I am writing this research paper on the differences and similarities between bacteria, viruses, and prions. In this paper I will define each of the subjects that I am comparing and tell and show you how they are different and how they are similar. I will also tell you about their structure, how they reproduce, and a disease that is caused by each of them.
I will first start with defining all three subjects. Bacteria are known as large groups of unicellular microorganism that have cell walls but lack organelles, a nucleus, and bacteria are also prokaryotic. Viruses are infectious agents that consist of a nucleic acid molecule and replicates only within the cells of living host. Prions are miss formed proteins that are proteinases infectious agents responsible for fatal neurodegenerative in animals and humans. Prions are inherited and transmissible by ingestion, transplant, and surgical instruments.
The structures of all three of these subjects are very different. Bacteria have three different shapes known as strepocolli, which are chains of cocci that are spherical or oval shaped. Escherichia coli that lives in your intestines and are rod shaped. And vibrio’s that are spiral shaped. In bacteria, DNA and RNA are floating in the cytoplasm. Bacteria have a cell wall, a cell membrane, flagella, and ribosomes but do not have a nucleus. Viruses are sub-microscopic particle, about 20-300 nanometers. They have two main parts: a capsid which is composed of protein subunits and an inner core of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA. They also have spikes made from a glycoprotein. Viruses have no cell wall, but they have a protein coat instead. They don’t have a nucleus also. Last but not least, prions: the normal protein prions are bounded to sur...
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(n.d.). Phenotypic methods of classifying microorganisms describe the diversity of bacterial species by naming and grouping organisms based on similarities. The differences between Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryotes are basic.
The word virus comes from the Latin word, poison. A virus infects a cell and into it, inserts its DNA. The virus then multiplies inside the cell and when enough of the virus has been produced, the newly formed viruses will break out into the body of the host, destroying the cell in the process. Variola major and Variol...
The origin of CWD has yet to be determined (Sigurdson & Aguzzi, 2007). The infection was first noted in 1967 at a captive mule deer research facility. In 1978 pathologists recognized the TSE type brain lesions, also that CWD presented as a prion disease by the neuronal perikaryonic vacuoles, the accumulation of aggregated prion protein and prion infectivity in the brain. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the infection w...
PrP can occur in two forms- a normal cellular prion protein known as PrPc and a pathogenic misfolded conformer known as PrPsc. The abnormal PrPsc differs from the normal prion protein PrPc in both secondary and tertiary structure. PrPsc is principally rich in Beta sheet contents but PrPc is principally rich in alpha helical contents. Due to this difference of between the isoforms, prions are extremely resistant to certain decontamination systems. The Two tables below outline both human and animal diseases (2).
Bloodborne pathogens are viruses that deteriorate cells within the body. A virus is a submicroscopic parasitic organism that feeds on cells. Viruses are dependent on cells for their nutrients so the virus survive and reproduce. Every virus consists of either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA). A virus can contain a strand of one or the other, but not both. This RNA or DNA is contained within a protein shell for protection. A virus is a parasite that is dependent upon cells for metabolic and reproductive requirements. By using the cell the virus makes the host very ill by redirecting cellular activity to make more viruses.
The prion diseases that Chronic Wasting Disease is related to are Creutzfeldt-Jakobs disease found in humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, and scrapies in sheep (3,4). These diseases are grouped together because they share certain characteristics such as long incubation periods, spongiform changes that are associated with neural loss, and cause failure to induce inflammatory responses (Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance).
Nguyen, Bianca. "AP Biology/BN: Bacteria vs. Virus vs. Prion." AP Biology/BN: Bacteria vs. Virus vs. Prion. N.p., 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. .
...y do not have energy metabolism, they do not grow or produce waste products, and they don’t respond to stimuli. Although they replicate and produce more of one another, viruses can’t reproduce independently without invading a living cell. Because viruses don’t fulfill all of the characteristics of life, they are not living organisms.
Viruses are the smallest, simplest living things, smaller than bacteria, and the cause of some of the deadliest diseases known to humanity. They are composed chiefly of nucleic acid wrapped in a coat of protein and are able to multiply only from within living cells. As with all other organisms, the virus depends for its ability to obtain energy and carry out the other processes necessary to sustain life, upon its stock of DNA, the hereditary material that makes up the genes, the "instructions" that determine the traits of every living organism. What is interesting about viruses, however, is that their genetic stock is very meagre indeed, so much so that reliance upon it alone cannot enable them to survive. Nonetheless, viruses do persist from one generation to the next, as if they were alive. How this is managed, as it clearly is in both plants, animals and human beings, bears importantly upon the ways in which "life", at least in the case of viruses, may legitimately b...
The known cause of this disease is bacterial though there are 5 main forms of Meningococcal some of which are both viral and bacterial. Bacteria and Viruses are very different. Bacteria can survive without a host while a virus needs a cell to survive. Most viruses cause diseases and target specific cells or bacteria. Unlike a virus only 1% of Bacteria actually cause diseases.
For bacteria to be utilised to its full potential and to meet the demands of quantity need for the production of foods and medicines it is key that experts are able to firstly distinguish what type bacteria is need for a certain production and secondly, and very importantly, how to reproduce that bacteria to create enough of it needed for mass production of a certain product.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is an uncommon, deteriorating, consistently fatal brain disorder that is caused by prions. The symptoms of CJD are similar of Alzheimer’s but progress much faster. There are three variations of CJD, sporadic, familial, and acquired. All variations affect the brain the same way and have the same result of death. CJD is an untreatable and incurable disease.
Virus- An infectious agent found in virtually all life forms, including humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Viruses touch us every day through water, food, physical contact, blood, animals, or even, the air you breathe. All though most are harmless there are some that...
Bacterial cells, like plant cells, are surrounded by a cell wall. However, bacterial cell walls are made up of polysaccharide chains linked to amino acids, while plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, which contains no amino acids. Many bacteria secrete a slimy capsule around the outside of the cell wall. The capsule provides additional protection for the cell. Many of the bacteria that cause diseases in animals are surrounded by a capsule. The capsule prevents the white blood cells and antibodies from destroying the invading bacterium. Inside the capsule and the cell wall is the cell membrane. In aerobic bacteria, the reactions of cellular respiration take place on fingerlike infoldings of the cell membrane. Ribosomes are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the DNA is generally found in the center of the cell. Many bacilli and spirilla have flagella, which are used for locomotion in water. A few types of bacteria that lack flagella move by gliding on a surface. However, the mechanism of this gliding motion is unknown. Most bacteria are aerobic, they require free oxygen to carry on cellular respiration. Some bacteria, called facultatibe anaerobes can live in either the presence or absence of free oxygen. They obtain energy either by aerobic respiration when oxygen is present or by fermentation when oxygen is absent. Still other bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. These are called obligate anaerobes. Such bacteria obtain energy only fermentation. Through fermentation, different groups of bacteria produce a wide variety of organic compounds. Besides ethyl alcohol and lactic acid, bacterial fermentation can produce acetic acid, acetone, butyl alcohol, glycol, butyric acid, propionic acid, and methane, the main component of natural gas. Most bacteria are heterotrophic bacteria are either saprophytes or parasites. Saprophytes feed on the remains of dead plants and animals, and ordinarily do not cause disease. They release digestive enzymes onto the organic matter. The enzymes breakdown the large food molecules into smaller molecules, which are absorbed by the bacterial cells. Parasites live on or in living organisms, and may cause disease. A few types of bacteria are Autotrophic, they can synthesize the organic nutrients they require from inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria are either photosynthetic or Chemosynthetic. The photosynthetic bacteria contain chlorophyll that are different from the plant chlorophyll. In bacterial photosynthesis, hydrogen is obtained by the splitting of compounds other than water.
In this assignment I am going to explain the 5 different social benefits of micro-organisms. The areas I am going to talk about are as follows;