Cell Morphology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the two most common shapes of bacterial cells?

A

Bacillus (rod) or coccus (round)

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2
Q

Why is cell shape not a good indicator of species?

A

Most bacteria are one of two shapes. Less common shapes are better species indicators

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3
Q

How can a cell be cube shaped?

A

Found in cells that live in extremely high salt concentrations. The salt interacts with the membrane to make a cube

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4
Q

What dictates the shape of a cell?

A

The cell wall

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5
Q

Why is it hard for a cell to change shape?

A

The cell wall is too rigid to allow the flexibility needed for shape changing

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6
Q

How small are bacteria compared to eukaryotic cells?

A

10-100X smaller

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7
Q

Why are bacterial cells so small?

A

Have a higher surface area to volume ratio

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8
Q

Why is having high surface area a good thing?

A

Allows efficient exchange of materials with the environment

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9
Q

What is the problem with having a larger volume?

A

Harder to transport stuff around inside the cell, diffusion doesn’t work well

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10
Q

Why do small cells grow faster than large cells?

A

They have a higher surface area and have more efficient nutrient exchange, so they reach the size where they divide faster than large cells

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11
Q

Why do small cells evolve faster than large cells?

A

They divide more often, so they have more DNA replication errors and random mutations

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12
Q

How are Epulopiscium cells able to get so big?

A

They live in the guts of sturgeonfish, which is a relatively steady environment. To solve the problem of protein diffusion, they have 40 000 copies of their chromosome arranged around the outside of the cell. They also have a highly folded membrane to increase surface area

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