1.3 Vocabulary

Question 1

Antibiotics

Answer 1

Molecules, produced usually by bacteria and fungi, that have the ability to suppress the growth of microbes or kill them.

Question 2

Antigen

Answer 2

A structure which can be recognized by the immune system as foreign.

Question 3

Bacilli

Answer 3

Rod-like bacteria.

Question 4

Botulism

Answer 4

Illness that results from toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.

Question 5

Capsule

Answer 5

An external layer made of sugars that surrounds some bacteria.

Question 6

Cell Wall

Answer 6

An external layer surrounding the plasma membrane of most bacteria.

Question 7

Chemotaxis

Answer 7

The targeted movement of an organism towards or away from a stimulus.

Question 8

Cocci

Answer 8

Sphere-shaped bacteria.

Question 9

Colonize

Answer 9

Ability of bacteria to adapt to permanently inhabit our bodies.

Question 10

Enzymes

Answer 10

Proteins produced by living organisms that are used to speed up chemical reactions

Question 11

Gonoccoci

Answer 11

Gram-negative bacteria which cause gonorrhea.

Question 12

Gonorrhea

Answer 12

Sexually transmitted disease caused by gonoccoci, also called Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Question 13

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS)

Answer 13

Large molecules composed of lipids and polysaccharides, critical in the making of the Gram-negative outer membrane.

Question 14

Lipoteichoic Acid (LTA)

Answer 14

A polymer of modified lipids used to strengthen the Gram-positive cell wall.

Question 15

Meningitis

Answer 15

Inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and the spinal cord.

Question 16

Murein (peptidoglycan)

Answer 16

A complex molecule (polymer) made of sugars and amino acids, that is the building block of the bacterial cell wall.

Question 17

Peptides

Answer 17

Small proteins made of a few amino acids.

Question 18

Plasma (cell) Membrane

Answer 18

A membrane that separates the internal cell contents from the outside environment.

Question 19

Pneumonia

Answer 19

Inflammation of the lung caused by microbes.

Question 20

Tetanus

Answer 20

An infection caused by Clostridium tetani characterized by muscle spasms due to toxins produced by the bacteria.

Question 21

Toxins

Answer 21

Molecules (usually proteins) produced by bacteria that are toxic to the host’s cells, and a major reason for the symptoms of an infectious disease.

Question 22

Transport Channels

Answer 22

Protein complexes in the cell membrane used to transport ions and molecules across the membrane.

Question 23

Turgor Pressure

Answer 23

The pressure caused by the plasma membrane on the cell wall as the result of water flowing from a dilute outside environment into more concentrated internal cell content.