Unit 2 Test Lectures 8,9 & Cellular Respiration Flashcards
What are the 8 factors that affect growth of microbes the most?
Salt
Temperature
Energy/nutrient sources
Radiation
PH
Biological Interaction
Water
Gas
(STER-PH | BWG)
What is adaptation and why is it essential for growth and survival?
Changes in structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) that improves an organism’s survival in a given environment
What is nutrition?
A process by which organisms acquire nutrients from an environment and use them for metabolism and growth
What are the key elements in nutrition? How are each used by cells?
-Phosphorous – DNA/RNA, Lipids, ATP (adenosine triPHOSPHATE)
-Oxygen
-Nitrogen – DNA/RNA, Proteins
-Carbon – Backbone of all macromolecules (Protein, carbs, lipids, nucleic acid
-Hydrogen
-Sulfur – 2 amino acids
PONCHS
What are the nutritional categories (e.g. saprotroph) that we went over in class?
From where do organisms within these categories get their energy?
Photoautotroph - sunlight and inorganic carbon sources (CO2)
Chemoautotroph - Simple inorganic chemicals
Chemoheterotroph - metabolic conversion of nutrients from other organisms
Saprotroph (Saprobe) - Metabolizing organic matter of dead organisms
Parasite - Utilize tissues, fluids of live host
Photoheterotroph - Sunlight and carbon from what they consume
Compare and contrast chemically defined and complex growth media. When is each used?
Chemically defined (synthetic) media: The exact amount of every component is known
- For growing microbes with known nutritional needs
- Studying metabolic pathways and biochemical processes
Nonsynthetic (complex) media: One or more components are left undefine due to their complexity
- Cultivating fastidious organisms that require complex nutrients
- When specific nutrient requirements are unknown
Compare and contrast all-purpose and special purpose media.
What are the three general types (e.g. differential) of special purpose media and what is the purpose of each?
All-Purpose: Supports growth of wide variety of microorganisms
Special Purpose: Formed for specific types of microorganisms. for specific nutrients, inhibitors or indicators
Three types: Differential, selective and enriched
Purpose:
Differential: Contains indicators that change color when a particular biochemical reaction occurs (indicates, shows no preference)
ex: MacConkey agar differentiates between lactose fermenters (produce acid, change color) and non-fermenters
Selective: Inhibit growth of certain types of bacteria while allowing others to grow; isolates specific microorganisms from mixed culture
Enriched: Contains additional nutrients for fastidious (picky) organisms; such as blood, serum
Do microbes regulate their cellular temperatures as humans do (homeostasis)? What effect foes this have on where they can live?
Distinguish between: Minimum, Maximum, Optimum Temperatures for microbes.
- No, Microbial cells are the same temperature as the environment in which they are found.
- Their adaptations to temperature extremes define their habitats and roles in ecosystems.
Minimum: The lowest known temperature at which a microbe can live
Maximum: The highest known temperature at which a microbe can live
Optimum Temperature: The temperature at which microbes can produce the highest amount of generations per hour
What are the 4 categories that microbes fall into in terms of temperature requirements?
Psychrophile
Mesophile
Thermophile
Extreme-thermophile
What is the most important gas to consider when considering microbial metabolism?
What is the second?
Two most important gases: O2 (20%) and CO2 (0.04%
OXYGEN
Needed for oxygen | Break down by-products?
- Obligate Aerobe: yes yes
- All at top
- Obligate Anaerobe: no no
- All at bottom
- Facultative Anaerobe: no yes
- Evenly dispersed, slight buildup at top
- Microaerophile: in small amounts yes
- Mostly buildup at top
- Aerotolerant Anaerobes: no yes
- Complete even dispersal
What is a capnophile? Understand how gas requirements would affect growth of microbes on media.
Capnophile – CO2-loving species
How might world climate change effect the distribution of microbes?
It might lead to an increase of Capnophile (CO2 loving species)
- Potential decrease in obligate anaerobes
What are the three microbial categories for pH requirements?
As with temperature, pH is important because it affects microbial __________________ activity.
Neutrophiles – pH 6-8
Acidophiles – Prefer acidic environments
Alkinophiles – Prefer alkaline environments
What is osmosis? How does osmotic pressure affect microbes?
Define: hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic solutions. How does each affect cells? What is a halophile?
Osmosis: diffusion of water
Affect on microbes:
- Osmotic pressure helps maintain turgor pressure = keeps cells rigid & prevents collapse
- Prevents cell lysis (bursting) or plasmolysis (shrinkage)
Hypotonic – Concentration is lower outside of the cell (dilute environment)
- Water moving into cell may cause cell to swell and burst (lysis)
Isotonic – Concentration is the same outside and inside the cell
- No net movement of water, cell maintains shape. Ideal shape for most cells
Hypertonic (osmophiles) - Concentration is higher outside of the cell
- Water moving out of cell make cause shrinkage (plasmolysis).
Halophile: prefer salty habitats (9%-25% NaCl)
How can humans use osmotic pressure changes to their advantages (think food preservation).
Humans can use osmotic pressure by salting/curing.
This creates a salty, hypertonic environment (high osmotic pressure), causing water to move out of microbial cells = death of bacteria and mold
Why are “wonder bugs” such as Staphylococcus aureus a threat to human health?
What precautions are necessary when dealing with these types of microbes that have such wide environmental ranges?
Staph:
Can survive at temps of 6-46 degrees Celsius
Is osmotolerant, tolerates salt concentrations from 0.1-20%
Some are antibiotic resistant
Precautions:
- General hygiene precautions
-
Cells found in hydrothermal systems are under extreme temperature and pressure. Can we collect samples and bring them up without harming cells? Why?
It is hard to collect and bring them up as they are used to withstanding high pressures, so they may burst in our relatively lower pressure environment
The word “growth” can refer to either of what two concepts?
1- Growth of a single cell: organelles increase, cell size increases
2- Growth of the population: the # of cells increases
What is the term used to describe growth (or cell division) in bacteria?
How does binary fission differ from mitosis in eukaryotic cells?
- Binary fission is simpler, DNA is replicated and cell divides into two identical cells
- ## Mitosis is more complex, requires multiple stages (PMAT), and requires mitotic spindle to separate chromosomes
What is a generation time?
What is the average doubling time for bacteria?
Are human pathogens going to have faster or slower growth rates?
Why?
Generation (doubling) time: Time lapse from when a bacterium is one parent cell until two new daughter cells are formed
Average time: 30-60 minutes
Human pathogens are going to have faster growth rates so that they can reproduce before human defenses kick in
Describe the steps of binary fission
DNA Replication: The bacterial chromosome (a single circular DNA molecule) begins to replicate. Two identical copies of the DNA are produced.
Cell Growth: The cell increases in size, and the two DNA copies move toward opposite ends of the cell.
Septum Formation: A septum (a dividing wall) starts to form in the middle of the cell. This involves the synthesis of new cell wall material.
Cell Division: The septum continues to grow inward, eventually pinching the cell in two.
Daughter Cells Separation: Once the septum is complete, the two daughter cells are separated. Each daughter cell contains one copy of the original DNA and is genetically identical to the parent cell.