BIOG 1106 - Unit 4 Slides / slide 13

Slide 13.

False color TEM of the bacterium Clostridium tetani, a gram positive, spore forming, anaerobic bacillus that causes tetanus. Members of the clostridium genus exist as soil saprophytes and as intestinal parasite of animals, giving rise to serious human diseases, including botulism, gas gangrene and severe intestinal infections, in addition to tetanus. Incidence of tetanus is common in societies where bare footed humans live in close association with cattle and other domesticated animals, although the disease may result form trivial wounds to the skin. Credit: Alfred Pasieka / Photo Researchers, Inc.

Color enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that cause serious food poisoning. C. botulinum grows in poorly preserved canned foods, notably meat & fish, & produces the potent exotoxin that causes botulism poisoning. Individuals are poisoned when they eat food in which the bacteria have secreted the exotoxin. The toxin affects the central nervous system. In fatal cases, death results from heart & lung failure due to malfunctions in the cardiac & respiratory centers of the brain. Credit: Dr. Gary Gaugler / Photo Researchers, Inc.