intro into microbiology

• What are the main characteristics of viruses, bacteria, and fungi?

  Structure, reproduction, and metabolism
• Why is it important to know about infections?

  They cause significant morbidity and mortality
• How many deaths were attributed to infections globally in 2019?

  13.7 million deaths
• How many deaths were caused by COVID-19 from 2020 to 2021?

  ~15 million deaths
• What are future threats related to infections?

  New pandemic viruses and antimicrobial resistance
• What is the gene encoding the ribosomal RNA used for in microbiology?

  Identifying bacteria and archaea
• How many microbial cells are estimated to be on Earth?

  ~10³⁰ microbial cells
• What does microbiology study?

  All microscopic life on Earth
• What is the evolutionary timeline of microbes?

  Microbes evolved over 4 billion years

  
• What are the three main types of microbes?

  Fungi, bacteria, and viruses
• How do viruses replicate?

  Only inside a living cell or organism
• How many more viruses are there compared to bacteria, fungi, and eukaryotes?

  ~10 times more viruses
• What is the difference between enveloped and non-enveloped viruses?

  Enveloped viruses have better immune protection
• What are the surface glycoproteins of Influenza A?

  Haemagglutinin (HA) and Neuramidase (NA)
• What is antigenic shift in Influenza A?

  Exchange of genome fragments between viruses
• What is antigenic drift?

  Error-prone replication of viral RNA
• Why do new viruses often emerge?

  They jump from animal hosts to humans
• What are coronaviruses responsible for?

  Common cold and severe outbreaks
• What receptor does COVID-19 bind to?

  ACE2 receptor
• What does the immune response to COVID-19 contribute to?

  Edema and impaired oxygen diffusion

  
• What additional pathology can SARS-CoV-2 cause?

  Blood clots leading to stroke
• What is the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 genome?

  One RNA molecule
• What makes vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2 easier?

  It is unlikely to rearrange like influenza
• What are the strategies against viral infections?

  Prevention, vaccines, and antivirals
• What type of vaccine is the Oxford/Astra-Zeneca vaccine?

  Replication defective virus vector
• What does Paxlovid inhibit?

  Viral protease
• What is the role of protease in viral protein production?

  Cleaves long polyprotein into functional proteins
• What is the significance of peptidoglycan in bacteria?

  It is a target for many antibiotics
• What are the two forms of fungi?

  Unicellular (yeasts) and multicellular (moulds)
• What do moulds grow as?

  Hyphae forming a mycelium
• What is unique about the fungal cell wall?

  It contains different polysaccharides and mannoproteins

  
• What are the approaches to diagnose infectious diseases?

  Immunological assays, molecular biology, and culture

  
• What is the purpose of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in clinical bacteriology?

  To analyze proteins for identification

  
• What is the role of PCR in clinical microbiology?

  Rapid amplification of DNA for identification
• What can rapid tests in clinical microbiology detect?

  Nitrite, leukocytes, and red blood cells
• What is the significance of moving UTI diagnosis to pharmacies?

  Improves access and efficiency of care
• What are the key topics covered in the lecture summary?

  • Overview of microbial diversity
  • Viruses: RNA/DNA & enveloped/non-enveloped
  • Virus-host interactions
  • Bacteria: cell wall structure
  • Fungi: yeasts and moulds
  • Clinical diagnostics of infectious diseases