Eukayote Infection: Naegleria Fowleri

When attempting to colonise mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract, N. meningitidis must use adhesins such as pili and opacity proteins to interact with host cells and adhere to tissue.

Rickettsia rickettsii is the small, aerobic gram-negative bacterium that is the cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever in humans (and other vertebrates). They are obligate, intracellular bacteria that range in size form 0.2x0.5 µm to 0.3x2.0µm. Rickettsia belong to the phylum alpha-protobacteria, which are capable of growing in low levels of nutrients, and have a long generation time relative to other gram negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. In humans rickettsiae preferentially reside in the nucleus or cytoplasm of cells lining small to medium size blood vessels.

The girl was 16 years old and got it from swimming in a warm lake in Florida. After getting the amoeba, she died six days later. I was immediately intrigued by this amoeba. The nick name for Neagleria fowleri is the Brain-eating amoeba, because once it enters the brain through an individual’s nose, it causes PAM and causes the person to go brain dead in 4-10 days. The amoeba thrives off warmth, so that means they are found in warm water. These bodies of water include: lakes, ponds and rivers, hot springs or other geothermal water, swimming pools that are not properly cleaned, thermally polluted waters; Tap water, and also moist soil and mud puddles. N.fowleri targets healthy individuals, usually kids from age 2-18. The brain is a perfect source of nutrition’s for an amoeba if the person is

The most ideal habitat for P. Polycephalum is a moist and shady region but not only is it suitable for P. Polycephalum but its also suitable for bacteria, archea and protists that it feeds on (Jabr, 2012). When it engulfs its food, it grows with the help of Phagocytosis and then it becomes a mass of multinucleate protoplasm, which then has a bright yellow color,

The CDC has only seen thirty-two cases of Naegleria Fowleri, also known as the brain eating amoeba, in the United States within the past ten years. Twenty-nine of these cases were fatal. The effects of this disease are apparent on the human body, and the survival ratings are notably low. One of the reasons it is so difficult to find a cure is the complex life cycle of the amoeba. Doctors are hoping to find a treatment for the amoeba and raise awareness to the general populace. (healthmap.org) 100

turicata. The data from this dissertation showed the intricate direct and indirect interactions among the members of O. turicata community and their environment. However, O. turicata can play two roles (i.e., vector and reservoir) in the natural history of vector-borne disease due to their long generation time, endurance over starvation and ability to transovarially transmit pathogens (Davis 1941, Dworkin et al. 2002, Dworkin et al. 2008, Cutler 2010). Therefore, O. turicata as an individual can be viewed as a platform in which a microbiome community can establish their unique structure. Future research with the objective to study microbiome community within O. turicata in the context of direct and indirect interactions among the members of O turicata community found in cave environments can provide comprehensive life history of vector-borne

The aim of this experiment was to find bacteria within the soil that produce antibiotics that are effective against the ESKAPE pathogens. We found that the CFU/g of the bacteria cultured were largest when they were found close to or directly within the soil of plants likely due to the nutrients they provide. Of the thirty-three bacteria found to produce antibiotics, sixteen were found to be effective against gram positive bacteria, fifteen were found to be effective against gram negative bacteria and one was found to be effective against both. Using gel electrophoresis, we identified that the 16s rRNA gene that was enhanced through PCR was about 1400 base pairs long. Furthermore, through gram staining, we identified that sixteen of the antibiotic

Included in the kingdom Protista, the amoeba Naegleria fowleri has proven to be pathogenic when entering the brain through the nasal cavity. Out of the numerous species of Naegleria, only the single-celled fowleri is of vital concern to human health. This free-living ameboflagellate can be discovered in one of three stages depending on its surroundings (Fero 2010). The protozoan’s life cycle consists of a cystic phase which is resistant, a dormant biflagellate phase, and the dangerous trophozoite phase. This species duplicates by binary fission in the trophozoite stage which is the only proven form when N. fowleri is infectious, visibly granulated and has one nucleus (“General Information. Parasites,” 2017).

Kuru is an infectious disease that attacks the central and peripheral nervous system. The pathogen itself is a prion protein, which is found commonly throughout the body and is usually anchored to the cell membrane of cells, with the highest concentration in the nervous system. These proteins are made from amino acids and are coiled into certain structures depending on their job. These harmless proteins only become a problem when they change their structure, whether by infection or mutation, and they become the template to other new prions and cause present prions to restructure themselves into the abnormal.

List of nematode strains. Strain N2 Bristol was used as wildtype for all experiments (originally developed by Brenner, S., 1974; provided for present use by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC). The following strains were also provided by CGC: CX51[dyn-1(ky51)], AM141[rmIs133[Punc-54::Q40::yfp]], and SJ4005[zcIs4[hsp-4::gfp]]. The following strains were generated in the Caldwell Laboratory at The University of Alabama: AM141[rmIs133[Punc-54::Q40::yfp]];CX51[dyn-1(ky51)] and SJ4005[zcIs4[hsp-4::gfp]]; CX51[dyn-1(ky51)]. The methods used to generate novel strains are detailed in below sections of this report.

Before I read Medea I was expecting it to be more like An Epic Poem which I’m absolutely a fan of. Honestly it was a bit of a led down when I found out that Medea was actually a Greek Tragedy. Regardless, I Love everything that deals with Ancient times, Greece, especially its mythology. As I was reading Medea a common misconception that I had was cleared by the way Jason treated Medea. I knew that in ancient times women were basically their husband’s property

Naegleria Fowleri is a disease that deals with free living ameba also known as a brain eating amoeba. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis is a disease of the central nervous system which is a fatal infection that is caused by Naegleria fowleri. You cannot get infected by drinking contaminated water with Naegleria Fowleri. The only way that you can harm yourself and get infected with Naegleria if it goes up your nose. Its different types of things you should know about Naegleria Fowleri dealing with the role of the environment, harm it does, how to get rid of it, and also the treatment and cure. The role of the environment of Naegleria Fowler has been found in normally natural environments and the environments are adapted for others to survive in various

For a full round of treatment the drug costs up to forty-eight thousand dollars. Another case in North Carolina was also not as fortunate as Sebastian’s, when an eighteen year old Ohio woman was killed by the infection. In mid-June, when water was at a warmer temperature, the girl had been raftering in Charlotte. The rafting center was closed between late June and August when the amoeba was found in the water. “Dr. Jennifer Cope, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the CDC, said 11 out of 11 tests for the amoeba were positive at the rafting center, which does sound alarming” (Aboraya, Tomsic). This case sent fear into the community of Charlotte making the community worry for their own safety. “Whitewater Center CEO Wise says roughly 1.5 million people have rafted there over the past decade, and this is the first health issue it has had tied to what's in the water” (Aboraya, Tomsic). Even though a case of infection caused by the amoeba has never appeared before the community took the incident very seriously and the rafting center decided the best route to reducing the chance of another fatal infection they would begin chlorinating the water used for rafting. These real life events that took place provide a very real feeling towards the

Naegleria Fowleri is a deadly brain eating amoeba. This parasite is infecting people that are swimming in fresh waters, as most people do during periods of warm weather. While the parasite is rare, as climate change continues and creates more risks for us, the parasite could do a lot more damage. The disease is spreading north, which it has never done before, because of all of the heat and warm waters that wasn’t in that climate previously. The planet is getting warmer and diseases are spreading because of it, which means we need to take action before mosquito and tick borne diseases, as well as parasites, start to spread

Because of their nature, reproductive parasites are very common. The most commonly known species is alpha proteobacteria, Wolbachia. However, there are several endosymbionts of arthropods such as, Cardinium, Rickttesia, Spiroplasma, Flavobacteria and Arsenophonus, that also have evolved such a selfish evolutionary strategy consisting of manipulating their host reproduction as demonstrated on table 1 below. From this perspective we can assume that Wolbachia is the most successful endosymbionts by its numerous mains of reproductive manipulation mechanisms of their