Topic 2 Flashcards
What size are bacteria?
Small, they are the most important
What size are viruses?
They are even smaller than bacteria
What is an example of multicellular parasites?
Tapeworms
What can fungi cause?
Some skin infections
What are protists
Single cells eukaryotic organisms
What are prions
Proteins, not living things, will bing to some proteins (in a human) and stop them from working
Which organism has a “true” nucleus?
A eukaryotic (animal) cell
Are viruses alive?
They reproduce (can’t do it alone), don’t have metabolism, don’t take in food, don’t have waste, don’t take up energy, have genetic material so they are not ‘technically’ alive
What is included in Prokaryotic cells?
Bacteria and archaea
What is included in Eukaryotic cells
Protists
Algae
Fungi
Animals
What is included in acellular
Viruses
Prions
What does acellular mean
Without cells
Give an example of a protist
Seaweed
Eukaryotic are what type of cells
Single cells, what humans are made of
Describe the chemistry of Archaea
The chemistry and metabolism is similar to eukaryotic cells, do not cause infection
What are the top 3 groups in Eukarya
Plants, animals (humans), and fungi
What is the chromosome
How DNA is stored
What is the capsule layer?
It is resistant the immune system (more dangerous to humans)
What is the plasmid
It is useful because we can take DNA and put it in a plasmid and trick it to multiple.
It carries a gene that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics which is not done by eukaryotes
State the features of a Prokaryote cell
Chromosomes: circular - no nucleus - no histones Plus additional small circles of DNA called plasmids Organelles: No Cell wall: Peptidoglycan (most) Cell Division: Binary Fission
What are histones
Positively charged proteins in eukaryote (used for compacted DNA)
State the features of a Eukaryote cell?
Chromosomes: Paired chromosomes, in nuclear membrane
(Histones - proteins used to package DNA into chromosomes)
Organelles: Yes
Cell wall: Polysaccharide (if any)
Cell division: Mitosis
What are the three domains of life?
Eukarya, Archaea, and Bacteria
Do Archaea cause any issues?
No, they do not
What is classification?
Organisms are sorted in a hierarchy (species, genus, family, etc). This system is known as taxonomy
We classify by looking for similar shared traits (which ideally indicate relatedness)
What characteristic do mammals share?
They produce milk
What characteristic do carnivora share?
Specialized teeth
What characteristic do Felidae share?
Retractable claws
What is a species?
A population whose members can interbreed to produce viable, fertile offspring
What are problems with the definition of a species?
- Many organisms don’t mate (there are no sexes)
- Bacteria often swap DNA between unrelated forms
- Viruses can’t even reproduce on their own
What is an example of a mammal that breed but cannot have offspring
A mule (horse and donkey)
How do we classify microbes?
- Cell shape (morphology)
- Ability to be stained
- Biochemistry (nutrition, metabolism & growth conditions)
- rRNA sequences (2-3% different = new species)
Why do we test enzymes
To see what kind of species these microbes are
What is a sequence alignment
Comparing rRNA genes between organisms to see how related they are
How do we name things?
- Use latin (no favouritism)
- Italicized or underlined
- Each organism has two names: Genus and species
eg: Escherichia coli (E.Coli)
Deinococcus Radiodurans is known for being
The “toughest bacterium”
It can survive cold, dehydration, vacuum, high acidity and radiation
What qualities do protistas have?
Animal and plant like qualities (do not fit into the other three kingdoms)