Chapter 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

two themes of microbiology

A
  1. understanding basic life processes

2. applying that knowledge to the benefit of humans

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2
Q

microbes play important roles in…

A
  1. medicine
  2. agriculture
  3. industry
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3
Q

importance of microorganisms (5)

A
  1. oldest form of life
  2. largest mass of living material on Earth
  3. carry out processes for biogeochemical cycles
  4. can live in places unsuitable to other organisms
  5. other life forms require microbes to survive
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4
Q

cell

A

dynamic entity forms fundamental unit of life

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5
Q

cytoplasmic membrane

A

barrier that separates inside of cell to outside environment

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6
Q

cell wall

A

present in most microbes, confers structural strength

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7
Q

six characteristics of living systems

A
  1. metabolism
  2. reproduction
  3. differentiation
  4. communication
  5. movement
  6. evolution
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8
Q

metabolism

A

chemical transformation of nutrients

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9
Q

reproduction

A

generation of two cells from one

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10
Q

differentiation

A

synthesis of new substances or structures that modify the cell (in some microbes, not all)

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11
Q

communication

A

generation of, and response to, chemical signals (in some microbes, not all)

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12
Q

movement

A

via self-propulsion, many forms in microbes

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13
Q

evolution

A

genetic changes in cells that are transferred to offspring

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14
Q

cells function as ________ and ________

A

catalysts, coding devices

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15
Q

cells as catalysts function to…

A

carry out chemical rxns

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16
Q

cells as coding devices

A

store and process info that is eventually passed on to offspring during reproduction through DNA and evolution

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17
Q

enzyme

A

protein catalyst of cell that accelerates chemical rxns

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18
Q

transcription

A

DNA produces RNA

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19
Q

translation

A

RNA makes protein

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20
Q

________ is the link between cells as machines and cells as coding devices

A

growth

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21
Q

microbial communities

A

populations of interacting microbes existing in nature

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22
Q

habitat

A

the environment in which a microbial population lives

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23
Q

ecosystem

A

all living organisms plus physical and chemical constituents of their environment

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24
Q

microbial ecology

A

the study of microbes in their natural environment

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25
Q

diversity and abundances of microbes are controlled by ________ and ________

A

resources (nutrients) and environmental conditions (temperature, pH, O2 etc.)

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26
Q

ecosystems greatly influenced (if not controlled) by…

A

microbial activity

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27
Q

microorganisms change the ________ and ________ properties of their habitats through their activities (excreting waste, removal of nutrients from environment)

A

physical, chemical

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28
Q

the first replicating entities may not….

A

have been cells

29
Q

last universal common ancestor (LUCA)

A

common ancestral cells from which all cells descended

30
Q

the Earth is ________ years old

A

4.6 billion

31
Q

the first cells appeared ________ years ago

A

3.8-3.9 billion

32
Q

the atmosphere was anoxic until ________ years ago

A

2 billion

33
Q

metabolisms were exclusively ________ until evolution of ________

A

anaerobic, oxygen-producing phototrophs

34
Q

life was exclusively microbial until ________ years ago

A

1 billion

35
Q

global estimate of microbial cells

A

5 X 10^30

36
Q

most microbial cells found in ________ and ________ subsurfaces

A

oceanic, terrestrial

37
Q

microbes can be both ________ and ________ to humans

A

beneficial, harmful

38
Q

Harmful microorganisms are ________ and ________

A

infectious disease agents, pathogens

39
Q

more microorganisms are ________ than ________

A

beneficial, harmful

40
Q

positive impacts of microbes on agriculture

A
  1. nitrogen-fixing bacteria
  2. cellulose-degrading microbes in rumen
  3. regeneration of nutrients in soil and water
41
Q

negative impacts of microbes on agriculture

A
  1. diseases in plants and animals
42
Q

positive impacts of microbes in food

A
  1. microbial transformations (i.e. fermentations) yield (dairy products such as yogurt and cheese; other products such as pickles, leavened breads and beer)
43
Q

negative impacts of microbes in food

A
  1. food spoilage by microorganisms requires specialized preservation of many foods
44
Q

microbes in biofuel production

A

methane, ethanol and hydrogen

45
Q

bioremediation

A

microbes cleaning up pollutants

46
Q

microbes can be exploited for production of…

A

antibiotics, enzymes and other various chemicals

47
Q

biotechnology

A

genetic engineering of microbes to generate products of value to humans (i.e. insulin)

48
Q

microbiology as a career

A
  1. clinical medicine
  2. research and development - pharmaceutical, biochemical/chemical, biotechnology
  3. microbial monitoring - food and beverage industries, public health and government
49
Q

microbiology began with the ________

A

microscope

50
Q

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

A

first to describe bacteria, any further progress would require the development of more powerful microscopes

51
Q

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

A

discovered. ..
1. living organisms discriminate between optical isomers
2. alcoholic fermentation was a biologically mediated process
3. spontaneous generation was not true, disproved theory
4. and developed vaccines for anthrax, fowl cholera and rabies

52
Q

Robert Koch (1843-1910)

A
  1. demonstrated link between microbes and infectious diseases (identified causable agents of anthrax and TB)
  2. koch’s postulates
  3. developed techniques for obtaining pure cultures of microbes
  4. awarded nobel prize in 1905
53
Q

koch’s first postulate

A

suspected pathogen must be present in all cases of the disease and absent from healthy animals

54
Q

koch’s second postulate

A

suspected pathogen must be grown in pure culture

55
Q

koch’s third postulate

A

suspected pathogen must be reisolated and shown to be the same as the original

56
Q

koch’s postulates today

A
  1. apply for diseases that have an appropriate animal model
  2. remain “gold standard” in medical microbiology (even though not all of the them apply all the time)
  3. animal models not always available
57
Q

koch found that solid media provided ________

A

a simple way of obtaining pure cultures (potato slices to gelatin and agar)

58
Q

microbial diversity

A

field that focuses on non-medical aspects of microbiology

59
Q

enrichment culture technique

A

microbes isolated from natural samples in a highly selected fashion by manipulating nutrient and incubation conditions

60
Q

chemolithotrophy

A

oxidation of inorganic compounds linked to energy conservation

61
Q

in 20th century, microbiology developed in two distinct directions ________ and ________

A

applied, basic

62
Q

molecular microbiology

A

fueled by genomics revolution

63
Q

subdisciplines of applied microbiology

A

medical microbiology, immunology, agricultural and industrial microbiology, aquatic and marine microbiology, soil microbiology, microbial ecology

64
Q

biotechnology

A

subfield of molecular microbiology, manipulation of cellular genomes, DNA from one organisms can be inserted into a bacterium and the proteins encoded by that DNA harvested

65
Q

genomics

A

study of all the genetic material (DNA) in living cells

66
Q

transcriptomics

A

study of RNA patterns

67
Q

proteomics

A

study of all proteins produced by cell(s)

68
Q

metabolomics

A

study of metabolic expression in cells