Cellular Structures and Pathogenicity

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slime layer when the material is unorganized and poorly attached. However, the two play equally important roles. I personally feel that this is the most interesting of the three listed above. The capsule and/or slime layer performs so many functions for the cell.

The slime layer is appropriately named as the slime layer because that is exactly what it does. One of its most important tasks is to be its slimy little self and to protect the whole capsule from drying out. In this scenario I think it's safe to rhyme and say that "if you're dry you die". That one task is so important because if the cell were to dry up there would be no cell or not much of one anyways, it would shrivel up to nothing. The capsule also traps nutrients. Like the vast majority of living things on our planet we all need nutrients to grow.

The slime layer also resists phagocytic engulfment. If a pathogen were to attempt to breach the hosts surface defense team it would have to surpass the hosts ...

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