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The following graph shows the trends in bacteria and viruses after they infect an organism.
Part A:
Explain how reproductive differences between these two pathogens attribute to the differences shown in the graph. Identify whether viruses are organisms and describe how this graph supports your claim.
Part B:
Most antibiotics target the cell wall of a pathogen. Use the graph to explain why antibiotics can be ineffective against some pathogens.
Bot GPT 3.5
answered
Part A:
Bacteria are single-celled organisms that reproduce independently by binary fission, which means they divide into two identical cells. This rapid reproduction rate allows bacteria to quickly increase in numbers within the host organism, leading to a more gradual increase in the number of bacteria over time, as shown in the graph.
Viruses, on the other hand, are not organisms as they lack the ability to reproduce on their own. Instead, they rely on infecting host cells and hijacking their cellular machinery to replicate. This process is much slower than the reproduction of bacteria through binary fission. As a result, the number of viruses within the host organism builds up at a slower rate compared to bacteria, as shown in the graph.
The graph supports the claim that viruses are not organisms because it shows a gradual increase in the number of viruses over time, indicating that they do not reproduce independently like bacteria.
Part B:
Antibiotics target the cell wall of bacteria, which is a crucial component for their survival. By disrupting the cell wall, antibiotics can effectively kill bacteria or inhibit their growth. However, viruses do not have a cell wall as they are not organisms, so antibiotics that target bacterial cell walls would be ineffective against viruses.
In the graph, the slow increase in the number of viruses over time indicates that they do not have the same vulnerability to antibiotics as bacteria do. This highlights the limited effectiveness of antibiotics against viral infections, as they are not designed to target viruses lacking a cell wall. This is why antibiotics are not typically used to treat viral infections.