http://www.brighton.ac.uk/pharmacy/staff/savinairina/6days_fibroblasts.jpg
β PROTEOBACTERIA
By: Michael Foster and Heather Gula
 Mostly chemoautotrophic bacteria
 Can be aerobic or facultative
anaerobes
 Some chemolithotrophs,
chemoorganotrophs, and photoautotrophs
 Cell forms variable
 Rods, cocci, spiral, and filaments
 Highly versatile in their degradation
capacities
 Some play important role in nitrogen
fixation in plants
 Energy provided by small inorganic
compounds which is converted to
necessary organic compounds
 Motile and Non Motile forms (presence
and absence of flagella)
 Often found in waste water and soil
 Gram Negative
http://www.mpi-bremen.de/Binaries/Binary11732/T11-1_(4)_(DAPI%252BFITC).JPG
β Proteobacteria Characteristics
Classification of β Proteobacteria
distinguished by:
 Cell shape
 Presence or absence
of flagella
 Metabolic
requirements
 Environment
commonly found in
http://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/bsci424/BSCI223WebSiteFiles/BetaProteobacteria.gif
 Often classified and
Order: Burkholderiales

phenotype
 metabolism

environment
 Typically aerobes or facultative
anaerobes
 Normally are motile with a single
polar flagellum or tuft of flagella
 Some are chemoorganotrophs or
chemolithotrophs
 Order containing pathogenic
bacteria genuses Burkholderia and
Bordetella
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Burkholderia_pseudomall
ei_01.jpg/240px-Burkholderia_pseudomallei_01.jpg
 Very diverse:
 Mostly motile
 Often obligate aerobes
 Typically rod shaped
 Both human and plant
pathogens
 Can be environmentally
important
 Commonly found in soil and
groundwater worldwide
http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/images/thumb/c/c4/Burkholderia.jpg/450pxBurkholderia.jpg
Burkholderia

Causes common infection known as Glanders

Coccobacillus

Aerobic and non-motile

Little known about the virulence factors of this organism

Primarily a disease affecting horses
 Also affects donkeys, mules, and other mammals such as
goats, dogs, and cats.

No naturally acquired cases of this disease have occurred in the
U.S. in over 60 years

Potential agent for biological warfare and of biological
terrorism

Transmitted to humans through contact with tissues or body
fluids of infected animals.

Enter the body through cuts or abrasions in the skin, through
mucosal surfaces such as the eyes and nose.

May be inhaled via infected aerosols or dust contaminated by
infected animals
http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/download_wm_image.html/B220423Coloured_TEM_of_Coxiella_burnetti-SPL.jpg%3Fid%3D662200423
Burkholderia mallei and Glanders
Burkholderia mallei and Glanders (cont.)


Types of Glanders infection:

Localized pus-forming cutaneous
infections

Pulmonary infections

Bloodstream infections

Chronic suppurative infections.
Generalized symptoms:

fever with chills and sweating, muscle aches

chest pain

muscle tightness and headache

mucopurulent nasal discharge and light
sensitivity with excessive tearing of the eyes
 Diagnosed by isolating B. mallei from
blood, sputum, urine, or skin lesions
Glanders Treatment
 No vaccine available
there is limited use of antibiotics to
treat the infection
 Main treatment is the sulfa-based
drug called sulfadiazine.

inhibitor of the bacterial enzyme
dihydropteroate synthetase
 Burkholderia mallei is sometimes
sensitive to tetracyclines,
ciprofloxacin, streptomycin,
novobiocin, gentamicin, imipenem,
ceftrazidime, and other
sulfonamides.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSYQ2bwjB6gEH
F-8QuazQIiSpSjsCgI959WkPCaoMCR7SykCLiM
 Because Glanders is rare in humans,
Burkholderia pseudomallei







polar flagellum
Aerobic and non-spore forming.
Found in contaminated water, soil,
and market produce.
Potential agent for biological
warfare
Accidental pathogen
Spread through direct contact
with contaminated source
Invades cells, polymerises actin,
and is to spread from cell to cell,
causing cell fusion and the
formation of multinucleate giant
cells
Causitive agent of melioidosis
http://cns.miis.edu/cbw/images/burkholderia_mallei.jpg
 Rod shaped and motile with a
Melioidosis
 Observed in humans and animals located in tropical climates.
 Usually acquired by inhaling contaminated dust, ingestion of contaminated
water, contact with contaminated soil especially through skin abrasions.
 Person to person transmission is rare

localized infection

acute pulmonary infection

acute bloodstream infection

disseminated infection
http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v4/n4/images/nrmicro1385-f1.jpg
 Categorized as :

The incubation period of the infection is not clearly defined
 Could be between a day and a year

Symptoms appear two to four weeks after exposure.

Symptoms include:
 Fever
 Headache
 Muscle soreness
 Abdominal pain

Diagnosed by isolating B. pseudomallei from the blood, urine, sputum, skin lesions, or
from organ abscesses.

Can be treated with many antibiotics but the one of choice is ceftazidime
 inhibits cell wall synthesis
http://www.ldptorlan.com:18081/magnoliaPublic/productos/content
ParagraphProductos/05/imagen_en/imglplFotoCeftazidimeP.jpg
Melioidosis (cont)
 Non-motile
 Non-spore forming
 Strict aerobes
 Rod-shaped
 Fastidious- requires many nutrients
 Both human and animal pathogen
 B. pertussi- strict human pathogen
 B. bronchiseptica- animal pathogen
 B. avium- bird pathogen
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/0/08/
20090330222759!Bordetella_bronchiseptica_01.jpg
Bordetella

Causes Pertussis (“whooping cough”)







Highly contagious respiratory disease
Coccoid
Encapsulated and immotile aerobe
Produces several virulence factors
Cannot survive in the environment
Humans are its only host
Resides in upper air pathways


Trachea
Bronchi
http://sau53.org/dcs/classes/8grade/cemetery/hill/diagram.jpg
Bordetella pertussis and Whooping Cough
Is transmitted directly from person to person through droplets of respiratory secretions that are
either coughed or sneezed into the air by an infected person
 Symptoms:






Low-grade fever
Mild cough
Sneezing
Runny nose
Has been used in medicine to develop a vaccine in order to combat the deadly childhood
disease
Bordetella pertussis and Whooping Cough
(cont.)
 Prevention:
 A whole-cell vaccine
 Vaccine uses whole dead B. pertussis cells
 Treatment:
 Antibiotics, usually erythromycin or erythromycin-
like antibiotics
 Erythromycin is taken for 2 weeks
 Inhibits proteins synthesis by binding to the 50s subunit of
the ribosome
 All aerobic
 Complex metabolic requirements
 Variable in form
 Cocci, rods, and spirals
 Grow singular, in pairs, as masses, or as filaments
 Most are mobile when in contact with surfaces
 Generally no flagellum
http://www.nature.com/emboj/journal/v21/n4/coverfig.gif
Order: Neisseriales
Neisseria
 Aerobic
 Diplococci that resemble coffee beans
 Non-spore forming
mammals
 Sensitive to desiccation
 Fastidious
http://archive.microbelibrary.org/microbelibrary/files/ccImages/Articleim
ages/Miller/Neisseria%20gonorrheae%20fig1.JPG
 Usually inhabit the mucous membranes of






Causative agent of gonorrhea
Grows in the mucous membranes,
especially the mouth, throat, anus,
and in females in the cervix, fallopian
tubes, and uterus
Affects 650,000 persons per year
Passed through any type of sexual
contact and can spread from mother
to child at birth.
Pathogenic mechanism involves
attachment of the bacterium to nonciliated epithelial cells via pili
(fimbriae) and the production of
lipopolysaccharide endotoxin
Because many penicillin and
tetracycline resistant strains are
present, often treated with a 500mg
single-dose ciprofloxacin and 400mg
of ofloxacin.
 Both of these antibiotics inhibit
DNA replication of bacteria cells
http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/neisseria.html
Neisseria gonorrhoea
Neisseria meningitidis
 Identical in its morphological characteristics to N. gonorrhoeae except it has a







polysaccharide capsule.
Cause of meningococcal meningitis
Tends to colonize the posterior nasopharynx of humans.
 Humans are the only known host
Attach to epithelial cells of the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal mucosa,
cross the mucosal barrier, and enter the bloodstream.
Mildest form of disease is a transient bacteremic illness characterized by a fever
and malaise.
 Symptoms resolve spontaneously in 1 to 2 days
Most serious form is the fulminant form of disease complicated by meningitis
Releases the endotoxin lipooligosaccharide
Primarily treated with penicillin and ceftriaxone IV
 Both antibiotics prevent the synthesis of peptidoglycan, inhibiting cell wall
formation
 There are vaccines available for those between the ages of 2 and 55.
Order: Nitrosomonadales
 Diverse in shape
 Spirals, cocci, rods, stalked cells, and pleiomorphic
cells.
chemoorganotrophs.
 Oxidize ammonium to nitrite.
 Contain the genuses:
 Nitrosomonas
 Spirillium
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thu
mb/9/9f/Spirillen.jpg/220px-Spirillen.jpg
 Can be chemolithotrophs, mixotrophs, and
Spirillium
 Spiral/helical cell shape
 Rigid cell wall
 Aerobic
 Motile due to a conventional polar flagella
 Mainly found in fresh water
 Generally not pathogenic
http://mikroby.blox.pl/resource/spirillum1_srubowiec.jpg
 Relatively large
 Associated with “rat bite fever”
 Cases seen in Asia and Africa
 Rare in the United States
 Not found in clusters or chains
http://www.cksu.com/vb/uploads/5501/1125697230.jpg
Spirillium minus
 Infection caused by transfer of the bacteria through contact with
secretions or urine from the mouth, eye, or nose of an infected animal.
 Usually transferred through a bite from an infected rat but squirrels,
gerbils, and weasels can also carry the disease and transfer the bacteria .
 Symptoms include red or purple rash, muscle aches, chills, fever, and
headache.
 Usually occur 7-21 days after exposure to an infected animal.
 If left untreated heart valves can become infected and absceses can occur in
soft tissue or the brain.
 Treatment for infections is penicillin
 Prevents the synthesis of cross linking peptides, inhibiting cell wall
formation
Refrences
"Betaproteobacteria (Class)." ZipcodeZoo. BayScience Foundation, 2009. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Bacteria/Betaproteobacteria_Class.asp>.
"Bordetella." MicrobeWiki. MediaWiki, 23 July 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Bordetella>.
"Bordetella Pertussis." MicrobeWiki. MediaWiki, 18 Aug. 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Bordetella_pertussis>.
"Burkholderia Mallei." MicrobLog: Microbiology Training | Medical Microbiology, Virology and Infectious Diseases. MicrobLog, 2008. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
<http://microblog.me.uk/46>.
"Burkholderia." MicrobeWiki. MediaWiki, 23 July 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Burkholderia>.
"Burkholderia Pseudomallei." Pathema. The Institute for Genomic Research, 2006. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://pathema.jcvi.org/pathema/b_pseudomallei.shtml>.
"CDC - Glanders (Burkholderia Mallei): General Information - NCZVED." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.gov, 17 May 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/glanders/>.
"Ceftazidime." DrugBank. Genome Alberta and Genome Canada, 13 June 2005. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00438>.
Holt, Jack R., and Jon Niles. Systematic Biology. Jack R. Holt, 2010. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.
<http://comenius.susqu.edu/BI/202/EUBACTERIA/PROTEOBACTERIAE/BETAPROTEOBACTERIA/default.htm>.
"Melioidosis: General Information." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.gov, 18 Apr. 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/melioidosis/>.
"Microbiology: Spirochetes and Spirilla." CliffsNotes. Wiley Publishing, 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Spirochetes-andSpirilla.topicArticleId-8524,articleId-8441.html>.
"Ofloxacin (Otic)." Drugs.com | Prescription Drugs - Information, Interactions & Side Effects. Drugs.com, 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.drugs.com/mmx/ofloxacin.html>.
Ophardt, Charles E. "Other Antibiotics." Virtual Chembook. Elmhurst College, 2003. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/bsci424/BSCI223WebSiteFiles/BetaProteobacteria.gif>.
"Rat-bite Fever: General Information." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.gov, 18 May 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/ratbite_fever/>.
Slonczewski Stancik, Dawn M. "What Is Neisseria Gonorrhoeae and Which Antimicrobial Therapies Have Been Used?" Emerging Quinolone and Antibiotic
Resistance to Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. May 2001. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.
<http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio38/stancikd_02/What_is_Neisseria_gonorrhoeae.html>.
"Spirillum Bacteria Information." Rat Bite Fever Symptoms Details – Rat Bite Fever Treatment. Rat-bitefever.com, 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://ratbitefever.com/spirillum.html>.
"Spirillum." MicrobeWiki. MediaWiki, 6 Aug. 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Spirillum>.
"Sulfadiazine." DrugBank. Genome Alberta and Genome Canada, 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. <http://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00359>.
Todar, Kenneth. "Pathogenic Neisseriae: Gonorrhea and Meningitis." Online Textbook of Bacteriology. Kenneth Todar, 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/neisseria.html>.
Watson, Stephanie. "Whooping Cough: Treatment and Prevention." WebMD Children's Health Center. WebMD, 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
<http://children.webmd.com/features/whooping-cough-what-you-need-to-know>.
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