Nutrient Movement Flashcards
What is nutrient movement and metabolic diversity
study of the interaction of microorganisms with each other and their physical environment
What is an ecosystem and what does it consist of?
- a community of organisms and their natural environment
- consists of physical things (organisms) and the abiotic environment
Define abiotic
physio-chemical parameters of environment
Does structure always translate to function? Explain.
- no, some clusters of genes/triggers can be missing
- sometimes they aren’t regularly expressed (some factors may give competitive advantage + also help with antibiotic resistance
Define population
a single colony arisen from an individual cell
Define guild
metabolically related group of organisms (can survive in same environment)
What does it mean when organisms can exist in the same environment?
complementary metabolism
Define community
total collection of all organisms in population (multiple guilds)
What is important to consider when looking at ecosystems?
- energy flow
- nutrient cycling
What is an anoxic anaerobe?
does not need oxygen at all
What are the 2 main objectives of microbial ecology?
- biodiversity
- measure of activities
What is the importance of biodiversity?
- nutrients are cycled - if not they are hung up and system would not survive
What is the importance of measuring activity?
- they work in parallel with functional profile
- monitor effects on ecosystem
What is required for organisms to reproduce?
- nutrients and appropriate environmental conditions (abiotic)
What are some examples of abiotic conditions?
- temp
- pH
- Water activity (aw)
- Oxygen
- Nutrients
What is Aw?
water activity - has least amount of room for change
What is a niche and what does it include?
- the functional role of an organism, where it is functionally active
- location, nutrients used
What is a microenvironment?
- habitat and conditions where microorganism lives
- can be highly changeable (heterogeneous) because they are small
- permits growth of physiologically distinct groups
What is the difference between niche and microenvironment?
- a niche is where the microorganism is FUNCTIONAL
- a microenvironment is where the microorganism is FOUND
Explain what growth of physiologically distinct groups means
- they can be near one another
- ex. e.coli is facultative anaerobe and will layer to grab O2 as it cycles through –> protects anoxic anaerobes
What does facultative anaerobe mean and what is an example?
- capable of switching from aerobic to anoxic if needed
- ex. E. Coli
What are causes of slow growth rates in nature?
- low nutrient supply or non-uniform distribution
- competition for resources
Why is exponential growth slower in nature than in lab?
- conditions are harder to find in nature
- lab is specialized and can add nutrients/oxygen when needed but it is not readily available in nature
- competition
Where is microbial growth optimal in natural environment (location)? Why?
When attached to a surface because they have higher levels of absorbed nutrients and more moisture
What is a good analogy to explain why microbes find it optimal to be attached to a surface?
- bouncing around a classroom while trying to catch a ball (nutrients)
What attaches to surfaces first?
Chemical particles due to charge and surface tension
What are pioneer organisms?
first set of organisms to scavenge a new surface
Define biofilm
- community/colony embedded in an organic polymer matrix attached to a surface
What is an organic polymer matrix?
extracellular polymer substance/exopolysaccharide
Define microbial mat, give an example
- complex macroscopic layered microbial communities (can see with naked eye)
- edge of a beach
List areas that biofilms cause significant negative impact
- artificial implants
- dental disease
- reduced water flow in pipelines
- portable water quality
- degradation and corrosion increase
list areas that biofilms are useful
- leaching of low grade ores (need it to extract)
- food fermentation (want it in GI tract)
- filtration (clean it)
What is a low grade ore?
ore with low concentration of metals
Define competition
when multiple organisms acquire same resource (nutrients/space)
What do microbial interactions depend on?
- rates of nutrient uptake
- metabolic and growth rates (some are different and can co-exist)
Define the competitive exclusion principle
- if you compete long enough, one group is bound to lose
Define antagonism
- one microorganism inhibits growth/metabolism of another
- excretion of inhibitor or toxic metabolite
Define syntrophy
- 2 or more organisms WORK TOGETHER to carry out transformation they cannot do individually
What is the difference between antagonism and syntropy in regard to “running a race”
- antagonism = sticking out foot to trip
- syntropy = simply racing
Why is syntropy important?
- nutrients do not cycle properly without multiple organisms (each do a different transformation)
What is partial nitrification
- chemical transformation faster than biological, may deprive particular group
- competition
- biological transformation keeps things moving
