Bacteria - Questions Flashcards
What are the three common shapes of prokaryotes?
Rod, spherical, spiral.
Do bacteria have cell walls?
Yes.
What is the benefit of a cell wall?
Helps bacteria maintain its shape by providing structural integrity.
Do cell walls protect against hypertonic environment?
No.
How have humans traditionally taken advantage of plasmolysis?
Packing foods insult to prevent bacterial growth.
What are bacterial cell walls made of?
Peptidoglycan
Where are wall-less bacteria most likely to live?
In other organisms.
Do prokaryotes have internal membranes?
No. They have no membrane bound organelles.
What’s the difference between prokaryote DNA and eukaryote DNA?
Prokaryote DNA generally has one DNA structure.
What is the form of bacterial DNA?
Ring-form and highly folded.
Are bacteria diploid?
No, bacteria DNA does not come in pairs.
How do bacteria divide?
Binary fission.
How do parents and offspring compare genetically?
They are identical as they are clones of each other.
What are the two major divisions in the prokaryotic world?
Archaea and Bacteria.
What are saprophytes?
Any bacteria living off of dead material.
Why are saprophytes essential to life on earth?
They live off of decaying material, so they help us decompose stuff. Without them we’d be buried under dead material.
What are photoheterotrophs?
They can make ATP from light.
What did the first photosynthesizers do?
They added oxygen to the environment.
How did the first photosynthesizers affect life on planet earth?
The added oxygen resulted in the ozone.
Creatures who could not tolerate oxygen had to hide out or die out.
Why are nitrifiers important?
They are the ultimate source of all organic nitrogen for all creatures.
Are most prokaryotes pathogenic?
No.
About how many prokaryotes are responsible for most human diseases?
100
