Tree of Life

Question 1

Plasmid

Answer 1

A small, extrachromosomal loop of DNA. Many of the best-studied plasmids carry genes for antibiotic resistance

Question 2

Peptidoglycan

Answer 2

A structural carbohydrate found in bacterial cell walls. It is a lattice made of sugars linked with β-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds that have short chains of peptide-bonded amino acids protruding from them.

Question 3

Prokaryote

Answer 3

Bacteria and archaea—organisms whose cells lack a nucleus

Question 4

Microbe

Answer 4

Viruses and any microscopic organism—including bacterial, archaean, and eukaryotic species

Question 5

Primary producer

Answer 5

An organism that produces its own food, usually via photosynthesis. Primary producers are the source of the chemical energy and carbon compounds that all other organisms rely on for food.

Question 6

Microbiome

Answer 6

The collection of microbes that lives in a particular location.