A research lab is trying to produce new antibiotics. They come up with drugs that detach the hydrophilic heads from the phospholipids in plasma membranes. This drug

A. would be highly toxic and completely useless for human beings-we also have plasma membranes with hydrophilic head groups!
B. would be highly toxic only to bacteria, making it an excellent drug to develop and test further. Humans have a different phospholipid structure in their cell plasma membranes than bacteria.
C. would generally not be toxic enough to damage Gram-negative bacteria, as their plasma membranes lie under a thick layer of peptidoglycan.
D. would be highly toxic for human beings, but might be useful as a topical antibiotic skin cream. The top layer of skin cells is dead anyway, so it wouldn't matter if this damaged those cells. It could NOT be taken internally, though, by human beings.


D

Biology & Microbiology

You might also like to view...

The name given to double-stranded DNA that is twisted upon itself is ________.

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Biology & Microbiology

Sister chromatids are separated from each other during

a. metaphase I. b. anaphase I. c. telophase II. d. anaphase II. e. metaphase II.

Biology & Microbiology

Phagocytosis involves movement of the cell surface by

a. actin-based motility. b. microtubule-based motility. c. clathrin-based vesicle formation. d. dynamin-based vesicle formation

Biology & Microbiology

Microscopic examination of cerebrospinal fluid reveals gram-positive rods. What is the organism?

A) Haemophilus B) Listeria C) Naegleria D) Neisseria E) Streptococcus

Biology & Microbiology