Clostridium tetani: Difference between revisions
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imported>Sheri Seidenfeld |
imported>Sheri Seidenfeld |
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==Description and Significance== | ==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 <ref>http://microbes.historique.net</ref>. Single rods have terminal spherical endospores creating a "clubbed appearence" <ref>http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov</ref>. This bacterium is [[gram stain|gram-positive]], a characteristic shared by the other related species belonging to the ''Clostridium'' genus. | ''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 <ref>http://microbes.historique.net</ref>. Single rods have terminal spherical endospores creating a "clubbed appearence" <ref>http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov</ref>. This bacterium is [[gram stain|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== | ==Genome Structure== | ||
Revision as of 00:29, 19 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.