C1 Sample Questions from Brock Flashcards
(40 cards)
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A) Microbial cells can exist as single cells.
B) Microbial cells carry out their life processes of growth independently.
C) Microbial cells include both bacteria and viruses.
D) Microbial cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane.
C) Microbial cells include both bacteria and viruses.
Viruses are not cells; they are acellular entities that require a host cell for replication. Bacteria are cellular microorganisms.
Which of the following statements is correct?
A) Microorganisms are significant contributors to the total biomass on Earth.
B) Microorganisms represent a much smaller amount of Earth’s biomass than plants.
C) Microorganisms represent a much smaller amount of Earth’s biomass than animals.
D) Microorganisms are significant in number, but not in overall biomass.
A) Microorganisms are significant contributors to the total biomass on Earth.
While individually tiny, the sheer number of microorganisms across diverse habitats makes them a major component of Earth’s biomass.
In what/which domain(s) of life is/are microorganisms represented?
A) Archaea
B) Bacteria
C) Eukarya
D) All of the above
D) All of the above. Microorganisms are found in all three domains of life.
Differential selection and reproduction of phenotypes occurs during a process called
A) cellular differentiation.
B) evolution.
C) growth.
D) transformation.
B) evolution.
Differential selection and reproduction of phenotypes are the core principles of evolution by natural selection.
Biological catalysts involved in the acceleration of the rate of chemical reactions are called
A) catalytic converters.
B) growth agents.
C) evolutionary molecules.
D) enzymes.
D) enzymes.
Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions.
Regarding early life on Earth
A) microbial life existed for billions of years before plant and animal life.
B) microbial life existed long before animals but has been around for about the same amount of time as plants.
C) microbial life, plant life, and animal life all appeared at about the same time.
D) it is impossible to determine which type of life first appeared.
A) microbial life existed for billions of years before plant and animal life.
Evidence suggests microbial life arose early in Earth’s history, long before more complex multicellular life.
The person who described the “wee animalcules” was
A) Robert Hooke.
B) Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.
C) Louis Pasteur.
D) Ferdinand Cohn.
B) Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.
Leeuwenhoek is credited with the first observations of microorganisms, which he called “wee animalcules.”
Walther Hesse and ________ pioneered the use of agar as a solidifying agent.
A) Louis Pasteur
B) Ferdinand Cohn
C) Robert Koch
D) Sergei Winogradsky
C) Robert Koch
While Hesse initially suggested agar, Koch and his lab popularized its use in microbiology.
Which of the following is/are characteristic of all cellular organisms?
A) communication
B) evolution
C) motility
D) communication, evolution, and motility
B) evolution.
All cellular organisms are subject to evolutionary processes. Motility and communication are not universal traits.
Deduce why viruses are excluded from the ribosomal RNA—based tree of life.
A) Some viruses contain multiple strands of RNA.
B) Their genetic elements cannot be sequenced.
C) They can infect other organisms, which complicates the genetic comparisons.
D) They lack ribosomal RNA (rRNA).
D) They lack ribosomal RNA (rRNA).
Ribosomal RNA is used to construct the tree of life. Since viruses don’t have ribosomes, they cannot be included in this tree.
Louis Pasteur developed the vaccine(s) for
A) anthrax only.
B) fowl cholera only.
C) rabies only.
D) anthrax, fowl cholera, and rabies.
D) anthrax, fowl cholera, and rabies.
Pasteur developed vaccines for all three diseases.
The discovery of antibiotics and other important chemicals led to the field of
A) industrial microbiology.
B) agricultural microbiology.
C) marine microbiology.
D) aquatic microbiology.
A) industrial microbiology.
The discovery of these chemicals led to their exploitation for industrial processes, giving rise to industrial microbiology.
Microbial sterilization is used to
A) decrease the possibility of contaminants growing in a culture.
B) kill bacteria but not necessarily viruses or other microbes.
C) kill all microbes in or on objects.
D) clean a work area.
C) kill all microbes in or on objects.
Sterilization aims for complete elimination of microbial life.
Transparent double-sided dishes used for growing microbes are most commonly called
A) Petri dishes.
B) baker dishes.
C) sterilization plates.
D) culture medium plates.
A) Petri dishes.
These dishes provide a convenient and sterile surface for microbial growth.
Microbes playing a role in nitrogen fixation in plants live in _______, while those playing a role in the digestive tract of certain herbivores live in ___________.
A) rumens / nodules
B) nodules / rumens
C) nodules / fortrans
D) fortrans / rumens
B) nodules / rumens
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria reside in root nodules of plants, while those aiding digestion in herbivores are found in the rumen.
Which of the following is NOT an accomplishment of Louis Pasteur?
A) determined that the alcohol-making process was mediated by microbial fermentation and thus refuted the theory of spontaneous generation
B) developed enrichment culture techniques
C) developed heat sterilization techniques that involved the creation of a specialized swan-necked flask
D) developed the first rabies vaccine and treated thousands of individuals
B) developed enrichment culture techniques
Beijerinck developed enrichment culture techniques.
The theory of spontaneous generation was refuted by the work of
A) Louis Pasteur.
B) Robert Koch.
C) Robert Hooke.
D) Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.
A) Louis Pasteur.
Pasteur’s swan-necked flask experiments disproved spontaneous generation.
A Pasteur flask has a(n)
A) swan neck to prevent particulate matter from getting into the main body of the flask.
B) double neck so two substances may be added at the same time.
C) secondary opening at the base to allow for drainage.
D) inverted upper edge to prevent spillage while swirling.
A) swan neck to prevent particulate matter from getting into the main body of the flask.
This design allowed air exchange but prevented dust and microbes from entering the sterile broth.
Predict how Pasteur’s conclusions on spontaneous generation with swan flasks would have changed if he worked with and maintained the flasks in a sterile laminar flow hood.
A) Sterilization of the swan flask solutions would not have been necessary to reject spontaneous generation. If he did sterilize the flasks, the spontaneous generation hypothesis would have been supported.
B) His incubation times would not have been sufficient to refute spontaneous generation.
C) Pasteur’s flasks never would have putrefied, and the experiment would not have refuted spontaneous generation.
D) Viruses would have still been present, and his conclusion would have been unchanged.
C) Pasteur’s flasks never would have putrefied, and the experiment would not have refuted spontaneous generation.
In a sterile environment, there would be no contaminating microbes to grow, even if the flask neck was broken, thus not supporting his original conclusion.
A pure culture
A) is sterile.
B) is a population of identical cells.
C) is made of a clearly defined chemical medium.
D) contains one microbial cell.
B) is a population of identical cells.
A pure culture originates from a single cell and, therefore, consists of genetically identical offspring.
Martinus Beijerinck was the first to isolate
A) green algae.
B) certain nitrogen-fixing root nodule bacteria.
C) certain sulfate-reducing bacteria.
D) green algae, certain nitrogen-fixing root nodule bacteria, and certain sulfate-reducing bacteria.
D) green algae, certain nitrogen-fixing root nodule bacteria, and certain sulfate-reducing bacteria.
Beijerinck made significant contributions to isolating these diverse microbial groups.
Chemolithotrophy involves
A) oxidation of organic compounds.
B) oxidation of inorganic compounds.
C) reduction of organic compounds.
D) metabolic autotrophy.
B) oxidation of inorganic compounds.
Chemolithotrophs obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic substances.
Developments in the fields of immunology and medical microbiology were practical extensions of the work of
A) Sergei Winogradsky.
B) Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.
C) Joseph Lister.
D) Robert Koch.
D) Robert Koch.
Koch’s postulates and work on infectious diseases laid the groundwork for these fields.
Robert Koch contributed to the field of microbiology by being the first person to
A) develop the tuberculin test only.
B) formulate four postulates for definitively linking a specific microorganism to a specific disease only.
C) use agar as a solidifying agent in growth media only.
D) develop the tuberculin test, formulate four postulates for definitively linking a specific microorganism to a specific disease, and use agar as a solidifying agent in growth media.
D) develop the tuberculin test, formulate four postulates for definitively linking a specific microorganism to a specific disease, and use agar as a solidifying agent in growth media.
Koch achieved all three of these milestones.
