Free Corynebacterium Diphtheriae Essays and Papers

Corynebacterium Diphtheriae Life History: Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the microbial causative agent of diphtheria; however, it is the exotoxin produced by pathogenic strains of the bacteria that cause the symptoms of the disease. Non-pathogenic strains are normal inhabitants of the oral cavity and lack the bacteriophage DNA to produce exotoxin. Pathogenic C. diphtheriae can localize in different parts of the body, including the nasal cavity, the naso-pharynx, the larynx, and the skin. Depending

Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) Corynebacteria are Gram-positive, aerobic, nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria related to the Actinomycetes. They do not form spores or branch as do the actinomycetes, but they have the characteristic of forming irregular shaped, club-shaped or V-shaped arrangements in normal growth. They undergo snapping movements just after cell division which brings them into characteristic arrangements resembling Chinese letters. The genus Corynebacterium consists of a diverse

environment. Due to the modern understanding of the transmission and composition along with the development of a vaccine; it has brought us a long way of avoiding this disease. Diphtheria is caused by a pathogenic (disease causing) bacterium called Corynebacterium diphtheria also known as C. diphtheria (Nordqvist, 2004-2014). This bacterium usually effects the upper respiratory tract where inflammation is contracted. In a serious matter or event, this pathogen can be deadly once it enters the blood stream