Clostridium tetani: Difference between revisions
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==Pathology== | ==Pathology== | ||
''Clostridium tetani'' spores enter body tissue through wounds, settling in dead cells that lack oxygen. Initially unnoticed, the spores are then able to germinate and spread long before diagnosis and pursuit of treatment. | |||
Tetanus has been known to take up to 10 years before manifestations occur. | |||
==Application to Biotechnology== | ==Application to Biotechnology== | ||
Revision as of 23:40, 18 April 2009
Description and Significance
Clostridium tetani is a rod-shaped, anaerobic, and endospore-forming bacterium that is responsible for the tetanus disease affecting an estimated 350,000 people a year worldwide [1]. Single rods have terminal spherical endospores creating a "clubbed appearence" [2]. This bacterium is gram-positive, a characteristic shared by the other related species belonging to the Clostridium genus. The peptoidoglycan structure of the bacteria's cell wall allow it to retain the violet crystals in a gram stain. The resulting appearence under a microscope is often described as resembling a tennis racket or a collection of drumsticks. The organism is an obligate anaerobe found in soil and most often in animal feces.
Genome Structure
Cell Structure and Metabolism
Ecology
Pathology
Clostridium tetani spores enter body tissue through wounds, settling in dead cells that lack oxygen. Initially unnoticed, the spores are then able to germinate and spread long before diagnosis and pursuit of treatment. Tetanus has been known to take up to 10 years before manifestations occur.