Cellular Structure and Pathogenicity

422 Words2 Pages
Cellular Structure and Pathogenicity Student’s name: Institution: Instructor: Subject: Cellular structure and Pathogenicity A pathogen is a micro organism that is capable of causing ailment to insect, animal or plant (Staskawicz etal, 1987). The ability of the pathogen to create and disease that affects living thing is called pathogenicity. The pathogenicity of pathogen is majorly related to the cellular structure of bacteria. The cellular structure is the key determinant on the adaptation which the bacteria take in order to survive in the host living thing. Basically, there are three major forms of shape that the cells of bacterial can take form in. This is either spiral, rod shaped or round (Staskawicz etal, 1987). Bacteria that are rod shaped are known as bacilli. The round bacteria are commonly known as cocci. The shape of the bacteria is one of the major factors that determine the mechanism through which the pathogenic bacteria are able to spread diseases. Cocci bacteria can either take the form of staphylococci, clostridium tetani or corynebacterium diphtheria, all of which are highly infectious (Heritage, 2006). The shape has the adaptation to spread diseases to the host living thing yet protect the bacteria from attack by the environment in which it is in. Furthermore, the structure contributes to the ability of the bacteria to spread from one living thing to another (Staskawicz etal, 1987). Cocci bacteria exchange the genetic material to the DNA of the host cells therefore causing ailments (Heritage, 2006). In this case, the pathogen first attaches itself through infection to the host living thing, then penetrates to the cells and again attaches to the host cells. Some species of the cocci bacteria have the capability to generate very resistive structure called endospores (Heritage, 2006). This resistive

More about Cellular Structure and Pathogenicity

Open Document