Microbe definition

The definition of a drug differs between dictionaries and among the various professional specialisms. A search of the internet elicited various definitions and a paraphrase of the most memorable is a compound can be defined as a drug if, when injected into a rodent, it yields a scientific publication . Although this is a memorable definition, for the purposes of this review, however, a drug is defined broadly as a compound that has properties that influence the health of an animal when ingested or administered to that animal. A brief look at current literature will quickly convince the reader that this is a definition which covers man-made and natural compounds that can be extracted from plant material and microbes and iised. ... 

Microbial virulence is often the outcome of the complex interactions that take place as the pathogen establishes itself in the human host. The molecular determinants of pathogenicity include factors that cause damage to the host cell and those that help the microbe establish productive infection for survival [35]. The human host immune response counters the presence of these microbes with its acquired or innate immune response arsenal with outcomes that range from acute to chronic or latent infections. A clear definition of the host and microbial... 

In contrast to many other polymers classified as biodegradable, PVA exhibits a backbone solely made up of carbon. The presence of a heteroatom like O or N in the main chain is definitely not a prerequisite for Nature to handle a polymeric structure that does not exist in nature. PVA degradation starts with random oxidations of the polymer backbone in the extracellular or periplasmic space of some microbes. Specific enzymes able to detect such sites of first attack continue in a hydrolytic way, yielding ever smaller polymer fragments that finally can be metabolised by the microbe or the microbial community. 

Of course, this is too much of a big picture and to define fife at this level may indeed appear impossible. However, one can scientifically tackle this question by looking at life in its simplest expression, namely microbes and other uiucellular organisms. This is a first, important clarification, which also eliminates (at least for most scientists) the notions of soul or consciousness from the picture. In other words, let us talk only about microbial fife, and try to give a definition of cellular life. 

There is no good agreement as to the origin of malo-lactic bacteria in wineries (cf. Ref. 4). Apparently microflora of definite individuality can be established in a winery, presumably in used cooperage. We have discussed (4) several workers suggestions for the origin of these microbes... 

Wolowczuk, I., Roye, O., Nutten, S., Delacre, M., Trottein, F. and Auriault, C. (1999b) Role of interleukin-7 in the relation between Schistosoma mansoni and its definitive vertebrate host. Microbes and Infection 1, 545-551. 

Figure 13.4b emphasizes the finite nature and strong irreversibility of an economic system. The stock of energy and resources will eventually run out and so will the absorptive capacity of the environment for waste. An obvious extension of Figure 13.4b, therefore, is the one represented by Figure 13.4c. Just like in nature, waste has to be recycled. In nature, there is no real waste. Every form of waste is a resource for a living system. This living system is very small and called a microbe. Microbes make sure that all matter recycles in nature. Man needs to assume this humble but valuable and important role of microbes in the economic system and make sure that the material cycles get closed. Therefore, energy (or rather work) is required. But obviously this work should not be supplied from a nonrenewable source, like fossil fuels, but rather from a renewable source like the sun. Figure 13.4c therefore seems to be characteristic for a sustainable economic system and agrees remarkably with the definition of sustainability from biological systems A...

Once an outbreak is strongly suspected, an investigation begins. A search is made for more cases among persons who may have been exposed. The symptoms and time of onset, and location of possible cases is determined, and a "case definition" is developed that describes these typical cases. The outbreak is systematically described by time, place, and person. A graph is drawn of the number of people who fell ill on each successive day to show pictorially when it occuiTcd. A map of where the ill people live, work, or eat may be helpiiil to show where it occurred. Calculating the distribution of cases by age and sex shows who is affected. If the causative microbe is not known, samples of stool or blood are collected from ill people and sent to the public health laboratory to make the diagnosis. 

For some particularly risky foods, even the most careful hygiene and sanitation are insuificient to prevent contamination, and a definitive microbe-killing step must be included in the process. For example, early in the century, large botulism outbreaks occurred when canned foods were cooked... 

Consider the recent paper of Caron et al. (2009) entitled Protists are microbes too a perspective (see also Caron, 2009). What does the title mean For a definition of microbes the authors offer the following ... 

Our brief evaluation of abundance, body size and distribution for microbes and macrobes suggests that dispersal mode (passive vs. active) actually causes observed patterns, rather than simple body size per EiE. Overall, the macrobial and microbial evidence for abundance, body size and distribution do not support the EiE claim because the principles for macrobes are not definitive and because the evidence for microbes is grossly inadequate at this time. 

The breakdown of triacylglycerol is catalysed by lipases. A large number of such enzymes have been purified from animals, plants and microbes (cf. Brockerhoff and Jensen, 1974). It should be noted that the term lipase is frequently misused. A true lipase is one which attacks triacylglycerols and acts only at an oil-water interface. This definition therefore excludes enzymes acting on water-soluble esters (esterases) or those preferentially hydrolysing other lipids (acyl hydrolases). 

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