Lect 1 : Microorganisms in foods Flashcards
- Recognise bacteria, yeast, mold and virus as sources of MO in foods. Know how they reproduce, morphology etc - Recognise the sources of MOs in foods
What is a prokaryote?
A microscopic single-celled organism which does not have a distinct MEMBRANE-BOUND nucleus and (other specialised) organelles
What is a eukaryote?
An organism consisting of a cell / cells in which genetic material is DNA in the form of chromosomes, contained within a distinct nucleus
What are microorganisms?
Microorganisms are small organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
micro : small
organisms : living things
They are also known as microbes
List the 5 types of microorganisms (MOs) and state if they are prokaryotes/eukaryotes/NA (if NA, what category do they belong to?)
- Bacteria - prokaryotes
- Yeast - eukaryote
- Mold / mould : eukaryote
- Protozoa : eukaryotes
- Virus : non-living things
What is protozoa?
Single-celled animals (prokaryotes)
Which is the most important class of microbes?
Bacteria
Morphology : name the different shapes of bacteria cells (give singular and plural forms)
- Round : coccus (plural : cocci)
- Rod : Bacillus (bacilli)
- Curved rod : Vibrio (vibros)
- ## Spiral : Spirillum (spirilla)
- Pleomorphic : bacteria that can have multiple forms or shapes (FST1101B)
Name the different arrangements of bacteria cells (e.g. singular / plural / in fours / in chain / in cluster)
- Single : Coccus / cocci
- Pair : Diplococcus (diplococci)
- Four cells in a SQUARE : tetrad (tetrads)
- in a CHAIN : streptococcus (“strep” –> “strap’”)
- Cluster : Staphylococcus (staphylococci)
What is the function of a flagella in a bacterial cell?
To provide mobility to the bacteria
What are the names for the different number of flagella on a bacterial cell?
- Monotrichous – a single flagellum
- Amphitrichous – a single flagellum at both ends
- Lophotrichous – numerous flagella as a tuft at one end of the cell
- Peritrichous – numerous flagella all over the cell
What is the name of the substance found in the cell walls of both gram positive and negative bacteria? What is it made of?
Peptidoglycan
Peptidoglycan is a polymer made of sugars and amino acids that forms a mesh-like layer outside plasma membrane of bacteria.
What is the difference between the cell wall of gram positive and gram negative bacteria?
Gram positive bacteria has a thick layer of peptidoglycan on top of the plasma membrane
Gram negative bacteria only has a thin layer of petidoglycan in between the inner and outer membrane of the plasma membrane
to identify if a bacterial cell is gram positive or negative, the gram staining test can be used. What colour will the solution be in both gram positive / negative bacteria?
Gram positive bacteria : gram stain turns purple (blue)
Gram negative bacteria : gram stain turns pink (red)
Which of the processes require energy?
- Simple diffision
- Passive transport
- Active transport
- Active transport
How is bacteria named?
What are the conventions when naming (italicise, captialisation etc)
Using the bionomial nomenclature :
Genus species
– both are italicised
– capitalise the first letter of genus
– don’t need to capitalise first letter of species
What is a serotype/serovar?
seroTYPE, seroVAR(iation)
It is a distinct variation within a species of bacteria
How are bacteria classified into their various serovars?
They are classified together based on their cell surface antigens
Serovar in the naming convention of bacteria is italicised. True or False?
False, not italicised
Note : E coli naming convention
E coli O157 : H7
What do the letters and numbers of the naming suggest?
O157
- O refers to the somatic antigen (antigen on the cell surface)
- 157 refers to the 157th variation (out of the 173 types of somatic antigens)
H7
- H refers to the flagella antigen
- 7 refers to the 7th type (out of 56 ) types of flagella antigen
**There is antigen for capsular antigen, denoted with letter K and there are 103 types of antigens
Why can’t bacteria cells grow infinitely and reach a limit?
As the bacterial cell grows, the (surface) area-to-volume ratio decreases, leading to less efficient transport of nutrients
Do young cells or old cells have a larger surface area-to-volume ratio?
Young cells