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Microbiology 1 > 1.1 Intro and major themes of microbio > Flashcards

1.1 Intro and major themes of microbio Flashcards

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1
Q

are microorganisms visible to the naked eye?

A

Most are too small too see but some are visible

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2
Q

are all microbes unicellular

A

no some are multicellular

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3
Q

what techniques is microbio defined by

A
  • culture media
  • biochemistry
  • molecular and genetic techniques
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4
Q

what is culture media used for

A

nutrient rich substances for isolation and growth of organisms in pure culture

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5
Q

what is biochemistry used for in microbio

A

to study cell components

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6
Q

lots of molecular and genetic techniques in science were developed from working with __

A

bacteria

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7
Q

what are the 6 reasons why microbio is important, which one is its purpose for humans?

A
  1. It’s purpose for humans is to study organisms that make you sick, to prevent sickness
  2. Microbes are the oldest form of life
  3. they are the largest mass of living material on earth
  4. carry out major processes for biogeochemical cycles (like nitrogen fixation)
  5. can live in places unsuitable for other organisms
  6. other life forms require microbes to survive
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8
Q

why are bacteria needed for nitrogen fixation

A

animals and plants can’t carry out this process, and N2 is not bioavailable so it must be converted to NH3 (ammonia).

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9
Q

what was microbiome originally called and its second name before microbiome

A

Originally called microflora, then microbiota, then microbiome

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10
Q

what is the human microbiome

A

all the microbiomes that live on us

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11
Q

90% of serotonin is made where with what

A

in the digestive tract with the help of gut bacteria

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12
Q

all cells have what 3 characteristics in common, describe each

A
  • cytoplasmic membrane- barrier that separates the inside of the cell from the outside environment
  • cytoplasm - aqueous mixture of macromolecules, ions, and proteins.
  • ribosomes - site of protein sythesis
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13
Q

cells store genetic information as _, the information is divided into functional units called _.

A
  • as DNA
  • units called genes
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14
Q

whats a genome

A

-a cell’s full complement of genes

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15
Q

what is a chromosome

A

a cell’s full complement of genes (total genetic material)

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16
Q

what’s a chromosome

A
  • a genetic element carrying genes essential to cellular function
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17
Q

what’s a plasmid

A

a piece of DNA that carries non-essential genes (ex. genes for antibiotic resistance.)

non-essential genes could be useful under certain conditions but not needed generally for life under all conditions.

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18
Q

what is metabolism

A
  • the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in a cell to carry out the processes they need to live
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19
Q

what’s catabolism does it release or absorb energy

A

catabolism-reactions that break complex molecules into simpler ones
-release energy

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20
Q

wwhat’s anabolism does it release or absorb energy

A

-reactions that build complex molecules from simpler ones
-require energy

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21
Q

what are enzymes?

A

-proteins that increase the rate at which chemical reactions occur, by lowering the activation energy required.

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22
Q

what’s ATP, what is it used for

A
  • major energy carrier in the cell
  • used to store energy released during catabolism and supply energy needed for anabolism
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23
Q

what is the proton motive force what can it be used for

A
  • the proton motive force is a gradient of protons across a membrane
  • it creates potential energy that can be used to drive cellular functions
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24
Q

what’s the difference in some cells in terms of PMF and ATP generation

A

-some cells use the PMF to make ATP
-others use ATP to make the PMF

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25
what are the 3 categories of microorganisms based on structure?
1. Eukaryotes 2. Prokaryotes 3. Viruses
26
what characterizes eukaryotes (4 things)
* membrane bound nucleus * membrane bound organelles * complex internal organization (have cytoskeleton) * division by mitosis and meiosis (only eukaryotes do these processes, bacteria don't)
27
what are the 2 major groups of eukaryotic microbes
protists and fungi
28
what are the 3 subgroups within protists, describe them
* protozoa -animal-like microorganisms * algae - photosynthetic plant-like microorganisms * slime molds and water molds -filamentous
29
what characterizes protists (within eukaryotes)
Often unicellular but sometimes multiceullar without differentiation into tissues.
30
what characterizes fungi (within eukaryotes)
* have 3 stages of life: unicellular (yeast), filamentous (molds), or multicellular (mushrooms). Lots of mushrooms do all 3 stages. * Spend majority of their life cycle in microscopic unicellular form. -(which is why they are considered microbes)
31
what characterizes prokaryotes
* visually simple * no membrane bound nucleus or organelles * generally smaller (approx 1 um diameter) * simple internal structure *divide by binary fission * most are unicellular
32
what are the 2 major groups of prokaryotes
bacteria, and archaea
33
why do microbiologists rely on metabolic, biochemical, and genetic properties to classify prokaryotes
they're visually simple
34
what characterizes bacteria
* genetically diverse * extremely diverse metabolic styles * includes both pathogens and non-pathogens (Pathogen> causes disease)
35
what characterizes archaea
* genetically and biochemically distinct from bacteria * also have diverse metabolism * never pathogenic * many are famous for living in extreme environments
36
what characterizes viruses
* acellular (no cells) infecious particles * extremely small * obligate intracellular parasites (cannot replicate themselves only if they get inside another living cell) * lack independent metabolism (since they are not cells) * no ribosomes * no ribosomal RNA * cannot be classified with other microbes (bc they don't have ribosomal RNA)
37
what are bacteriophages
viruses that exclusively infect bacteria are called bacteriophages (Think bacteria eating, phage= eating)
38
when did the first anaerobic life appear
between 3.8 and 3.9 bya
39
what allowed for the evolution of modern eukaryotic microorganisms
photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) oxygenated the earth (about 2 bya)
40
what dominates most of earths history: microorganisms or plants and animals
most of earths history was a microbial only world
41
when did the first plants and animals appear
about 0.5 bya
42
what is LUCA, how can we get possible info about it
Last universal common ancestor, we can get info by looking at features of organisms on each side branching off from LUCA.
43
how are organisms classified based on evolutionary relationships
-by comparing small subunit (SSU) rRNA genes. -examine genetic differences rather than morphological differences. ## Footnote the genes that code for their rRNA of this subunit are compared
44
what type of ribosomes are in prokaryotes and what type of SSU rRNA are in their ribosomes?
* 70S ribosomes * 16S SSU rRNA
45
what type of ribosomes are in eukaryotes and what type of SSU rRNA are in their ribosomes?
* 80S ribosomes * 18S SSU rRNA
46
what allows us to compare rRNA genes accurately
they change slowly overtime, so we can compare them without them changing much
47
what are the 4 basic steps in sequencing rRNA genes
1. DNA is collected from a pure culture 2. The SSU rRNA gene is amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 3. The gene is sequenced 4. Sequence is aligned with sequences from other organisms. The number of differences is used to calculate evolutionary distance
48
what's a pure culture
only one kind of bacteria in the culture
49
what is polymerase chain reaction for (PCR)
A technique used to synthesize many identical copies of a short sequence of DNA
50
what's a phylogenetic tree?
A graphic representation of the evolutionary distance between organisms.
51
the longer organisms have been diverging away from eachother the more or less small differences there will be in their aligned DNA sequences
more small differences
52
what ribosomal DNA sequences is the phylogenic tree of life based on?
-based on 16S (prokaryotes) or 18S (eukaryotes) riobosomal DNA sequences ## Footnote think eukaryotes bigger > bigger number ribosomal rRNA
53
all organisms can be grouped into 3 distinct domains of life in the tree of life. what are they?
Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
54
are microorganisms more or less genetically diverse than plants and animals
microorganisms are far more genetically diverse than plants and animals
55
2/3 of life is
prokaryotic
56
macroorganisms (animals, fungi, plants) only make up about _% of life
10%
57
which domain makes up most of the most recent tree of life
bacteria
58
in the most recent tree of life the entire domain of eukarya exists as a branch of _
archaea
59
the closest relatives of archaea to the eukarya are the __ __
asgard archaea ## Footnote the asgard superphylum
60
what is the phylogenetic species concept? (definition of species for microbio)
* a group of strains that share certain diagnostic traits, are genetically cohesive and have a unique recent common ancestor
61
in practice, species of Bacteria and Archaea should have what in common?
* most (but not all) characteristics in common * greater than 97% sequence similarity in the 16S rRNA gene * high degree of genome similarity shown through: -DNA-DNA hybridization (not used anymore) -looking at whole genome sequences
62
what classification system do microbiologists use to classify microorganisms?
Hierarchial classification- groups of organims are placed in successively larger groups.
63
what 3 taxons in hierachical classification are commonly used in practice for microbiology?
Species, genus and phylum.
64
what can be used to identify strains within species in naming
Symbols after the species name
65
which can be used on its own in a binomial species name?
The genus can be referred to by itself, or the whole species name but not the specific epithet by itself.
66
what are the 4 rules for bionomial species nomenclature
1. Names are latinized 2. italicized or underlined 3. Genus is capitalized, epithet is not. 4. genus name may be abbreviated the second time its used. (but first time full name must be written).
67
what's different about trivial (unoffical) names
trivial (unoffical) names can be used, but do not follow these rules.
68
what's the only microorganism that can be abbreviated the first time its used?
E. coli because it is so well known.

Microbiology 1 (11 decks)

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