Mod 1: The Background of Microbiology Flashcards
Immune mechanisms that “learn” to deal with specific invaders.
Adaptive Immune Response
A transmission mechanism in which the infectious agent is spread as an aerosol and usually enters a person through the respiratory tract.
Airborne Transmission
A substance produced by a B lymphocyte in response to a unique antigen, which it can then combine with to destroy or control it.
Antibodies
A group of immunocompetent cells that mediate cellular immune response by engulfing, processing, and presenting antigens to the T-cell receptor. Traditional antigen-presenting cells include macrophages, dendritic cells, Langerhans cells, and B lymphocytes.
Antigen-Presenting Cells (APCs)
A type of lymphocyte, developed in bone marrow, that circulates in the blood and lymph and, upon encountering a particular foreign antigen, differentiates into a clone of plasma cells that secrete antibody and a clone of memory cells that make the antibody on subsequent encounters.
B Cells
A vector that is essential in the life cycle of a pathogenic organism.
Biological Vector
A sheath or continuous enclosure around an organ or structure.
Capsule
A semipermeable phospholipid bilayer that separates the interior of cells from the outside environment and controls movement into and out of the cell.
Cell Membrane
A linear strand made of DNA that carries genetic information (genes).
Chromosomes
Threadlike projections from the free surface of certain epithelial cells used to propel or sweep materials across a surface.
Cilia
The mode of transportation of infectious pathogens from a source that is common to all the cases of a specific disease, by means of a vehicle such as water, food, air, or the blood supply.
Common Vehicle Transmission
Occurs when microorganisms are transferred from one infected person to another.
Contact Transmission
A gel-like matrix contained within the cell membrane that holds all of the cell’s internal substructures.
Cytoplasm
Organelle that consists of a network of channels that transport materials within the cell.
Endoplasmic Reticulum
A lipopolysaccharide that is part of the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria released after the cell’s death.
Endotoxins
Organisms in which the cell nucleus is surrounded by a membrane.
Eukaryotes
A poisonous substance produced by certain bacteria.
Exotoxins
Threadlike structures that provide motility for certain bacteria and protozoa and for spermazoa
Flagella
Object that may harbor microorganisms and is capable of transmitting them.
Fomite
Stacks of membrane-bound structures that package proteins inside the cell before they are sent to their destination; important in the processing of proteins for secretion.
Golgi Apparatus
Immunity associated with circulating antibodies.
Humoral Immune Response
A disease caused by microorganisms, especially those that release toxins or invade body tissues.
Infection
The ability to protect one’s self from pathogens, the immunity you have when you are born.
Innate Immune Response
A substance or microorganism introduced by inoculation
Inoculum
Cell organelles containing hydrolytic enzyme capsules used to break down proteins and carbohydrates to aid in intracellular digestion.
Lysosome
A monocyte that has left the circulation and settled and matured in a tissue such as the spleen, lymph nodes, alveoli, and tonsils.
Macrophage
A vector that simply conveys pathogens to a susceptible individual and is not essential to the development of the organism.
Mechanical Vector
The scientific study of microorganisms, that is, of bacteria, fungi, intracellular parasites, protozoans, viruses, and some worms.
Microbiology
Cell organelles of rod or oval shape that contain the enzymes for the aerobic stages of cell respiration and are the site of most ATP synthesis.
Mitochondira
Type of cell division of somatic cells in which each daughter cell contains the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
Mitosis
A mononuclear phagocytic white blood cell derived from myeloid stem cells that circulate in the bloodstream and act as the first line of defense in the inflammatory process.
Monocytes
The system of fixed macrophages and circulating monocytes that serve as phagocytes, engulfing foreign substances in a wide variety of immune responses.
Mononuclear Phagocyte System (MPS)
Linings of mostly endodermal origin, covered in epithelium, which are involved in absorption and secretion.
Mucous Membranes
