How Do You Explain to Your Friend Why Tetracycline Treated

Multiple Choice

How do you explain to your friend why tetracycline treated her infection but penicillin did not?

A) Mycoplasma pneumoniae has no lipopolysaccharide so is not impacted by penicillin, an inhibitor of phospholipid synthesis. However, the organism carries out protein synthesis, so is affected by tetracycline, which interferes with this process.
B) Mycoplasma pneumoniae has no proteins so is not impacted by penicillin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis. However, the organism carries out peptidoglycan synthesis, so is affected by tetracycline, which interferes with this process.
C) Mycoplasma pneumoniae has no cell wall so is not impacted by penicillin, an inhibitor of peptidoglycan synthesis. However, the organism carries out protein synthesis, so is affected by tetracycline, which interferes with this process.
D) Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a Gram-positive cell, so has a peptidoglycan layer too thick to be impacted by penicillin. It can only be treated with tetracycline, which is a much stronger antibiotic.
E) Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an RNA virus so is not impacted by penicillin, an inhibitor of DNA synthesis. However, tetracycline which interferes with DNA replication, so destroys this infectious agent.