HSS 1100 Lecture 1: Lecture 1 - General Principles & Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: HSS 1100
• Professor: Franco Pagotto

Document Summary

There are microorganisms almost everywhere in the environment and in association with higher animals and plants. The different classes of organisms generally regarded as microorganisms and vary widely in their sizes, levels of complexity as well as abilities to grow in different growth conditions. Viruses consist of nucleic acids and, in some cases, a protein shell known as a capsid. Viruses enter cells and divert the synthetic processes of those cells towards their own replication. In some cases this high jacking can kill (or not) the host cell. Other bacteria such as chlamydia are more complex than viruses but still only multiply in living cells. Within the cells they have a recognizable morphology and life cycle. Bacteria are prokaryotes, have a rigid cell wall with cytoplasm and their genetic material organized into a circular chromosome. Mycoplasmas are similar to bacteria but do not have the rigid cell wall, and are consequently more delicate.