Gardenerella vaginalis: Difference between revisions
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==Pathology== | ==Pathology== | ||
How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms. | How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms. | ||
Some symptoms associated with vaginosis caused by G. vaginalis may include thin, white, yellow, homogeneous discharge with a fishy odor, clue cells on microscopy, pH of vaginal fluid greater than 4.5 (ph imbalance)(5). | |||
==Application to Biotechnology== | ==Application to Biotechnology== | ||
Revision as of 05:38, 28 August 2007
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Gardenerella vaginalis
Classification
Higher order taxa
Bacteria; Actinobacteria; Actinobacteridae; Bifidobacteriales; Bifidobacteriaceae; Gardnerella
Species
Gardnerella vaginalis
Description and significance
Describe the appearance, habitat, etc. of the organism, and why it is important enough to have its genome sequenced. Describe how and where it was isolated. Include a picture or two (with sources) if you can find them.
Gardnerella vaginalis, the only species of its genus and formerly known as Haemophilus vaginalis and Corynebacterium vaginale, is a facultative anaerobic, nonmotile, pleomorphic gram-negative to gram-variable rod. It is a well-recognized colonizer of the female genital tract and survives high pH(2). It also survives poorly in human urine at 37 degrees C (3).
Genome structure
Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence? Does it have any plasmids? Are they important to the organism's lifestyle?
Cell structure and metabolism
Describe any interesting features and/or cell structures; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.
Gardnerella vaginalis is a gram-variable microbe, and therefore displays both, gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria characteristics. When analyzing a culture, it may appear gram positive during the exponential growth phase but gram negative as it ages because the peptidoglycan layer becomes too thin to retain the crystal-violet iodine aggregates(5). These organisms are surrounded by a exopolysaccharide layer and pili that aid in adhering to the epithelial cells of the vagina. The cell wall is comprised of straight chain saturated and unsaturated non-hydroxylated fatty acids with hexadecanoic acid and octadecenoic acid along with major amounts of alanine, glycine, glutamic acid and lysine(4). G. vaginalis has a very complex metabolism. Gardnerella vaginalis are facultative anaerobes, which means that they can metabolism glucose (and other simple sugars) in under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Under the aerobic metabolism of glucose, G. vaginalis forms lactic acid and acetic acid. However, under anaerobic conditions, the metabolism of glucose yields only lactic acid.
Ecology
Describe any interactions with other organisms (included eukaryotes), contributions to the environment, effect on environment, etc.
Pathology
How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.
Some symptoms associated with vaginosis caused by G. vaginalis may include thin, white, yellow, homogeneous discharge with a fishy odor, clue cells on microscopy, pH of vaginal fluid greater than 4.5 (ph imbalance)(5).
Application to Biotechnology
Does this organism produce any useful compounds or enzymes? What are they and how are they used?
Current Research
Enter summaries of the most recent research here--at least three required
References
Edited by student of Rachel Larsen
1. Joe Bischoff, Mikhail Domrachev, Scott Federhen, Carol Hotton, Detlef Leipe, Vladimir Soussov, Richard Sternberg, Sean Turner. "Gardnerella Vaginalis" <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=2702>
2. S M Smith, T Ogbara, and R H Eng. "Involvement of Gardnerella vaginalis in urinary tract infections in men." J Clin Microbiol Volume 30. p. 1575–1577. <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=265332>
