Microbial Nutrition and Growth Flashcards
What are macronutrients?
a chemical substance required in relatively large quantities and play principal roles in cell structure and metabolism
What are some examples of macronutrients?
Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
What are micronutrients?
a chemical substance required in small quantities called ‘trace elements’ and are involved in enzyme function and maintenance of protein strucuture
What are some examples of micronutrients?
manganese, zinc, nickel
What are some characteristics of organic nutrients?
Contain hydrogen and carbon atoms and are products of living things, simple organic molecules, large polymers(carbs, proteins, nucleic acids, lipids)
Where do microbes obtain their nutrients from?
Either solely from inorganic compounds, or a combination of inorganic/organic compounds
What are heterotrophs?
An organism that must obtain its carbon in an organic form and is dependent on other sources
What is an autotroph?
An organism that uses inorganic CO2 into organic compounds and is independent from other living things
What is a phototroph?
Microbes that photosynthesize(use sunlight to feed)
What are chemotrophs?
Microbes that gain energy from chemical compounds
Some examples of Autotrophs are:
photoautotroph, chemoautotroph
Some examples of Heterotrophs are:
Photoheterotroph, chemoheterotroph, saprobe, parasite
What are saprobes?
free-living microorganisms that feed on organic matter from dead organisms
How do parasites get their nutrients?
By deriving nutrients from the tissue and cells of a living host
What are the different types of parasites?
Range from viruses, helminths, ectoparasites, endoparasites, intracellular parasites, and obligate parasites
What is the most extreme type of parasitic invasion?
Intracellular parasites live within cells
What are the vast majority of microbes that cause human disease called?
Chemoheterotrophs
How can less strict parasites can be cultured artificially?
Provided with correct nutrients and environmental conditions
What are obligate parasites?
They are unable to grow outside of a living host(leprosy bacillus and syphilis spirochete)
What are the essential nutrients for microbes?
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphate, and sulfur
What is passive diffusion?
Movements of atoms and molecules from an area of higher density/concentration to an area of lower density/concentration
What is osmosis?
Diffusion of water through a selective or permeable membrane
What is active transport?
It goes against the diffusion gradient, expends ATP, involved membrane proteins or pumps
What is endocytosis?
a form of active transport where a cell uses energy and forms a vacuole around the substance
