Micro-Organisms Flashcards
What are the three main types of microbe?
Fungi, bacteria, virus
What is the biggest microbe?
Fungi
What do fungi cells have?
Nucleus, cell membrane, food storage granule, vacuole, cytoplasm
What is a flagella?
Bacteria “tails” that let them swim
What do bacterium cells have?
Cell wall, cytoplasm, cell membrane, chromosome
What do viruses have in their cells?
Protein, strand of genes
What is the smallest microbe?
Virus
What are some useful microbes?
Yeast - for bread and alcohol. Changes milk into yogurt and cheese
What are some harmful diseases caused by fungi?
Athletes foot, thrush
What are some harmful diseases caused by bacteria?
Salmonella, whooping cough
What are some harmful diseases caused by viruses?
Common cold, flu, chicken pox, measles
What is asexual reproduction (bacteria)
When they reproduce without a male or female - they make copies of themselves
How do microbes cause diseases?
When they reproduce in the body, they produce harmful substances called toxins and damages tissues and organs
How do bacteria multiply?
They double themselves every 20mins
How can some diseases spread?
In the air, through touch, through animal contact, through contaminated food, through exchange of bodily fluids, sex, genetics
What are viruses like?
They have pointy spikes - to stick and attack cells
What are bacteria like?
Sausages shape, tail (flagellum)
What are fungi like?
Cell wall, fluffy, grows they own food
What are the three layers of the natural defence system?
Our body, white blood cells, antibodies
What does our skin protect us from?
Stops microbes entering our body
What does our hair protect us from?
Traps microbes and stops the entering our bodies
What does cilia protect our bodies from?
Move mucus and microbes out of the wind pipe
What does the stomach acid do to protect our body from microbes?
Kills microbes such as bacteria and viruses that we swallow
What does the sebum do to protect our body from microbes?
Oil secreted from the skin that kills microbes
What does the lysozyme do to protect our body from microbes?
An enzyme that exists in body cells and eyes that kills bacterial cells by breaking down their cell walls
What is a pathogen?
A harmful microbe
What do white blood cells do?
Ingest pathogens and digest it so it can’t cause harm (phagocyte)
What is an antigen?
A toxin that induces immune responses
What type of white blood cell produces antibodies?
Lymphocytes
What do white blood cells do?
Recognise her invading pathogen and surround it making it harmless. Each antibody is specific to a particular pathogen
What is a virus?
A tiny bundle of genetic material carried in a shell, the viral coat or capsid which is made of protein called capsomeres
What do antibiotics do?
They stop bacteria reproducing and harm or kill the bacteria. They treat diseases caused by bacteria
How do you become immune to a disease?
The first time the pathogen enters the body, lymphocytes produce antibodies for that specific microbe. The next time it enters the body, the white blood cells remember the pathogen and its antibody
What do vaccines do?
Inject you with a small amount of a dead or weak disease or microbe
How do vaccines work?
antibodies are produced that recognise and remember that specific pathogen so it can fight off that disease again
What is a vaccine?
A small amount of a weak or dead disease-causing microbe that stimulates the production of antibodies to create an immunity towards that disease
Who came up with the vaccine idea?
Edward Jenner
How did Edward Jenner get the idea of a vaccine?
He noticed milkmaids that got cowpox never got smallpox
