use of mouthwash and any other tool should be a habit so we can prevent the risk of cavities. Consistent and regular check up with a Dentist is necessary to keep track of our health and if need be, to improve it. I want everyone to see the importance of our oral health and take it seriously because if we don’t take care of it, we will suffer in the end and wish we could’ve done something differently.

Bacteria is an example of a unicellular prokaryote. Several bacteria move by turning the flagellum (Kojima, 2015). Several movable bacteria move in fluid or on a firm exterior utilising their flagellum. The flagellum has a spiral shape and expands from the cell body. The flagellum’s turning movement causes the bacterial cell to swim. The rotary motor located in the inner membrane and cell wall (cell envelope) operates the turning of the flagellum. The motor gets energy from the electrochemical gradient of the ions flowing across the membrane. The majority of neutrophiles obtain energy from the electrochemical gradient of hydrogen ions and sodium ions for some alkaliphiles.

The motor of the flagellum is made up of the rotor and about twelve stator components encircle every rotor (Kojima, 2015). The rotor stator mechanism combined with the movement of the ions that pass the channel located in the stator creates rotational force and thus electrochemical energy is changed into mechanical energy by the stator. E-coli is an example of a bacteria that uses flagella to move (Ni et al.,2017). In e-coli, the genes belonging to the flagella are grouped together depending on their sequence of expression and the regulation of transcription. This encodes for greater than forty proteins that are vital for the movement of the flagella.

In unicellular eukaryotes, the flagella are made from a centre of microtubules with a membrane encircling it (Rathinam and Sverchkov, 2018). The centre of microtubules is a set of microtubules in the middle encircled with nine pairs of microtubules. The movement of particles in the flagellum between the centre of the microtubule and the membrane are in charge of conveying proteins that are necessary for the growth of the flagella. The flagella beat repeatedly in a eukaryotic cell (Shingyoji, 2018). The arrangement of dynein proteins on the pair of microtubules are in control of the movement of the flagella. Using energy given off during hydrolysis of ATP, dynein transfers the neighbouring pairs of microtubules towards the end of the flagella away from the centre of the body. The sliding power produced by dynein is used to move the flagellum in a curving wave like manner. Dynein activity is split into four stages (Shingyoji, 2018).

The essential ATP-operated force creation of the dynein arms is the first stage. The second stage is the sliding of dynein arms located along every pair of microtubules. The third stage is the modulation of the sequence of sliding about the axonemal axis. The fourth stage is the start of the beating of the flagella along with mechanical power of bending. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, green algae, is an example of a eukaryote that uses two flagella to swim (Geyer et al., 2016). The direction of movement is regulated by the static part and the momentum is produced by the dynamic part.

References

1. Kojima, S., 2015. Dynamism and regulation of the stator, the energy conversion complex of the bacterial flagellar motor. Current Opinion in Microbiology [online]. 28, pp.66-71. [viewed on 2 October 2020]. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.lib.gla.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S1369527415001320?via%3Dihub
2. Ni, B., Ghosh, B., S.Paldy, F., Colin, R., Heimerl, T. and Sourjik, V., 2017. Evolutionary Remodelling of Bacterial Motility Checkpoint Control. Cell Reports [online]. 18(4), pp.866-877. [viewed 2 October 2020]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124716318101#!
3. Rathinam,M., Sverchkov, Y., 2018. Stochastic Dynamics of Eukaryotic Flagellar Growth. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology [online]. 81, 2849-2872. [viewed 3 October 2020]. Available from: https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.lib.gla.ac.uk/article/10.1007%2Fs11538-018-0427-1#citeas
4. Shingyoji, C., 2018. 11- Regulation of dynein-driven ciliary and flagellar movement. Dyneins: Structure, Biology and Disease (Second Edition) [online]. 1, pp.336-367. [viewed 3 October 2020]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128094716000115
5. Geyer, V., Sartori, P., Friedrich, B., Jülicher, F., Howard, J., 2016. Independent Control of the Static and Dynamic Components of the Chlamydomonas Flagellar Beat. Current Biology [online]. 26(8), pp.1098-1103. [viewed 3 October 2020]. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.lib.gla.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S096098221630135X?via%3Dihub