Microbes Flashcards
What are microbes measured in?
Metric units
What is a micrometre?
One millionth of a metre - 1 x 10-6
What is a nanometer?
One billionth of a metre - 1 x 10-9
What is the typical size of bacterium?
3 micrometres
What is the measurement range of viruses?
10 to 300 nanometers
What are the 2 types of cells?
Eukaryotes and prokaryotes
What are eukaryotes?
- Complex cells
- Have a true nucleus and linear genome
- organelles
- flexible cell wall
What are prokaryotes?
- always bacteria
- single cells
- do not have a nucleus, mitochondria or any other eukaryotic membrane bound organelle
- rigid cell wall
- free floating DNA
What is different about fungi?
Eukaryotes that have a rigid cell wall due to chitin
What is chitin?
A fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides which generates a hard outer shell or amour in organisms for protection.
What is an organelle?
One small part of a cell that has a very specific function or job within a cell
What is a nucleus?
A membrane bound organelle that contains genetic material (DNA) of eukaryotic organisms
What are the two types of viruses?
Naked and enveloped
Viruses contain?
Either DNA or RNA, never both
What makes up a naked virus?
Nucleus acid (RNA or DNA) surrounded by capsid (looks like beads)
What is a capsid composed of?
Capsomeres
What does the size and the shape of the capsid depend on?
The amount of DNA or RNA
What makes up an enveloped virus?
Nucleus acid surrounded by capsid and an additional protein outer called an envelope.
What are acellular?
Viruses, they have no cell
What are cellular?
Prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Cells contain?
DNA and RNA inside a nucleus surrounded by cytoplasm
Viruses contain?
An inner core of either DNA or RNA (never both) but no cytoplasm. They have no nucleus.
What is Miasma?
Bad air or smells, people used to believe this caused illness
Who is John Snow?
The father of epidemiology
