Midterm Material (8.23 - 10.6) Flashcards
what are the most numerable microbes on earth?
viruses
what are the 4 categories of microbes?
bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, viruses
what is the most effective means we have to study/identify most microbes?
DNA sequencing and analysis
how do we know that our mitochondria are ancient symbiotic microbes?
mitochondria have DNA and it’s codon usage is classically bacterial
what are the probable type of bacteria that chloroplasts are descendants of?
cyanobacteria
what gene do we use to identify bacteria?
the rrn gene
what is the rrn gene? why do we use it to identify bacteria?
it makes the 16s ribosomal RNA subunit, we use it bc it is an essential gene, highly conserved but also highly specific to all bacterial species
what is the general reason for performing a Gram stain?
a general way to distinguish cell types, able to see overview of morphological characteristics of bacteria
what 3 categories do Gram stains allow us to sort bacteria into?
Gram negative, Gram positive, Indeterminate
what are the characteristics of Gram negative bacteria?
- 2 membranes w cell wall in between
- maintains red coloration
what are the characteristics of Gram positive bacteria?
- 1 membrane with VERY thick cell wall
- stains purple
what are the characteristics of Gram indeterminate bacteria?
- typically do not stain or something else weird happens
what are the 3 major components of all bacteria?
- envelope, nucleoid, ribosomes
describe the inner membrane of Gram negative bacteria
- has an electrical charge and proton gradient, required for functional cell
- many proteins in here too, transport guys
what are some key component of the outer membrane in Gram negative bacteria?
- contains LPS molecules to help maintain water preventing dehydration and allowing for some general protection
- lipids cannot flip between leaflets, strict composition maintained
what type of linkages exist in bacterial vs archaeal phospholipids?
bacterial - ester linkages
archaeal - ether linkages
what are the roles of cis/trans bonds in phospholipids?
they aid in maintaining or changing fluidity of the membrane, trans bonds lead to more rigidity and cis bonds give some kinds which allow for some more fluidity
what are the benefits of ether linkages in archaeal phospholipids? how are archaeal phospholipids different?
- these ether linkages allow their phospholipids to be very stable
- branched terpenoids (more rigid/stable membrane)
- some extremophiles fuse their leaflets
- these guys live in extreme conditions so they need all the protection and optimization they are able to get their pili on
what are lipopolysaccharides (LPS)? what are their roles? where are they found?
they are lipids with huge head groups and 6 tails, they are used mainly for protection, they are found on the outer membrane
what are the 3 components of LPS molecules? which are essential? which are variable?
- core polysaccharide: essential and specific
- the O antigen: incredibly variable, literally some of the most antigenic stuff we have
- lipid A: essential
what are the 6 roles of membrane proteins?
structural support, detecting environmental signals, secretion of proteins and small molecules, transport in and out of cell, making energy probably ATM, making reducing power probably NAD+/NADH
how is the cell wall formed in Gram negative bacteria?
these are formed via somewhat complicated cross linking structures, made in strands and crosslinked
how does penicillin affect the cell wall of Gram negative bacteria?
targets cross links, targets actively growing bacteria and basically makes them explode as they rip themselves apart from unstable cell wall linkages
what is the S-layer that is formed by some bacteria? what is its function?
it is a protective protein-sugar layer, it is a bunch of teichoic acid stuff
how do materials get across the cell wall and to the inner membrane?
to get things to the inner membrane, enzymes called sortases might be necessary if the bacteria has huge S-layer
what does it mean for a bacterial chromosome to have specific domains?
domains are specifically and independently supercoiled regions of the genome with proteins that compact and relax it even more than natural interactions
what is coupled transcription/translation? why are bacteria able to do it?
trsc going right into trl because bacteria do not have a nucleus and everything is happening all together in the cytoplasm
what are the locations of the beginning/ending of bacterial chromosome replication called?
oriC and terC
why are highly transcribed genes always located in the same direction as the replication fork?
to prevent blockages when proteins are being made all at once
what are the steps of cell division?
- cell wall elongates and DNA is replicated
- cell wall and plasma membrane begin to divide
- cross-wall forms around divided DNA
- cell separates
what does it mean to say that bacterial chromosomes replicate bidirectionally?
the replication forks are going both directions and we get multiple rounds of replication going all at once as things become available
name a couple: macronutrients, cofactors, and micronutrients
macro: C, N, P, O, H, S
cofactors: Mg, Fe, K, Ca
micro: Co, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Zn
types of bacteria based on - CARBON Source
heterotroph: break down organic molecules to obtain and recycle C
autotroph: fix CO2, assemble into macromolecules
types of bacteria based on - ENERGY Source
phototroph: energy from light
chemotroph: energy from redox reactions
types of bacteria based on - ELECTRON Source
lithotrophs: inorganic molecules donate electrons (Fe, S, N, etc)
organotrophs: organic molecules donate electrons
types of active transport
symporters, antiporter, ABC transporters
what is the most abundant type of transporter?
ABC transporters
ways to grow bacteria
liquid media, solid media, purify one species and grow it, and grow bacteria as communities
define the following: rich media, minimal media, differential media, selective media
rich media: undefined, designed to grow fast
minimal media: only gives essentials, grow slower
differential media: used for tests to determine what is in the population
selective media: used for tests to restrict growth and select for microbes that grow under certain conditions
what are the phases of growth for bacteria?
lag, log, stationary, death
what do bacteria form when they are allowed to grow naturally on solid surfaces?
biofilms
what are the characteristics exopolysaccharides (EPS) in biofilms? what are they used for?
EPS are thick, sugar coating, allows communication, coats entire surface, allows bacteria to not dry out, if cells die the DNA will be redistributed to those in the matrix, can be antibiotic resistant
what are the stages of sporulation?
stage I - septum forms near one pole, DNA replicates and extends into an axial filament
stage II - septum separates forespore from mother cell, DNA pumped through septum until each compartment gets a chromosome
stage III - mother cell engulfs forespore, surrounding it with a second membrane
stage IV - chromosomes of mother cell disintegrates
stage V - forespore develops a cortex layer of peptidoglycan between original forespore membrane and the membrane from the mother, coat proteins deposited on outer membrane
stage VI - dipicolinic acid is synthesized and calcium is incorporated into the spore coat
stage VII - mother cell releases spore
what are some bacteria that form spores?
B. subtilis, B. cereus, B. anthracis, C. tetari, C. botulinium, C. dificilus
what is the point of spore formation?
allows bacteria to survive, adds 2 extra cell walls, can literally survive for months as a spore, basically impervious
what are heterocysts? what are their purposes?
specific cyanobacteria cells that have different gene expression, they are able to fix nitrogen in an oxygen free environment after they modify their gene expression, basically they fix N2 and allow it to then diffuse to all the cells around it which are photosynthesizing and require oxygen for other processes
what does the filamentous growth pattern of streptomyces entail?
go look at this diagram and understand it more maybe, or also just know that streptomyces does in fact have filamentous growth patterns
what environmental factors affect bacterial growth?
pH, temperature, osmolarity, oxygen, pressure
classifications of bacteria based on: temperature, pH, osmolarity, oxygen, and pressure
temp: hyperthermophiles, thermophiles, mesophiles, psychrophiles
pH: alkaliphile, neutralophile, acidophile
osmolarity: halophile
oxygen: strict aerobe, facultative microbe, microaerophile, strict anaerobe
pressure: barophile, barotolerant
what does it mean to grow vs to survive?
growth: making more cells, active, functional
survival: no growth, sitting and just trying to survive, vibing but not growth, typically leads to adaptations presenting themselves
what are some adaptations of psychrophiles and thermophiles?
psychrophiles: proteins are more flexible, different codon usage, antifreeze proteins (prevent ice crystals)
thermophiles: enzymes stable at high temps, membranes stable at high temps, have more chaperones to aid in folding, chromosome consists of more proteins which aid in stabilization of DNA
what are some adaptations of barophiles?
not sure
how do bacteria protect against osmotic stress?
- move water into/out of cell
- make small molecule solutes
- open pressure sensitive channels to move solutes out of cell
what do we know about halophiles?
they be pink, they typically photosynthesize, they need to be near the surface of where they live to obtain that light
what does it mean to portray internal pH as a function of external pH?
most bacteria are able to regulate their internal pH so that they are able to tolerate environments of higher/lower pH because their insides are still able to function appropriately
how to alkaliphiles adapt to low proton environments?
they are able to bring in Na+ at times if there are no protons able to be present and used
what does it mean for bacteria to be: aerobic, microaerobic, or anaerobic?
determines how much oxygen they can handle
why is oxygen so toxic to anaerobes?
they may not have enzymes to deal with reactive oxygen species and this oxygen would just destroy their metabolism and insides
talk about starvation/programmed cell death in terms of MazE and MazF
brain hurty - look at diagram
basically under no stress/no starvation proteins E and Z are bound together and synthesized as normal
when starvation occurs, protein E is degraded and gone, protein F induces cleavage of mRNA and growth stasis leading to cell death, meanwhile G6PD is being chopped up into little bits by proteases
when these G6PD pieces diffuse out of the cell, they bind to protein E in other bystander cells and thus cause E and F to unbind from each other and F to induce mRNA cleavage, growth stasis, and ultimately cell death, releasing nutrients
protein F may also be referred to as a toxin and protein E is the antitoxin which stabilizes it and until it no longer can
what are some ways we control bacterial growth?
sterilization, high temp high pressure treatment, pasteurization, cold, filtration, irradiation, chemicals and disinfectants
what features are involved in the general structure of viruses?
capid, genetic material, lack of metabolic activity, may have tail to help with infection, may have enclosed membrane stolen from host cell
what are the two phases of a viral lifecycle?
lytic phase and lysogenic phase
what does it mean for a virus to undergo lysogeny?
goes under the radar
phage DNA integrates into the host genome to form prophage, this integrated phage DNA can replicate with the bacterial chromosome now, this can now hang out for a while until there is stress in which can it can then become lytic again
what are the 3 ways viruses protect their genomes?
- circularization w sticky ends
- RecA recombination (terminal redundancy)
- covalently bound proteins on ends
what are some characteristics of T4 phages?
- need 3-4 phages before lysing of cell occurs, DNA in geometric head, some other general stuff lol
how do viruses get into cells?
every virus recognizes some receptor(s) on the outside of the target cell(s)
do all viruses lyse the cells they infect?
no, may try to replicate and shed without lysing so as to bypass and not notify cellular response mechanisms
what are some characteristics of papilloma viruses?
cancer - follow this diagram through and see the weird things about it
what is a genome?
all the genomic information that makes up an organism. for any given bacteria this may include its chromosome(s), and any plasmid(s) or viruses. bacterial genomes are highly variable.
how do viruses behave as genomic information in bacteria?
they may be integrated into the bacterial chromosome and replicated along with it OR they may behave as a plasmid and replicate independently.
how do genomes make a living?
- must be compacted to fit into the cell
- replicated and passed to daughter cells
- must be transcribed into RNA
- are allowed to change over time and lead to bacterial evolution
what types of RNA may a genome be transcribed into?
mRNA (very unstable, small portion of all RNA in a cell), tRNA, rRNA, stable small RNA
vertical gene transfer
genes passed via replication to progeny - how multicellular organisms work
horizontal gene transfer
genes passed via transformation, conjugation, or transduction
a major reason that bacteria evolve at much faster rates than other life forms