Microbiology Mnemonic

Cysteine Growth Requirements

MICROBIOLOGY MNEMONIC

BoyFriend Lost Penis

B rucella

F rancisella

L egionella

P asteurella

or….

The four sisters “Ella” worship in the “cystein” chapel

Brucella

Francisella

Legionella

Pasteurella

Another Harry Potter Mnemonic (yayyy!!!)

So, whenever I read about this fungi Sporothrix schenckii I think about Bellatrix Lestrange… geti it? 

Sporothrix - Bellatrix

That evil deatheater that killed Sirius Black. But they actually got it wrong in the movie, she doesn’t “Avada Kedavra” him, she just knocked him through that veil where you could hear death people….

Ok, enough with the Harry Potter fact.

To diagnose an infection from Sporothrix schenckii, you have to see this cigar shaped yeasts (from the pus of the lesions), which are the tissue form of the fungi. 

So to remember this, just picture:

“Bellatrix Lestrange smoking a cigar”

(Sporothrix: cigar shaped yeast in pus)

This one’s about bugs

Guys, I love ID. I really hope I get to do an ID rotation on Medicine. If you remember, I once posted the mnemonic I swear by for viruses. Well here is the bacteria counterpart. Also your micro mantra should be: sketchy is life. Love Andrew like I do (this part’s not the mantra, I just love Andrew).

Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification. This is a perfect example of a “not aesthetically pleasing tumblr study post” because sometimes your handwriting sucks and you aint got that kinda time in my life for pretty arrows and banners and I just wanna finish this shit so I can leave the library when will Step 1 even be over why is this my liiiiiife

Virus Classification

Antimicrobial Agents  - Cell wall inhibitors

Based on mode of action • divided into families based on chemical structure

 Modes of action Interference with: 

cell wall synthesis 

protein synthesis 

nucleic acid synthesis 

plasma membrane integrity 

metabolic pathway 

Inhibitors of Bacterial Cell Wall (peptidoglycan) Synthesis 

The Beta-lactam Family 

The Glycopeptides 

Peptidoglycan is composed of N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM) repeat units, and amino acids.  Each NAM is linked to peptide chain and the peptide chains are cross-linked.

β-lactams 

Includes penicillin derivatives (penams), cephalosporins (cephems), monobactams, and carbapenems.

class of broad-spectrum antibiotics containing a β-lactam ring

Bacterial transpeptidase enzymes are responsible for catalysing cross-linking of the peptide chains

β-lactam ring bind to these transpeptidases – this inhibits cross-linking between peptide chains and prevents synthesis of stable PG

Cell wall synthesis ceases and the bacterial cells eventually die due to osmotic instability or autolysis. 

Glycopeptides 

Polypeptide agents - basic structural elements amino acids 

Vancomycin: 

complexes with peptide portion of peptidoglycan’s precursor units 

vancomycin is a large hydrophilic molecule able to form hydrogen bonds with the terminal D-alanyl-D-alanine moieties of the NAM/NAG-peptides

preventing PG transglycosylation reaction – PG precursor subunits (NAG-NAM+peptide) cannot be inserted into peptidoglycan matrix;

Vancomycin also alters bacterial-cell-membrane permeability and RNA synthesis

Uses:  serious Gram positive infections e.g. MRSA wound infection

Adverse effects:

damage to auditory nerve 

hearing loss (ototoxicity) 

“Red man/neck” syndrome - rash on face, neck, upper torso 

This bedroom is soooo pretty, this colour palette is everything.

Dr Warhol’s Periodic Table of Microbes

56. Ba. Bacillus

There are more than 300 species of Bacillus, which is a whole whopping load of microbes. Just to wrap your head around that number, if you talked about each one for 1 minute you’d be talking nonstop for 5 hours! Take that TedTalks!

Starting with the basics, these organisms found all over the world, predominantly in soil but microbes go where they please, so they have been found in undersea hydrothermal vents as well as in the stratosphere. They are rod-shaped and form spores.

Just to list a few of the most noteworthy and awesome Bacillus species:

Abyssalis: found more than a mile and a half down at the bottom of the South China Sea.

Anthracis: causative agent of Anthrax, the disease, not the band; death, disease, toxins, yahoo!

Azotofixans: fixes nitrogen.

Canaveralius: StarFleet Academy space bacteria living on the walls of the Kennedy Space Center!

Cereus: you get to play with this in General Microbiology, a pathogen causing foodborne illness.

Decolorationis: for you art history majors, isolated from decaying parts of a mural in the Roman necropolis in Carmona, Spain.

Megaterium: it can consume cave paintings.

Stratosphericus: found in high concentrations orbiting the Earth with satellites around 6 miles up!

Subtilis: the grass bacillus; used for industrial enzyme secretion.

Thuringiensis: absolutely famous for producing the BT toxin used as a natural insecticide.

Bacillus cells are Gram positive rods that measures about 1 micron wide by 4 to 10 microns long, but with more than 300 species you will see a range of sizes.

Everyone needs their own Periodic Table of Microbes from https://www.etsy.com/no-en/shop/WarholScience.

Copyright 2016 Warhol.

Medically Important Bacteria: Clasification