Mycobacterium leprae

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Classification

Higher order taxa

Bacteria Phylum: actinobacteria Order:actinomycetales family: mycobacteriaceae [Others may be used. Use Tree of Life link to find]

Species

Mycobacterium M. leprae

Description and significance

This bacteria causes the disease leprosy. It lives in the soil.

Genome structure

Mycobactrium M.leprae has about 3,268,203 base pairs. Alot of those bases pairs do not code for proteins, they do not have active readind frames.

Cell structure and metabolism

The cell is rode shaped , gram positive and due to the lost of some of their metabolic capabilities they are parasites. So they depend on their of most of their metabolic fnctions and nutritional needs.

Ecology

This bacteria lives is found in the soil. The nine-banded armadilo are a resevoir of this bacteria.

Pathology

The transmission of this disease is not fully understood yet , but it's likely to spread through the air from coughing and sneezing.It attacks the nervous system and skin lesios are formed on the patient in the early stage. It leads to paralysis and loss of extremeties. One its virulence factor is the formation of mycolic acid that formed the waxy exterior coating that is unique to Mycobacteria.

Current Research

Enter summaries of the most recent research here--at least three required Recent are being done on strains of rifampin-resistant M. leprae in two of three patients with recurring leprosy

References

[Sample reference] [Irgens L (2002). "The discovery of the leprosy bacillus". Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 122 (7): 708-9. PMID 11998735] [Cole ST, Eiglmeier K, Parkhill J, et al (2001). "Massive gene decay in the leprosy bacillus". Nature 409 (6823): 1007-11. doi:10.1038/35059006. PMID 11234002.] [Hernández E, Cardona-Castro N, Rodríguez G, Villegas S, Beltrán C, Kimura M, Vissa VD, Gómez Y. "Study of rifampin and dapsone resistance in three patients with recurring leprosy".Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2008 Feb;23(2):73-7.]