The Control Of Microbial Growth - amazonia.fiocruz.br

Introduction to Controlling Microbial Growth

Common control methods include the application of high temperatures, radiation, filtration, and desiccation dryingamong others. Many of these methods nonspecifically kill cells by disrupting membranes, Contrll membrane permeability, or damaging proteins and nucleic acids by denaturation, degradation, or chemical modification. The discovery of the natural antibiotic, penicillin, by Alexander Fleming in started the modern age of antimicrobial discovery and research.

There are a variety of broad-spectrum, bacterial protein synthesis inhibitors that selectively target the prokaryotic 70S ribosome, including those that bind to the 30S and 50S subunits. Similarly, it is hard to target viruses because human viruses replicate inside of human cells.

Drug resistance genes are often carried on plasmids or in transposons that can undergo vertical transfer easily and between microbes through horizontal gene transfer. Thumbnail: Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae bacteria, which infect the digestive system. Public Domain; T. Kirn, M. Lafferty, C. P Sandoe and R.]