Assignment:
Review the Articles:
1. Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma, and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Fresh Look by Bryan Larsen1 and Joseph Hwang
2. Open Access Comparative genome analysis of 19 Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum strains
3. Immunological Analysis of Plasma Membranes of a T-Strain of Mycoplasma (Ureaplasma urealyticum) by NINO ROMANO, ROSARIA LA LICATA, AND GIULIANA SCARLATA
Part I: UreaplasmaUrealyticum
On 22nd September 1950, Maurice Shepard first described and recorded the first recognition and observation of Ureaplasma colonies. This took place in Shepard's laboratory based in Durham just five months after visiting Dr. Dienes' laboratory in Boston (Shepard, 1986). The full names of the organism are ureaplasmaurealyticum also abbreviated as U. Urealyticum. In some instances, biologists report the existence of T-strains in their respective experiments to denote UreaplasmaUrealyticum. Being classified under the Mycoplasmataceae family, Ureaplasmaurealyticum is considered a bacterium passed via sexual intercourse. However, the name normally implies a human infectious disease linked with the failures in human reproduction.
Ureaplasmaurealyticum tends to produce very small granular colonies that grow extremely rooted within the agar and in general devoid of surface growths. However, in the latter growth stages, Ureaplasmaurealyticum normally appear at the surface of the agar whereas in colonies considered mature, multi-layered membranes may be seen just beneath the surface of the agar (Razinet al., 1977). This implies, the growth of ureaplasmaurealyticum seems to be very poor on the surface of the agar making various colonies to appear embedded in the agar. The colonies are small and the development of ureaplasmaurealyticum is rapid. This makes the initial growth stage difficult to characterize. The agar and gelatin have various staining affinities that allow the agar embedded growths and surface to be distinguished easily.
On the other hand, the organism tends to appear either in pairs or singly. When the growth conditions are improved, the sizes of the colonies become larger and peripheral zones emerge. The sizes of the colonies tend to decrease whenever the concentration of the agar increases above 2%. Based on the morphogenesis of the colonies and the organism's gross morphology, the classical mycoplasmas resemble ureaplasmaurealyticum. The growth of Ureaplasmaurealyticum is inhibited when the concentration level is 0.10M or higher, which occurs with the addition of sucrose or NaCl (Meloniet al., 1980).
Part II: UreaplasmaUrealitycum Growth
The growth of this microorganism has undergone different media for viability. Basically, the original media for ureaplasma colonies was agar. This occurred in the urethra whenever there was the presence of some mucus lining due to the overreaction of brown manganese (Kenny et al., 1977). It should be noted that there are tiny colonies that appeared first on the overview surrounding the deeply stained Mycoplasma colonies within the urethral tract. Ureaplasmaurealytic organisms, therefore, grew from insignificant sizes in the agar media to larger sizes on the male tract walls according to the test carried out in the laboratory. It is proven that Ureaplasma organism was located deep within the agar surface and as time went by it appeared on the surface of agar media. The condition was pronounced much on NGU patients.
Just like any other growing organism, UreaplasmaUrealytic has to be under specific conditions for its growth. These conditions include low pH [alkaline media of pH 7.8 to 8.0 and acidity of about pH 5.5 to 6.5] and sufficient endowment of a substrate known as urea for hydrolysis to take place (Razinet al., 1986). Ureaplasma colonies needed to be enclosed under a frozen temperature of about -60°C to -70°C for a prolonged while to give them ample time for development.
Part III - Genetics and genomics:
· %G+C, number of ORFs in sequenced genome
· number of chromosomes and plasmids
· phage, transposons that are used for genetic manipulation, complete genome sequenced?
· any significant phage work?
· any other information on the genetic study of your species
Part IV - Ecology and host/pathogen interaction:
· Basic habitat
· Pathogenicity, host, symbiosis, etc
· one example of regulation of gene expression and the environmental circumstances that impact it (if available!)