microbiome ecology Flashcards
what is a population
cells descendant from a parent cell
what is a community
an assemblage of populations
what are guilds
metabolically related microbes that exploit the same resource e.g. nitrogen fixers
what is biogeochemistry
biologically mediated chemical reactions specifically related to earth systems
what are the two main strategies microbes use to survive in there environments
generalist: microbes that can tolerate a wide range of environments an have a more general metabolism
Specialists: microbes that can only inhabit a narrow niche and are adapted to fit that niche very well
what are the two main microbial growth strategies
R-strategists: microbes that grow very rapidly and are able to live in a wide variety of environments
K-strategists: microbes that grow slowly and are specifically adapted to one type of environment, giving them a unique niche
what are persisters and why are they important to cell survival
persisters are cells that remain in a dormant state, event during optimal conditions. there are always a few persister cells so if the colony is damaged there will always be a few that survive and rebuild.
what is anaerobic syntropy
when anaerobic pathways such as fermentation only occur when the end products are kept at a low concentration.
this is because the reactions are only thermodynamically stable at low concentrations.
microbes that rely on these metabolic pathways are dependant on other microbes to metabolise the end products
what are auxotrophies
when a microbe is unable to synthesise an essential molecule or component.
This is common in many symbionts who can get the molecules from its host
what is electron sharing
not all microbes can synthesise every protein needed for a metabolic pathway.
Many microbes work together to complete a pathway by sharing electron acceptors and donors e.g. during anaerobic respiration via nitrate reduction
