Question

Name a disease virulence factor that helps microbes to kill or avoid phagocytes and includes examples such as capsules, leukocidins, and the ability to survive inside phagocytes.

Answer 1

Microbes use virulence factors such as capsules, leukocidins, and resistance to phagocytic killing to evade the host's immune system. Examples include the capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae and the mycolic acid coat of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Step-by-step explanation:

Disease virulence factors that help microbes to kill or avoid phagocytes include structures such as capsules, components like leukocidins, and unique abilities such as the capacity to survive inside phagocytes. Capsules provide protection from the immune system by preventing immune cells from adhering and phagocytosing the microbe, and by making the pathogen larger and more difficult to engulf. Streptococcus pneumoniae is an example of a capsule-producing bacterium. Other virulence factors used by bacteria to evade the immune system include M protein, which inhibits phagocytosis by blocking the binding of complement molecules, and mycolic acid, produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which helps it resist killing mechanisms within the phagolysosome.