The Microbial World Flashcards
What is Microbiology?
The study of microbes, or forms of life too small to be seen with the naked eye.
What are the characteristics of life?
Metabolism, growth, reproduction, genetic variation/evolution, response/adaptation to external environment, and maintaining homeostasis.
What is the definition of life?
“A self-organizing, self replicating, non-equilibrium system”.
What are the 4 macromolecules needed for life in general?
Polypeptides, nucleic acids, lipids, and polysaccharides.
What are the functions of Polypeptides? Dry Weight of cell (%)?
Enzymes catalyze the vast majority of biochemical reactions in the cell. Other proteins are structural components of cells. 50-55%.
What are the functions of DNA Nucleic acids? Dry Weight of cell (%)?
Informational: DNA provides the instructions for assembly and reproductions of the cell. 2-5%.
What are the functions of RNA Nucleic acids? Dry Weight of cell (%)?
Many functions, most of which are involved in the production of polypeptides. Some serve structural or catalytic functions. 15-20%.
What are the functions of Lipids? Dry Weight of cell (%)?
Structural: Make up cellular membranes that form physical boundary between the inside of the cell and surroundings and membranes of internal organelles. 10%.
What are the functions of Polysaccharides? Dry Weight of cell (%)?
Structural (cellulose and chitin) and energy storage (glycogen and starch). 6-7%
What are the subunits of Polypeptides, DNA/RNA Nucleic acids, Lipids, and Polysaccharides respectively?
Amino acids, deoxyribonucleotides, ribonucleotides, “diverse structures”, sugars.
DNA sequence are how we can break life into 3 large groups known as ____ which are ____, ____, ____.
Domains; prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and archea.
What are viruses?
a metabolically inert, infectious agent that replicates only within the cells of living hosts.
What are some reasons microbes are important?
They’re fast, cheap and easy to grow. They can produce enzymes and other molecules for industrial/medical uses. Most have a small number of genes, making them easier to study, and genetic manipulation of single-celled bacteria is usually much easier to study than multicellular eukarya.
Explain the Endosymbiotic theory.
Primitive prokaryotic microbes ingested other microbes, starting a symbiotic relationship, forming the first basic eukaryotes.
What is the basic idea of how microbial life arose on earth?
Early conditions formed RNA and micelles, which came together into a primitive cell using RNA for storing genetic information and coding. Primitive cells eventually changed from using RNA to DNA instead for storing their genetic information.
