Malcolm Stebbins <[email protected]> wrote:
> Check this out:
> Cell Wall Deficient Forms: Stealth Pathogens / Lida H. Mattman.
> 3rd ed. CRC Press 2001
> In brief, there is no question; they exist. They have been
> microphotographed, copiously; cultured, put through their paces so
> to speak, survived the rigors of the Koch test with flying colors,
> if no cell walls. The existence of hype doesn't preclude their
> reality, it just confuses the issue if you don't happen to have
> the spare time to pursue a full-on career in research
> microbiology. Neither do I, just lucky to hit some good references
> and order some good books.
> Take care, Malcolm
The title is a bit misleading. Any life form has to has some sort of
barrier to keep its insides from floating away. The term "Stealth
Pathogens" is just a marketing gimmick to get you to buy the book
and find out what she is talking about. I tend to skip authors who
use these tricks.
There is nothing unusual about life forms that lack a true cell
wall. Instead, they have a membrane to keep everything in.
Mycoplasma is one example. Here's a partial description. The actual
article is much longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Background: Mycoplasmal organisms are the smallest known free-living
life forms. They are nearly ubiquitous in both the plant and animal
kingdoms as colonizers and pathogens. They are prokaryotes but lack
a cell wall; however, they have a unique cell membrane that contains
sterols, which are not present in either bacteria or viruses.
Mycoplasma organisms are small (150-250 nm) and have deformable
membranes. The name Mycoplasma refers to the plasticity of the
bacterial forms resembling fungal elements.
When they were first discovered, mycoplasmal organisms were believed
to be viruses because they pass through filters that retain
bacteria. However, unlike viruses, they are able to grow in
cell-free media and contain both ribonucleic acid (RNA) and
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Mycoplasma species have also been
mistakenly believed to be L-forms of bacteria, which also lack cell
walls. Unlike mycoplasmal organisms, L-form bacteria do not have
sterols in the cell membranes, and they can revert to their walled
parental forms. The following summary is modified from Baum's
"Introduction to Mycoplasma Diseases" in Principles and Practice of
Infectious Diseases (2000) (see Image 1).
The general characteristics of Mycoplasma species include the
following:
Prokaryotic
Size of 150-250 nm
Lack of a cell wall
Sterol-containing cell membrane
Fastidious growth requirements
Fried-egg or mulberry colonies on agar
Mycoplasma species differ from viruses in the following ways:
They grow on cell-free media in vitro
They contain both RNA and DNA
They have both intracellular and extracellular parasitism in vivo
Mycoplasma species differ from bacteria (including L-forms) in the
following ways:
They have sterols in the cell membrane
They share no DNA homology with known bacteria
They have low guanine levels plus cytosine content
Their genome has a low molecular weight
They exhibit no reversion to walled forms
Pathophysiology: Mycoplasma organisms cause infection primarily as
extracellular parasites, attaching to the surface of ciliated and
nonciliated epithelial cells. The attachment site, or receptor, is a
complex carbohydrate structurally akin to antigen I of red blood
cells. The antibody response to this receptor results in production
of the anti-I antibody or cold agglutinin, which acts as an
autoantibody. Following attachment, mycoplasmal organisms may cause
direct cytotoxic damage to epithelial cells because of hydrogen
peroxide generation or cytolysis via an inflammatory response
mediated by mononuclear cells or antigen-antibody reactions.
Systemic spread of the bacterium is rare. Most Mycoplasma
pneumoniae-associated illnesses are confined to the respiratory
tract (see Extrarespiratory manifestations for M pneumoniae
infection). Genital mycoplasmal organisms are associated with a
number of genitourinary tract and reproductive diseases but also can
cause infections at other sites.
Mycoplasmal organisms commonly contaminate tissue cultures, in which
they act as intracellular parasites and alter both cellular and
viral molecular events. They are difficult to eliminate, and they
raise questions regarding the validity of molecular biology results
from tissue-culture experiments.
http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1524.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note the last paragraph about contamination. This is suspected in
tests done on so-called nanobacteria.
Regards,
Mike Monett
Antiviral Antibacterial Silver Solution:
http://silversol.freewebpage.org/index.htm
SPICE Analysis of Crystal Oscillators:
http://silversol.freewebpage.org/spice/xtal/clapp.htm
Noise-Rejecting Wideband Sampler:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/add.automation/sampler/intro.htm
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