2.1 Characteristics of Bacteria Flashcards
What are two common examples of spherical bacteria?
Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes
Spherical-shaped cells have a _______ shape. Each one of the spheres is a ________; the plural is _______.
- coccoid
- s -> coccus
- pl -> cocci
A common example of a rod-shaped bacterium is __________ .
Escherichia coli
A rod-shaped organism is sometimes referred to as a ________, or _______ when talking about multiple
- s -> bacillus
- pl -> bacilli
The singular for a comma-shaped cell is _______ and the plural is __________.
- s -> vibrio
- pl -> vibrios
What are the three most common shapes of bacteria?
cocci, rod-shaped, comma-shaped
spiral-shaped bacteria tend to be found in __________ environments
aquatic
T/F: Spiral-shaped bacterial rotate to move forward and backward
True. They move like corkscrews.
organisms which you can’t identify as havinf one definite shape are referred to as ___________, which means ______ ________
- pleiomorphic
- multiple shapes
The five different bacterial shapes are the terms that you’d use to describe bacterial ______________.
morphologies
Staphylococcus aureus has which shape?
rod spiral spherical curved rod pleiomorphic
spherical
Vibrio parahaemolyticus has which shape?
rod spiral spherical curved rod pleiomorphic
curved rod
What is a bacterial cell that is roughly cylindrical; also called a bacillus?
rod pleiomorphic vibrio spiral cocci
rod
Cell shape or morphology is generally not a good predictor of ________, ________, or _________.
- physiology
- ecology
- phylogeny
Which shape allows for gliding motility?
Longer rod shapes or cell filaments allow for gliding motility.
What is gliding motility an indication of and why might organisms need it?
- organism may inhabit a microbial mat or biofilm.
- organisms need it to optimize access to resources
Cyanobacteria use _______ motility to optimize their access to ___________ .
Cyanobacteria use gliding motility to optimize their access to sunlight.
What are Hyphae?
- Rod-shaped bacteria growing in branching filaments of cells
How do we refer to a clump/tuft of hyphae?
Mycelia
What are Trichomes?
Smooth, unbranched chains of cells
What type of locomotion is used by some bacteria to move across a surface?
hyphae gliding motility corkscrewing mycelia trichomes
Gliding motility is used by some filamentous bacteria to move along a surface.
What term is used to describe irregularly branching filaments found in most fungi and some bacteria?
hyphae gliding motility corkscrewing mycelia trichomes
Hyphae. This term refers to branched filaments.
Which of the following is the term for smooth unbranched filaments of cells, as seen for some types of cyanobacteria?
hyphae gliding motility corkscrewing mycelia trichomes
Trichomes. This term refers to smooth unbranched filaments of cells.
Bacterial width range is: _____ to ______ microns
Bacterial length range is: _____ to ______ microns
width: 0.5 - 4 microns
length: 1 - 15 microns
