Chapter 1 Vocab Flashcards
Microbiology
study of microorganism/microbes
Prokaryotes
Cells that have few internal structures, they lack a nucleus, and typically lack organelles. Cells that are exclusive to the Archaea and Bacteria domains.
Eukaryotes
Found in the phylogenetic domain Eukarya. Cells contain an assortment of membrane-enclosed cytoplasmic structures (nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and others). Examples: fungi and algae
Bacteriology
The study of bacteria. No nucleus, no organelles.
Mycology
The study of fungi
Are saprophytic organisms
Important nutrient recyclers
Phycology
The study of algae
Photosynthetic organisms
Produce O2
Harmful algal blooms (HABs)
Virology
The study of viruses Non-living (debatable) and acellular Rely on host cell for replication Extremely small Disease-Causing (ex. rabies, herpes, avain flu, and west nile)
Basic microbiology
Study of natural life processes of microbes
Ex. taxonomy, ecology, evolution, and physiology
Applied microbiology
Use of specific microbes for products or services
Ex. agriculture, medicinal, industrial, biotechnology
Laboratory (or microbial) culture
is a collection of cells that have been grown in/on a nutrient medium
advantages: large stock or target organism and biochemical/microscopy tests can be performed
disadvantages: many microorganisms cannot be grown in cultures
Culture media (or medium)
is a liquid (broth) or solid (agar) nutrient mixture that contains all of the nutrients required for microorganisms to grow.
incubation
used to grow a culture in specific temperature and gases
pure culture
a culture isolated and grown away from other microorganisms
Aseptic technique
a series of steps taken to prevent contamination of laboratory cultures and media
sterilization of media and equipment and use of autoclaves
Molecular techniques
DNA sequencing (barcoding genes and functional genes)
Genome sequencing (genetic blueprints) ex. functionality and all info of bacteria
Advantages: access to all microorganisms and entire genomes in hours
Disadvantages: no biochemical tests, microscopy is difficult, and data overload (making sense of the genomes)
fermentation
provides preservation, sanitation, enrichment, benefits to gut health, and new flavors to food
Biogeochemistry
An interdisciplinary science that includes biology, geology, and chemistry
Biotechnology
employs genetically engineered microorganism to synthesize products of high value, such as insulin or other human proteins, usually on a small scale
Robert Hooke
Discovery of microbes 1665
Mold was first known description of microorganism
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
Discovery of bacteria 1676 when studying pepper-water bacteria
Used a extremely simple, single lens microscope
Ignaz Semelweis
Promoted sanitary methods including handwashing as a method for preventing infections (1847)
Germ theory of disease
developed by Koch
detailed that microbes can be infectious
Louis Pasteur
one of the first to recognize that many of what were thought to be strictly chemical reactions were catalyzed by microorganisms
Studied the chemistry of crystal formation and used microscopes to examine crystal structure
fermentation work
debunked spontaneous generations–related it to “air” exposure
made the Pasteur flask to combat this
Robert Koch
Scientifically proved germ theory of disease
Proved that even after many transfers in lab culture, the bacteria still caused disease when inoculated into a healthy animal
Joseph Lister
Credited with the introduction of antiseptic techniques for surgery in 1867
His methods were adopted worldwide and greatly improved survival rate of patients
Alexander Fleming
The first beta-lactam antibiotic ever characterized was penicillin G, isolated from the fungus Penicillium chrysogenum in 1929
Edward Jenner
First to protect people from infection by smallpox virus by exposing them to similar but much less virulent cowpox virus
vaccine development 1796
Franklin, Watson, & Crick
Used X-ray diffraction images of DNA
Structure of DNA 1953
Revealed that DNA is double stranded helix that contains 4 nitrogenous bases: guanine, cytosine, adenine, and thymine
Kary Mullis
created PCR analysis 1988
PCR = rapid DNA copying
Woese & Fox
First to construct a universal tree of life that he inferred from nucleotide sequence similarity in the ribosome RNA (rRNA) genes of diverse organisms
rRNA used because they are:
1. Universally distributed
2. Functionally constant
3. Highly conserved (slow changing)
4. Adequate length to provide a deep view of evolutionary relationships
Discovery of Archaea (1977)
Human microbiome project
characterize the microbes that live in/on the human body, and assess the ability to demonstrate correlations of changes of the human microbiome with health
Earth microbiome project
A sequencing endeavor to archive the genome sequence of all cultured bacterial and archaeal type strains
Koch’s postulates:
- The suspected pathogen must be present in all cases of the disease and absent from healthy animals
- The suspected pathogen must be grown in pure culture
- Cells from a pure culture of the suspected pathogen must cause disease in a healthy animal
- The suspected pathogen must be re-isolated and shown to be the same as the original
