| A | B |
|---|
| Evolution Via Gene Transfer | Bacterial reproduction usually involves just dividing in two; no other bacteria is required. But every once in a while a bacterium acquires genes from somewhere else. When it does, it’s not too picky about which genes it gets. |
| Plasmids | One of the 3 ways that bacteria can acquire new DNA.Tiny little critters that live inside bacteria. Just a small circle of DNA, just a few genes. 1) Genes for replicating 2) Genes for spreading from one bacterium to another (via conjugation) 3) Genes for other stuff (like antibiotic resistance) |
| Conjunction | The process in which two bacteria join and DNA is passed from one to the next. This process is controlled by a small circle of DNA living within the bacterium, called a plasmid, and it’s the way that the plasmid spreads from one bacterium to another. |
| Transformation | The process whereby a bacterial cell picks up DNA from its environment and incorporates it into its own genome. |
| Transduction | The process whereby genes are carried from one bacterium to another in a bacterial virus. Occasionally, a virus particle being assembled before leaving the host cell accidentally gets filled with bacterial DNA instead of viral DNA. When that virus particle latches onto a new bacterium, it injects that bacterium with the foreign bacterial DNA, which may then be incorporated into the bacterium’s genome. |
| Overuse of Antibiotics Help Select for Resistant Bacteria | Prescriptions for antibiotics given out when they are not needed (viral infection) and given out too often Antibiotics given to animals |
| Misuse of Antibiotics Help Select for Resistant Bacteria | Not taking the entire prescription Self-medicating with antibiotics Antibiotics given to animals that are not sick |
| Partial Resistance | Bacteria may evolve complete resistance to a particular antibiotic by first passing through a stage of partial immunity. Partially resistant bacteria can survive a concentration of the antibiotic sufficient to kill susceptible bacteria but will succumb to a greater concentration. Additional mutations can then make them more completely resistant |
| Vector Borne Diseases | Require a vector for their transmission, such as a mosquito |
| West Nile Virus | Attacks the central nervous system. Transmitted by Culex mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water. Primary host is birds – humans are dead end. (Zoonotic) Local emergence of the virus is seen primarily when the local conditions favor mosquito breeding |
| Vector Borne Emergence | Emergence of these diseases is regulated by vector abundance, dependent on local ecology/climate. Global warming is changing where mosquitoes can live |
| Fomite | Any inanimate object or substance capable of carrying infectious organisms. Can get it from people, bugs, etc. |
