Microorganisms and Microbiology Flashcards
What is Microbiology?
The study of living things too small to be seen without magnification
What are microorganisms/microbes?
microscopic organisms commonly called “germs, viruses, agents”
Names 7 microorganisms
Bacteria, Archaea, Protozoa, Fungi, Helminths, Viruses, Algae
What two themes does microbiology revolve around?
understanding basic processes: helps us understand unicellular and multicellular organisms
Applying that knowledge to the benefit of humans
Name 5 reasons microorganisms are important
1.oldest form of life
2. largest mass of living material on Earth
3. Carry out major processes for biogeochemical cycles
4. can live in places unsuitable for other organisms
5. other life forms require microbes to survive
How do microorganisms impact humans
can be beneficial and harmful
Name 3 positive impacts on humans from microorganisms
nitrogen-fixing bacteria, cellulose-degrading microbes in the rumen, regeneration of nutrients in soil and water, microbial transformation (cheese, yogurt, milk, pickles, breads, beers)
Name a negative impact from microorganisms
diseases and spoilage in plant and animals
Explain what microorganisms do
synthesize vitamins and other nutrients and takes up space to keep out bad organisms ; high number in GI tract, a good diet would mean no vitamins
Preservatives…?
keep food from spoiling and were thought of before the invention of the fridge
Lactic acid…
prevents the growth of microorganisms
What grows in vinegar?
nothing
Name some biofuels and how microbes play a part in the process
Methane, ethanol, hydrogen; help clean up pollutants (bioremediation)
Explain Ethanol as a biofuel
can be made from cellulose or cornstarch through fermentation by mixing glucose but it’s too expensive to produce consistently
How are microoganisms used as genetic resources?
can produce antibiotics, enzymes, and various chemicals; biotechnology allows for genetic engineering of microbes to generate things such as insulin (bc pig insulin isn’t as effective)
Name the 7 Taxonomic Microbiology areas
Bacteriology, Virology, Phycology (algae), Mycology, Protozoology, Parasitology, Immunology
Name the 7 Applied Microbiology areas
Medical, Pharmaceutical, Agricultural, Environmental, Industrial, Food, and Biotechnology
Robert Hooke
(1635-1703) first described microbes and used the word “cell”
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
(1632 - 1723) first to describe bacteria
Ernst Abbe
(1840 - 1905) created resolution- sharpness of the image [not the same as magnification]
Paul Ehrlich
(1881) created viral stain that allowed you to see microorganisms
Hans Christian Gram
(1884) created the differential stain which is the most important stain
Theory of Spontaneous Generation
(1668) Francesco Redi used flies to see if things rise from unliving things [proven wrong]
Louis Pasteur
(1822 - 1895) sterilization and aseptic technique, pasteurization of food, swan neck flask, vaccinations, and discovered microbes killing other microbes
Integrative Microbio: Microbial Cytology
microscopic and submicroscopic details
Integrative Microbio: Microbial Systematics
grouping and classifying microorganisms
Integrative Microbio: Microbial Physiology
microbial metabolism and growth
Integrative Microbio: B & G
Biochemistry and Genetics
Integrative Microbio: Molecular Microbiology
genomics, proteomics, metabolomics
Integrative Microbio: Microbial Ecology
relationship between microorganisms and environment
What is tyndalization?
an alternative sterilization method for killing spores
What is the germ theory of disease and uno discovered it?
Robert Koch (1843 - 1910) organisms should be associated w/ diseased animals and should cultivated in pure culture. Organisms from pure culture should cause disease in another susceptible animal and same organism should be resulted from this animal
Name 3 exceptions of koch’s postulates
Some infectious agents cannot be readily isolated or grown in lab or be
Elicited in animals, and not possible to determine causation in polymicrobal diseases
What help aid the rapid advances in genetics?
Found that microorganisms make a good model system
What is Koch’s Postulates
bacteria in blood creates diseases and he was able to identify harmful pathogens
Detail Antiseptics
created in 1867 by Joseph Lister by mixing phenol and water to keep sterile; created Listerine
Detail Arsenicals
created by Paul Ehrlich around 1880s-90s to treat syphilis; identified the right microbe that would kill bacteria but not the human
Detail Penicillin
created in 1929 by Alexander Flemming and came from mold; only worked on gram positive bacteria but still kickstarted the pharmaceutical industry
Detail Streptomycin
created in 1940 by Selman Waxman on worked on gram negative bacteria
Describe the one gene one enzyme theory
(1941 Beadle and Tatum) used Neurospora sp and exposed it to x-rays to see which gene needed to be changed for organisms to grow
Fred Griffith
(1921) transformation of streptococcus pneumoniae (bacteria changed from harmless to harmful) by mixing microbes to see if they would provide protection and discovered DNA lasts a very long time
Avery MacCloud and McCarthy
(1941) discovered bacteria can be transformed by DNA
Watson and Crick
(1953) discovered chemical structure of DNA
