RT Book, Section A1 Ryan, Kenneth J. SR Print(0) ID 1148673285 T1 Bacteria—Basic Concepts T2 Sherris Medical Microbiology, 7e YR 2017 FD 2017 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259859809 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1148673285 RD 2024/11/14 AB OverviewBacteria are the smallest and most versatile independently living cells. This chapter examines the structural, metabolic, and genetic features that contribute to the ubiquity and diversity of this large group of microorganisms. The discussion which follows focuses on the characteristics of the tiny sliver of the bacterial world which causes disease in humans. The goal is to provide the background and vocabulary fundamental to understanding how bacterial pathogens deploy their structural and metabolic products to confound the immune system and produce injury to the human hosts they invade. These mechanisms will then be explained in the 20 chapters that follow.