Biology Module 7 Flashcards
Microscopy
The use and development of special lenses and lens systems to view objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Culturing
Providing conditions that enable growth of microbes (or any type of cell, tissue, or organ).
Broth culture
A liquid culture that contains the nutrients the microbe needs (The organisms can live anywhere in the culture, but they often settle toward the bottom.
Agar culture
A solid culture that contains the nutrients the microbe needs (The organisms live on or near the surface of the culture).
Extremophiles
Organisms that live in especially harsh conditions, such as very high temperature water, very acidic solutions, high concentrations of salt, etc.
Endospore
A tough structure that protects a dormant bacterium and allows it to become freely living once the external conditions became suitable for life.
Normal flora
The microbes that live on or inside a healthy human body.
Obligate aerobes
Organisms that must have oxygen in order to survive.
Obligate anaerobes
Organisms that cannot survive for long in the presence of oxygen.
Facultative anaerobes
Organisms that can perform aerobic respiration but can switch to fermentation when little or no oxygen is present.
Serology
The study of blood serum and immune responses.
Strain
A subtype of organism within the species grouping, sometimes called a serotype.
Nitrogen fixation
The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a nitrogen-containing molecule that organisms can use.
Lytic cycle
Reproduction of viruses using the host cell’s biomachinary, resulting in lysis of the host cell to release the virions.
Lysogenic cycle
Viral nucleic acid is inserted into the host genome and replicates as the host replicates, sometimes called a temperate infection.
