Module 9 Flashcards
Taxonomy
The science dealing with the description, identification, naming, and classifying of organisms
Binomial nomenclature
Naming an organism with its genus and species name
Antibiotic
A chemical secreted by a living organism that kills or reduces the reproduction rate of other organisms
Pathogen
An organism that causes disease
Saprophyte
An organism that feeds on dead matter
Endospore
A thick internal wall (made of several hard layers), produced by the bacterium, that encloses its DNA and other essential parts
Conjugation
A temporary union of two organisms for the purpose of DNA transfer
Transformation
The transfer of a DNA segment from a nonfunctional donor cell to that of a functional recipient cell
Transduction
The process in which infection by a virus results in DNA being transferred from one bacterium to another
Virus
A noncellular infectious agent that has two characteristics:
(1) It has genetic material (DNA or RNA) inside a protective protein coat.
(2) It cannot reproduce on its own; it must infect a living cell.
Lytic cycle
A virus enters a cell, hijacks the host cell’s DNA replication system, makes copies of itself, and causes the cell to burst, releasing more viruses
Lysogenic cycle
A virus enters a cell, embeds its DNA into the DNA of the host cell and is replicated along with the host cell’s DNA
