Ch. 14 pt. 1: Microbial Ecosystems

Question 1

Which of these is NOT an advantage of living in a biofilm community?
- protection from predation
- nutrient availability
- protection from toxins
- water availability

Answer 1

protection from predation

Question 2

Microbes that display the same physiological responses to the environment and others with a community are said to occupy the same:
- environment
- community
- niche
- biofilm
- ecosystem

Answer 2

niche

Question 3

An “operational taxonomic unit” is typically defined as any group of microorganisms that share at least __ sequence identity for their SSU rRNA genes.
- 97%
- 80%
- 100%
- 50%
- 90%

Answer 3

97%

Question 4

FISH is a fluorescent microscopic technique used to differentiate microbes using this fluorescently labeled material.
- protein
- antibody
- lipid
- antigen
- DNA probe

Answer 4

DNA probe

Question 5

Which of these technologies gives direct sequence information?
- metagenomics
- RNA-SIP
- DGGE
- T-RFLP
- FISH

Answer 5

metagenomics

Question 6

Which of these represents MOST of the ocean’s biomass?
- fish
- fish and sea mammals
- sea mammals
- marine plants
- microbes

Answer 6

microbes

Question 7

Which of these represents MOST of the ocean’s organisms?
- sea mammals
- archaea
- fish
- bacteria
- marine viruses

Answer 7

marine viruses

Question 8

Which of these characterizes dead zones in the ocean?
- having low temperatures
- being oligotrophic
- being hypoxic
- lacking microbial life
- lacking nutrients

Answer 8

being hypoxic

Question 9

Approximately what percentage of primary production reaches the ocean floor?
- 10
- 20
- 5
- 40
- 1

Answer 9

1

Question 10

How would you best classify most of the microorganisms from marine environments that cannot be readily cultivated?
- obligate anaerobes
- obligate halophiles
- obligate oligotrophs
- extreme thermophiles
- extreme halophiles

Answer 10

obligate oligotrophs

Question 11

Proteorhodopsin has been found in many marine bacteria, including those from the SAR-11 group. This protein:
- detects light
- is an activator for global gene regulation
- has a photosynthetic reaction center
- is a regressor for global gene regulation
- is a light-driven proton pump

Answer 11

is a light-driven proton pump

Question 12

Which of these pairs best categorizes water below the thermocline in a lake during the summer?
- cold and oxic
- warm and oxic
- low-density and anoxic
- cold and anoxic
- low-density and oxic

Answer 12

cold and anoxic

Question 13

Which of these technologies would provide the most information about the functions encoded by a microbial community?
- FISH
- RNA-SIP
- DDGE
- metagenomic sequencing
- SSU rRNA sequencing

Answer 13

metagenomic sequencing