Bacteria Flashcards
Is bacteria a kingdom?
Yes
What are there more of human or bacterial cells?
bacterial cells
What are some benefits of bacteria?
- Help process food to make things like cheese, yogurt, alcohol, butter, and bread.
- nitrogen cycle - bacteria help create soil fertility
- convert - ammonia →nitrite→nitrate
How can bacteria be used in industry?
sewage treatment, odour control, septic tank maintenance, and to digest organic matter and waste
Name all the diseases discussed in class caused by bacteria
- tuberculosis
- listeriosis
- lyme disease
- gonorrhea
- meningitis - can also be viral
- Streptococcus mutans →tooth decay
- Clostridium botulinum →food poisoning
- Treponema pallidum →syphilis
Name the 3 common shapes bacteria can have,
Cocci, Bacilli, Spirilla
Define Cocci and a trait belonging to this bacteria shape.
Round balls, they resist drying
Describe the shape of bacilli bacteria and traits belonding to them.
rod shaped, absorb more nutrients due to increased surface area
Describe the shape of spirilla shaped bacteria and traits belonging to this bacterial shape.
spiral shaped, moves through fluid with least resistance
What are the two types of bacterial cell walls?
Gram positive and Gram negative
Describe the gram stain
a dye that highlights basic differences in the arrangements of molecules in bacterial cell walls - used to determine if a bacteria is gram positive or gram negative.
These traits belong to which kind of cells wall?
- purple stain
- thick protein layer
- less resistance against antibiotics
- stain cannot be easily washed away
Gram positive
What do you need to destroy to kill a cell?
peptidoglycan - the cell wall
What can the gram stain be used for?
sorting bacteria
Is this gram negative or positive? - less peptidoglycan and an outer membrane that can be toxic
gram negative
How to antibiotics work?
they target the peptidoglycan on a bacteria and damage the cell walls.
This bacteria is more antibiotic resistant
Gram negative
Photosynthesis
to obtain energy from light
Chemosynthesis
to obtain energy from inorganic compounds
the prefix for being arranged in pairs
diplo
the prefix for being arranged in clusters (like grapes)
staphylo
the prefix for being arranged in chains
strepto
What are antibiotics?
Things that kill bacteria
The prefix for being arranged singularly
jk - there is no prefix
What do you call a bacteria resistant to common antibiotics?
a superbug
Asexual reproduction is done through….
binary fission (binary = 2, fission = division
What is binary fission?
a type of cell division where 2 genetically identical products of the same size are formed
Describe the process of asexual reproduction (binary fission)
- Duplicate genetic material
- Cell elongates
- Septum (wall) begins to form
- cells seperate
When does asexual reproduction occur for bacteria?
When conditions are favourable and constant
Sexual reproduction is done through…
conjugation
When does sexual reproduction occur?
When conditions begin to alter such that it’s less than ideal
Define sexual reproduction
The mixing of genetic material between organisms
describe the process of sexual reproduction
- Cells are linked by a bridged structure called the pili (pilus)
- Genetic information passes through pili from one cell to another
- The receiving cell undergoes binary fission
What happens during very unfavourable conditions to bacteria?
it turns into an endospore
What is an endospore?
when a bacteria enters a dormant phase to protect itself
What happens when bacteria form an endospore? What does it look like?
It forms a tough outer covering to its DNA. The resulting product looks like a seed.
What happens to an endospore when favourable conditions return?
The endospore loses its outer coat allowing the bacteria to grow again.
What are some advantages of asexual reproduction?
- conserves energy
- one parent
- very fast reproduction rate
What are some disadvantages of asexual reproduction?
- Rapid reproduction leads to resource competition
- identical to parent→no diversity
- Higher risk for extinction
What are some advantages of sexual reproduction?
- Genes can be manipulated
- different from parents
- Genetic variation increases the likelihood of the species surviving in changing (or unfavourable) conditions
What are some disadvantages of sexual reproduction?
- uses more energy
- requires two parents
- slow
What are some benefits of endospores?
- can resist unfavourable conditions (e.g.. heat, cold, damaging chemicals, drying)
- super long life span
