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Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is microbiology?

A

Specialized area of biology that deals with living organisms ordinarily too small to be seen without magnification

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2
Q

What organisms are studied in microbiology?

A

Bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, viruses, prions, algae, helminths

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3
Q

Which organism studied in microbiology is NOT technically a microorganism?

A

Helminths

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4
Q

What is the last common ancestor (LCA)?

A

Single-celled organism that gave rise to the 3 domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukarya

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5
Q

Archaea resemble ___________, but are more closely related to ___________.

A
  1. Bacteria
  2. Eukarya
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6
Q

Differentiate eukaryotes and prokaryotes/akaryotes based on 3 main features.

A
  1. Eukaryotes: true nucleus, organelles, single-celled and multicellular
  2. Prokaryotes/akaryotes: no true nucleus, lack organelles, predominately single-celled
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7
Q

What organisms are considered eukaryotes?

A

Fungi, protozoa, helminths

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8
Q

What organisms are considered prokaryotes/akaryotes?

A

Bacteria and archaea

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9
Q

What are organelles?

A

Small, membrane-bound structures that perform specific functions (i.e., nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts)

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10
Q

What 2 key features make viruses and prions different from other microorganisms?

A
  1. Acellular
  2. Not living
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11
Q

What does the term ubiquitous mean?

A

Found everywhere

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12
Q

What is evolution?

A

Accumulation of changes that occur in organisms as they adapt to their environments

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13
Q

What is photosynthesis?

A

Light-fueled conversion of carbon dioxide to organic material

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14
Q

What is the term used for the photosynthesis that plants use and what does it mean?

A

Oxygenic; process occurs with the formation of oxygen

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15
Q

What is the term used for the photosynthesis that began with bacteria before it evolved for plants and what does it mean?

A

Anoxygenic; process occurs without the formation of oxygen

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16
Q

Which microorganisms can be photosynthetic?

A

Algae and some bacteria

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17
Q

What is biotechnology?

A

The intentional use by humans of living organisms or their products to accomplish a goal related to health or the environment

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18
Q

What is genetic engineering?

A

Deliberate alterations of the genomes of microbes, plants, and animals for the purpose of creating new products and genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

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19
Q

What technology is an example of genetic engineering?

A

Recombinant DNA technology

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20
Q

What is bioremediation?

A

Decomposition of harmful chemicals by microbes or a consortia of microbes

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21
Q

What is a pathogen?

A

Any agent (usually a bacterium, fungus, protozoan, virus, or helminth) that causes disease

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22
Q

What is disease? Relate the definition to microbiology.

A

Any deviation from health, as when the effects of microbial infection damage or disrupt tissues and organs

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23
Q

What is infectious disease?

A

The state of damage or toxicity in the body caused by an infectious agent

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24
Q

What is spontaneous generation?

A

The belief that invisible vital forces present in matter, led to the creation of life (i.e., meat left out produced maggots, mushrooms appeared on rotting wood)

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25
What is abiogenesis?
"Beginning in the absence of life"; spontaneous generation
26
What is biogenesis?
"Beginning with life"; living things arise from their own kind
27
What are 4 key contributions of Louis Pasteur?
1. Invented pasteurization 2. Showed that microorganisms caused fermentation and spoilage 3. Performed studies indicating possibility for human disease to arise from infection 4. Disproved spontaneous generation
28
Explain Louis Pasteur's experiment that disproved spontaneous generation and the states of broth after incubation.
1. Broth-filled flasks with long tube openings either broken (airborne particles can enter broth) or intact (airborne particles collect in tube and do not enter broth), flasks heated to sterilize broth, then incubated 2. Broken tube = microbial growth; intact tube = no growth/sterile
29
What are Robert Hooke and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek most known for?
The development of the first microscopes and the first observations of microorganisms
30
What did Ferdinand Cohn discover and describe, and what has this led to the understanding and establishment of?
1. Heat-resistant bacterial endospores 2. What "sterile" means
31
What does it mean for something to be "sterile"?
Completely free of all life forms (including spores) and virus particles
32
Sterilization of materials is crucial in many areas, but importantly __________ and __________.
1. Microbiology 2. Healthcare
33
What did Joseph Lister introduce and from what observations?
1. Aseptic techniques (i.e., disinfecting hands and air prior to surgery) to reduce microorganisms in the medical setting 2. Observations of patients with infections from hospital childbirth due to physicians not washing hands
34
What is aseptic technique?
Method of handling microbial cultures, patient specimens, and other sources of microbes in a way that prevents infection of the handler and others who may be exposed
35
What is the germ theory of disease and who's work is it based on?
1. Proposed that microorganisms can be the cause of diseases 2. Pasteur and other scientists
36
What are the six steps of the scientific method?
1. Formulate (or reformulate) a question 2. Do background research 3. Construct hypothesis 4. Test hypothesis experimentally 5. Analyze data and reject or accept hypothesis (may need to return to steps 1-3) 6. Communicate results
37
What are macromolecules?
Large, molecular compounds assembled from smaller subunits, mostly biochemicals
38
What are the 4 families of macromolecules?
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids
39
What is a monomer?
Simple molecule that can be linked by chemical bonds to form larger molecules
40
Monomers are polymerized into polymers except for ________.
Lipids
41
What is a polymer?
Macromolecule made up of a chain of repeating units; length varies
42
What is the basic structure of monosaccharides?
3- to 7-carbon sugars
43
What are 2 examples of monosaccharides?
Glucose and fructose
44
What are 2 examples of uses of monosaccharides?
1. Metabolic reactions 2. Building blocks of disaccharides and polysaccharides
45
What is the basic structure of disaccharides?
Two monosaccharides
46
What is an example of a disaccharide?
Maltose (malt sugar)
47
What is maltose (malt sugar) composed of and what is it an important breakdown product of?
1. 2 glucoses 2. Starch
48
What is the basic structure of polysaccharides?
Chains of monosaccharides
49
What are 5 examples of polysaccharides?
1. Lactose (milk sugar) 2. Sucrose (table sugar) 3. Starch 4. Cellulose 5. Glycogen
50
What is lactose (milk sugar) composed of?
Glucose and galactose
51
What is sucrose (table sugar) composed of?
Glucose and fructose
52
What are 2 examples of uses of starch, cellulose, and glycogen?
1. Cell wall 2. Food storage
53
What is cellulose and what organisms can digest it?
1. Long, fibrous polysaccharide in plant and algae cell walls providing strength and rigidity 2. Some bacteria, fungi, and protozoa
54
What is agar and what is it used for?
1. Complex polymer of galactose and sulfur-containing carbohydrates that is a natural component of seaweed 2. Preparing solid culture media
55
What is chitin and where is it found in what organisms?
1. Polymer of glucosamine 2. Exoskeleton of some fungi
56
What is glucosamine?
Sugar with an amino functional group
57
What is peptidoglycan and what is its main purpose?
1. Glycans (polysaccharides) linked to peptide fragments (short chain of amino acids) 2. Structural support in the bacterial cell wall
58
What is a lipopolysaccharide composed of?
Complex of lipid and polysaccharide
59
What organisms are lipopolysaccharides found on and where?
Gram-negative bacteria, outer membrane
60
What symptoms are lipopolysaccharides responsible for?
Fever and shock
61
What is a glycocalyx composed of?
Glycoproteins
62
What are 2 functions of a glycocalyx?
1. Protective outer layer 2. Allows attachment of cells to other cells or surfaces
63
What are glycoproteins?
Polysaccharides bound to proteins
64
What is the basic structure of triglycerides?
Fatty acids and glycerol
65
What are examples of triglycerides?
Fats and oils
66
What is the basic structure of phospholipids?
Fatty acids, glycerol, and phosphate
67
What are examples of phospholipids?
Membrane components
68
What is the basic structure of waxes?
Fatty acids and alcohols
69
What is an example of a wax?
Mycolic acid
70
Where is mycolic acid found?
Cell wall of mycobacteria
71
What is the basic structure of steroids?
Ringed structure
72
What are examples of steroids?
Cholesterol, ergosterol
73
What function do triglycerides and phospholipids both serve?
Energy storage and major component of cell membranes
74
Where are steroids found?
In the membranes of eukaryotes and some bacteria
75
What is a peptide?
Short chain of amino acids
76
What is a dipeptide?
2 amino acids
77
What is a tripeptide?
3 amino acids
78
What is a tetrapeptide?
4 amino acids
79
What is a polypeptide?
Usually more than 20 amino acids
80
What is a protein?
Minimum of 50 amino acids
81
How many amino acids are there?
20
82
What are examples of protein functions?
Enzymes (catalysts of reactions); part of cell membrane, cell wall, ribosomes, antibodies (glycoproteins that bind antigens)
83
Proteins serve as __________ components and perform __________ reactions.
Structural and metabolic
84
What is primary protein structure?
Amino acid sequence
85
What is secondary protein structure?
Beta-pleated sheet and alpha helix by hydrogen bonds
86
What is tertiary protein structure?
Bonding between functional groups of secondary structures
87
What type of bond contributes to tertiary protein structure?
Disulfide bond between the sulfur of cysteines
88
What is quaternary protein structure?
Multiunit protein
89
What is the structure of DNA?
Double-stranded helix
90
What does a nucleotide consist of?
Phosphate, pentose sugar, and nitrogen base
91
How many hydrogen bonds are between A-T?
3
92
How many hydrogen bonds are between C-G?
2
93
What is the typical structure of RNA?
Single-stranded
94
RNA can be double-stranded in what infectious agent?
Virus
95
What is mRNA?
Messenger RNA
96
What is the purpose of mRNA?
Instructions for protein synthesis
97
What is tRNA?
Transfer RNA
98
What is the purpose of tRNA?
Delivers the correct amino acid for protein assembly
99
What is rRNA?
Ribosomal RNA
100
What is the purpose of rRNA?
Major component of ribosomes
101
What is the structure of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)?
Adenine, ribose sugar, 3 phosphates
102
How is energy obtained from ATP?
When the high-energy bond between 2nd and 3rd outermost phosphate is broken, producing adenosine diphosphate (ADP)
103
How can ATP be regenerated?
Addition of phosphate to ADP
104
What is a cell?
Fundamental unit of life
105
What makes a cell living?
Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other atoms that produce characteristics, reactions, and products
106
What is taxonomy?
The formal system for organizing, classifying, and naming living things
107
What are taxa?
Taxonomic categories
108
What is nomenclature?
The assignment of scientific names to the various taxonomic categories and to individual organisms
109
What is classification?
Orderly arrangement of organisms into a hierarchy
110
What is identification?
The process of discovering and recording the traits of organisms so that they may be recognized or named and then classified
111
What is a common name reflective of?
Dominant features
112
What is a binomial system?
Scientific method of assigning names to organisms that employs two names to identify every organism; genus + species
113
How is an organism name written using the binomial system?
The whole name is italicized (or underlined if handwritten), the Genus is capitalized, and the species is lowercase
114
What are the 9 taxonomic categories in order?
1. Domain 2. Kingdom 3. Phylum 4. Division 5. Class 6. Order 7. Family 8. Genus 9. Species
115
What is phylogeny?
Scheme that represents the natural relatedness between groups of living beings
116
What is natural selection?
Changes that most favor the survival and reproduction of a particular organism or group of organisms tend to be retained
117
Who described natural selection?
Charles Darwin

Bio251 (6 decks)

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