2-1: Prokaryotic Cells and Their Morphologies

Question 1

Difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?

Answer 1

Prok = small
Euk = multiple compartments (organelles)

Question 2

Is it possible for a prokaryote to be bigger than a eukaryote?

Answer 2

Yes! Both cell sizes can vary drastically

Question 3

How large are most bacterial cells

Answer 3

0.5 um to 10 um

Question 4

How does cell size affect the cell

Answer 4

Changes how quickly cells exchange nutrients with their environment (surface area to volume ratio)

Question 5

What size of cell exchanges nutrients more quickly? what does this mean for that cell?

Answer 5

Small cells, and they can grow / reproduce quicker
Less energy to replicate

Question 6

What are the different kinds of cocci bacteria

Answer 6

Staphylococci (clusters)
Diplococci (pairs)
Streptococci (chains)

Question 7

Give an example of diplococci

Answer 7

Nesseria gonorrheoeae (cause of gonorrhea)

Question 8

Give an example of streptococci

Answer 8

Streptococcus pyogenes (cause of strep throat)

Question 9

Give an example of bacilli

Answer 9

Salmonella enterica (cause of food poisoning and typhoid fever)

Question 10

What is Vibrio shaped bacteria

Answer 10

Comma shaped

Question 11

Give an example vibrio bacteria

Answer 11

Vibrio cholera (cause of cholera - causes diarrhea and dehydration)

Question 12

What shape is a spirochete

Answer 12

Long skinny spirals

Question 13

Give an example of a spirochete

Answer 13

Borrelia burgdorferi (causes Lyme disease, transmited by ticks)

Question 14

Give an examply of helical bacteria

Answer 14

Helicobacter pylori

Question 15

Give an example of appendaged/budding bacteria

Answer 15

Caulobacter crescentus (used as a model to study bacterial cell cycle and asymmetric division)

Question 16

Give an example of filamentous bacteria

Answer 16

Chloroflexus aurantiacus (phytosynthetic bacterium that does not produce oygen. Studied to understand the origin of photosynthesis)

Question 17

How does cell shape affect a cell

Answer 17

Nutrient uptake, motility, attachment, interaction with other microbes, formation of biofilms

Question 18

What does monomorphic mean

Answer 18

One shape observed in most pure cultures

Question 19

What does pleomorphic mean

Answer 19

Multiple different morphologies for same bacteria

Question 20

Why would a cell be pleomorphic

Answer 20

Reaction to environment, mutations, differentiation into spores/cell types

Question 21

Give an example of bacteria with multiple different morphologies

Answer 21

Grows as a rod during logarithmic growth
Becomes coccus in stationary phase

Question 22

Name all the different cell morphologies (7)

Answer 22

Cocci, bacilli, vibrio, helical, spirochetes, budding, filamentous