Microbial Nutrition, Ecology and Growth Flashcards
What are essential elements?
elements which are required for life
Macronutrients
nutrient which is required in large amounts
Macronutrients include
phosphorus, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon; main essential elements
Micronutrients
nutrients required in small amounts
Micronutrients aid in…
enzyme function and metabolic reactions
Heterotrophs (source of carbon)
organisms that obtain organic molecules from other organisms; eating sugars, fats, amino acids, etc.
Autotrophs (source of carbon)
make their own organic molecules from inorganic sources
Inorganic sources include
water, carbon dioxide
Carbon fixation
turning inorganic carbon into organic carbon; autotrophs
Nitrogen is mostly found with what bond?
triple covalent bond
Nitrogen fixation
turning nitrogen into NO2, NO3, NH4; nitrite, nitrate, ammonia
How do organisms take up phosphorus?
through the soil
Effect of zinc in organisms
blocks the glycoproteins on our cell surface to prevent the attachment of the glycoprotein spikes on viruses
Microbe consumption types
autotrophs and heterotrophs
Autotrophs
create their own energy using inorganic molecules
Autotrophs include…
photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs/lithoautotrophs
Photoautotrophs
obtain energy from sunlight and make their own organic molecules
Equation for photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight –> 6O2 + C6H12O6
Characteristics of photoautotrophs
create the basis for many food webs, process of photosynthesis is oxygenic, contain chlorophyll a, plants/algae/cyanobacteria undergo photosynthesis
Oxygenic
create oxygen gas
Chemoautotrophs/lithoautotrophs
make their own organic molecules by oxidizing minerals
Chemoautotrophs characteristics
eat rocks, most likely to first evolve, are methanogens
Heterotrophs
obtain their energy from other organisms
Many heterotrophs are…
chemoheterotrophs
Chemoheterotrophs
take chemical energy and convert it into ATP
Aerobic cellular respiration equation
C6H12O6 + 6O2 –> 6CO2 + 6H2O + 36/38 ATP
36 ATP is the amount created for…
eukaryotic cells
38 ATP is the amount created for…
prokaryotic cells
Heterotrophs include…
chemoheterotrophs, saprobes, parasites
Saprobe
eat dead organisms/matter/waste to obtain their energy
How do saprobes consume other organisms?
release enzymes to hydrolyze molecules to become smaller to help transportation
Why are saprobes unable to engulf organisms?
their cell wall
Saprobes can become what kind of pathogens?
facultative and opportunistic
Facultative pathogens
does not want to be a parasite but if the perfect opportunity is there, the microbe will become parasitic
Opportunistic pathogen
if there is a possible chance to become parasitic the microbe will take it
True Parasite
parasites that can cause disease on a healthy individual
Ectoparasite
on surface/outside
Endoparasite
live inside of the body
Intracellular parasite
inside of a cell
Passive transport
uses molecules inherit energy to move it into and out of the cell
Passive transport examples
diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion
How is energy of molecules measured?
temperature/heat
Diffusion
random movement from high to low concentration until reaching dynamic equilibrium in an open space
Brownian motion
random movement from high to low concentration until molecules are evenly dispersed
Dynamic equilibrium
evenly dispersed molecule/matter
Osmosis (living organisms)
movement of water across the membrane
Why is water ideal in osmosis?
water can move freely across the membrane because it is small and uncharged
Cell responses to osmotic varitiaons
isotonic, hypotonic, hypertonic
Isotonic solution
concentration of the cell is equal to the concentration of the solute; solution concentration = cell concentration
Diffusion of water in isotonic solution
equal in both directions into and out of the cell
What organism is always in an isotonic solution?
parasites
Hypotonic solution
concentration of the cell is more than the concentration on the solute/outside of the cell
Diffusion of water in hypotonic solution
more water will enter the cell
Hypotonic solution effect on cells
cell wall: wall become turgid and the cell membrane expands (plants/algae, bacteria, fungi)
no cell wall: lysis; cell explodes (animals, protazoa)
Hypertonic solution
more solute in environment in comparison to the inside of the cell
Diffusion of water in hypotonic environment
more water will leave the cell causing the cell to plasmolyze
Plasmolysis
when the cell shrinks