Vibrio cholerae is the bacterium responsible for cholera, a GI tract infection. Normally, it takes the ingestion of over one million bacterial cells to cause infection, but the consumption of antacids signficantly lowers this number. What does this tell you about the likely classification of V. cholerae in terms of pH preference?

In terms of pH preference, Vibrio cholerae is classified as an alkaliphile.

Explanation:

Every microorganism like bacteria needs a favorable pH (optimum growth pH) for their growth. Based on the pH preference, microbes are classified into three types: neutrophiles, acidophiles, and alkaliphiles.

Generally, most of the bacteria are neutrophiles. Neutrophiles grow best at pH close to 7 (neutral pH). Escherichia coli, salmonella, staphylococci, etc are examples of neutrophiles. Acidophiles grow best at pH less than 5.55 and lactobacillus, sulfolobus, ferroplasma, etc are examples of acidophile bacteria.

Alkaliphiles grow best between a pH of 8 and 10.5. Natronobacterium, Bacillus firmus, etc are examples of alkaliphiles. The consumption of antacids prevents the growth of vibrio cholerae, the pathogenic agent which causes cholera. So, it belongs to the alkaliphiles group, where it grows best at the pH of 8 and can survive the alkaline environment having pH values up to 11.

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