Assignment:
An important characteristic of a medical professional is to make sense of information and then continue to ask questions to collect additional information.
You will practice this as you respond to question. For each of the following, answer the question and then describe what additional questions you might be able to investigate to gain additional information that might enhance your understanding.
What is its genetic composition?
What process was used to identify the genetic composition?
How has this information been used to identify treatments?
Prompt 1:
Streptococcus pyogenes is a mature biofilm, known to consist of proteins, DNA, and a polysaccharide containing material known as glycocalyx.
Throat cultures have been developed to optimize the identification of Streptococcus pyogenes. Performed cultured throat swabs on a 5% blood agar with trypticase soy base incubated in air remains the gold standard and reference method for the diagnosis of Streptococcus pyogenes acute pharyngitis (Hirose, 2020). The PYR test is a rapid colorimetric method often used to distinguish Streptococcus pyogenes from other β-hemolytic streptococci with a similar morphology and tests for the presence of the enzyme pyrrolidonyl aminopeptidase. This enzyme hydrolyzes L-pyrrolidonyl-β-naphthylamide (PYR) to β-naphthylamide, which produces a red color when a cinnamaldehyde reagent is added. The test can be performed on paper strips that contain dried chromogenic substrates for the pyrrolidonyl aminopeptidase within a few minutes (Young, 2016).
The direct identification of Streptococcus pyogenes from blood culture bottles enables the determination of a suitable antibiotic treatment. The majority of Streptococcus pyogenes isolates encountered in the clinical laboratory, serologic tests, in conjunction with presumptive physiologic tests offer an acceptable and cost-effective alternative available identification systems.
Prompt 2:
The parasite that I've covered in the past is Giardia lamblia. It is a unicellular eukaryote with two diploid nuclei, a strong cytoskeleton and multiple flagella but has no mitochondria or peroxisomes. It is one of the most common causes of diarrhea around the world and is generally transported through infected bodies of water. The most likely processes used to identify the genetic composition of Giardia lamblia is polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which produces a large amount of DNA from a small sample present in a target organism. PCR uses synthetic DNA fragments that attaches to complementary parts of the target DNA and is then followed by many rounds of DNA synthesis to produce much more for analysis. The medication used to treat Giardiasis is Metronidazole of which the mechanism of action involves the inhibition of protein synthesis by interacting with the DNA and causing production of radicals that damage the parasite itself. Despite the observations made by pharmaceuticals of how this medication works, it should be noted that the exact mechanism of action is still unknown.