Introduction to Microbiology | Bacterial Metabolism and Nutrition

Greetings, dear readers. I will take advantage of the space provided by the HIVE community to start publishing in the area of medicine, I am currently a sixth-year student and teacher trainer of the subject of clinical microbiology and immunology, so I came up with the idea of starting to share some of my knowledge with all the students present in the community, hoping that it will be of great help and understanding in part to what we are currently experiencing, little by little I will develop the content based on a couple of books that I have used for my undergraduate studies, without further ado, let's start.

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_{Source - MédicoPlus}

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The first topic to develop as any study is to know in its introduction the basic aspects to be able to understand completely, on this occasion I will focus on the metabolism and bacterial nutrition.

Bacterial growth: It is a process that involves the replication of all cellular structures, organelles, and protoplasmic components, from the nutrients present in the system's environment.

This process depends on the following factors:

• Bacterial species
• pH
• Composition of the medium
• Incubation temperature
• Crop age
• Inhibiting or enriching factors.

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On the other hand, it also presents physical requirements such as:

• Oxygen: Strict aerobes, microaerophiles, strict anaerobes, facultative aerobes, aerotolerant anaerobes.
• Temperature:
  -Psychrophilic: Bacteria grow between 0 and 20°C
  -Mesophilic: bacteria grow between 20.1 and 40ºC
  -Thermophilic: bacteria grow at temperatures above 40.1ºC.
• pH: Acidophilic and basophilic.
• Osmotic pressure: Isotonic, Hypertonic, and Hypotonic.
• Salt requirements: Halophilic.

_{Source - ugr.es}

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They also continue to have chemical requirements, which can be

• Water
• Energy source: Sunlight (Phototropes), organic substances.
• Source of Carbon: Organic and inorganic substances. The use of these substances allows to classify the bacteria in Autotrophs or Lithotrophs (They use water, inorganic salts, and CO2); Heterotrophs or Organotrophs (They require organic forms of carbon for their growth, for example, glucose)
• Inorganic Ions: Such as sodium, sulfur, phosphorus, represent constituents of biological compounds. Potassium is necessary for the manufacture of enzymes. Magnesium stabilizes ribosomes, cell membranes, and nucleic acids.

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Thanks to all this, we can have a clinical application, which tries to check the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of an anti-microbial. Taking into account the clinical and epidemiological situation of the patient to be treated, we can determine the appropriate medication to treat the infection. Everything is essential in medicine, even the smallest details give us the appropriate indications to treat a certain microorganism.

I hope this block of knowledge is to your liking, in my case it is rewarding to review these basic concepts and more as we are in the field of quarantine, where we must take advantage of all learning to the maximum.

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Sources

Systems Microbiology. Current Topics and Applications. Cannie Stark.
Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook. Lynne S. Garcia, LSG & Associates.

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