Intro Microbiology (Lab info included)

Question 1

Chemolithoautotrophic

Answer 1

Grows on inorganic compounds
Doesn’t need organic compounds to replicate

Question 2

Name 3 scientists that tests on spontaneous generation

Answer 2

1. John Needham
2. Lazzaro Spallanzani
3. Louis Pasteur

Question 3

What did the swan-neck experiment do?

Answer 3

It was used to disprove the idea of spontaneous generation. The swan neck makes the air able to move in freely into the flask but traps the microbe in the depression

Question 4

What experiment(s) supported spontaneous generation

Answer 4

Needham’s hay experiment where he boiled hay in a jar and left it to be exposed in the air and showed that there is microbial growth

Question 5

Who was the scientists that made the first (debatable) microscope?

Answer 5

Robert Hooke

Question 6

What was Koch’s contribution to the concept of ‘disease’?

Answer 6

He came up with the germ theory of disease that states that microbes are the causative agents for disease

Question 7

What is the purpose of Koch’s postulates?

Answer 7

To prove whether the cause of the disease is a particular microorganism

Question 8

What are Koch’s postulates?

Answer 8

• Be found in all cases of the disease
• Be isolated from the diseased host in pure culture
• Produce same disease in experimentally-infected host
• Be re-isolated from the experimentally-infected host

Question 9

What else did Koch contributed in microbiology?

Answer 9

Invented agar plates to sustain microbes
Staining microbes with methylene blue

Question 10

Who are the three scientists that contributed to penicillin?

Answer 10

1. Fleming
2. Florey
3. Chain

Question 11

Who discovered penicillin?

Answer 11

Fleming

Question 12

How was penicillin discovered?

Answer 12

Fleming was studying about staphylococcus bacteria and accidentally left it out in the open as he left. A fungus grew on it and it was shown that the staphylococcus bacteria was avoiding the area where the fungus grew.

Question 13

What did Florey and Chain contribute to the development of penicillin?

Answer 13

They further purified penicillin and developed it into mass production that helped win the war

Question 14

Normal flora

Answer 14

Microorganisms lives in our body/gut that helps us function

Question 15

What does normal flora do?

Answer 15

It helps build the immune system of individuals, synthesise vitamins, break down molecules that our gut could not normally break down, and help differentiate foreign organisms that enters the body

Question 16

Where do we get normal flora from?

Answer 16

Can be from out mother during birth, can also be developed as we grow from the environments we interact in

Question 17

Are normal floras dangerous to us?

Answer 17

They are usually not dangerous when they are located in their local environment. But they can be dangerous if they are placed in another part of our body as the environment would not be suited for their growth and instead would cause complications

Question 18

Two types of pathogens

Answer 18

Opportunistic pathogens - Only causes disease in specific conditions e.g. immunosuppressants
Obligate pathogens - Viral infection that preys upon organisms e.g. T4 virus

Question 19

Why is tuberculosis hard to diagnose?

Answer 19

Their symptoms contain common cold and coughing which can be easily mistaken as influenza. The disease is also latent, meaning you can carry the disease with no symptoms at all

Question 20

Is TB difficult to treat?

Answer 20

Generally TB have readily available treatments in hospitals however there are antibiotic resistant TB variants that causes further complications and higher mortality rate as there is no cure for antibiotic resistant TB. Moreover, treatment is expensive

Question 21

What are the traits of an opportunistic pathogen?

Answer 21

• Have abnormally high cell density
• Located in areas where they usually are not supposed to be at
• Immune system is comprimised

Question 22

How does antibiotic consumption contribute to diseases?

Answer 22

Overconsumption of antibiotic give rise to antibiotic resistance for the pathogens as pathogens that are not killed by the antibiotic are the resistant ones. They can reproduce and replicate this trait identically which makes them harder to kill.

Question 23

Examples of normal flora in your mouth

Answer 23

Streptococcus pneumoniae
Streptococcus pyogenes

Question 24

What agar plates does the mouth flora grows best on?

Answer 24

Blood agar plates. Pyogenes have complete haemolysis (beta) and pneumoniae have partial haemolysis (alpha)

Question 25

Examples of normal flora on skin and nose

Answer 25

Staphylococcus epidermidis
Staphylococcus aureus

Question 26

What agar plate(s) does the normal flora for skin and nose grow on?

Answer 26

Nutrient Agar plates
Mannitol Salt agar plates

Question 27

What makes the MSA special?

Answer 27

It is used for selective growth as the agar plate is 7.5% sodium chloride. This plate also have an indicator that can detect whether the organism is fermenting in the presence of mannitol. When an organism does ferment on mannitol, it lowers the pH of the agar which results in a color change from the indicator

Question 28

Example of fastidious organism

Answer 28

Streptococcus pneumoniae. It only grows on blood agar plates and nutrient agar plates shows no signs of growth of this organism. This is because blood agar plates contains nutrients that only the blood would have which differs from the nutrient agar plates

Question 29

Which streptococcus is more dangerous?

Answer 29

Streptococcus pyogenes. When it goes to our throat it can cause strep throat or sore throat. It can also cause more severe diseases like scarlet fever. Beta-haemolysis is more associated with pathogenicity

Question 30

One health concept

Answer 30

A concept that states that the use of antimicrobials in agriculture impacts on human pathogens. meaning that many human disease originate form their environment