Chapter 26 Flashcards
Bacteria and Archaea
Aerobic respiration
Process of producing cellular energy involving oxygen. Cells break down food in the mitochondria in a long, multi-step process that produces about 36 ATP
Archaea
1 of 3 domains of life. Consists of unicellular prokaryotes distinguished by cell walls made of certain polysaccharides not found in bacterial or eukaryotic cell walls, plasma membranes
Bioremediation
The use of living organisms. Usually bacteria or archaea to degrade environmental pollutant
Thermophile
A bacterium or archaean that thrives in very hot environments
Extremophile
organisms that thrives in an “extreme” environment (High salt, temp, pressure or low temp)
Gram Positive
Looks purple when treated with gram stain. Walls consist of THICK layer of peptidoglycan and no outer phospholipid layer
Phototrophs
An organism that produces ATP through photophosphorylation
Anaerobic Respiration
respiration using electrons acceptors other that molecular oxygen
Astobiology
Branch of biology concerned with the study of life on earth and in space
Cellular respiration
A common pathway for production of ATP, involving transfer of electron from compounds with high potential energy through an electron transport chain and ultimately to a final electron acceptor.
Cyanobacteria
a lineage of photosynthetic bacteria formerly known as blue-green algae. Likely first life forms to carry out oxygenic photosynthesis.
Fertilizing
Fusion of the nuclei of 2 gametes to form a zygote with a nucleus. exception to the haploid and diploid rule are seen in polyploid species.
Gram stain
A dye that distinguishes the two general types of cell walls found in bacteria. Used to routinely classify bacteria as gram-negative and gram-positive.
Nitrogen Cycle
Movement of nitrogen among terrestrial ecosystems, the oceans, and the atmosphere.
Anoxygenic photosynthesis
Bacterial photosynthesis that occurs under anaerobic conditions, using the photosynthetic electron transport chain in a non-cyclic mode and reduced in organic electron donors
Pathogen
an entity capable of causing disease, such as a microbe, virus or prion
Chemolithotrophs
an organism (Bacteria or archaea) that produces ATP by oxydizing inorganic molecules with high potential energy, such as ammonia or methane.
Direct Sequencing
Used to ID and study microorgansms that can be grown in culture. Involves detecting and amplifying copies of genes in DNA, sequencing the genes, and then comparing the sequences with those from other organisms
Germ Theory
(of disease) the theory that infectious diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses and other microbes
Koch’s Postulates
4 criteria used to determine whether a suspected infectious agent causes a particular disease.
Nitrogen Fixing
Turns Nitrogen into ammonia. This can be used to make many organic compounds, occurs in only a few lineages of prokaryotes.
Antibiotics
Any substance, such as penicillin, that can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria.
Bacteria
consists of unicellular prokaryotes distinguished by cell walls composed largely of peptidoglycan, plasma membranes similar to those of eukaryotic cells, and ribosomes and RNA polymerase that differs from those in Archaea and Eukarotes
Chemoorganotrophs
An organism that produces ATP by oxydizing organic molecules with high potential energy such as sugars.