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Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What are the two themes of microbiology

A

Understanding basic life processes and Applying knowledge to benefit humans

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2
Q

What are microbes good for

A

Model systems for understanding cellular processes in all organisms

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3
Q

What are the importance of microorganisms

A

They are the oldest form of life, largest mass of living material on Earth, carry out major processes for biogenochemical cycles, can live practically anywhere, organisms require microbes to survive

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4
Q

What are microorganisms

A

They are microscopic single cells, some simple multicellular organisms and viruses (but not cellular)

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5
Q

What are two fundamental cell types for microorganisms

A

Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes

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6
Q

What are prokaryotes

A

They do not contain a nucleus or membrane-bound organelles

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7
Q

What are eukaryotes

A

They are usually bigger, more complex, and contain a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. Most are microorganisms

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8
Q

What are the 3 domains of life

A

Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes

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9
Q

What are viruses

A

Called bacteriophages, they are not cells and have no metabolism of their own, they are obligate parasites of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in all 3 domains of life

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10
Q

In the bacterial cell, what is the Cell Membrane

A

The barrier that separates the inside of the cell, cytoplasm, from the outside environment

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11
Q

In the bacterial cell, what is the Cell Wall

A

It is present in most mirobes and confers structural strength and prevents osmotic lysis

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12
Q

In the bacterial cell, what is the nucleoid

A

It is the region in the bacteria that contains the chromosome (DNA)

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13
Q

In the bacterial cell, what is the flagella

A

Structure used for motility

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14
Q

What are the 7 characteristics of living systems

A
  1. Metabolism
  2. Reproduction
  3. Differentiation
  4. Communication
  5. Movement
  6. Evolution
  7. Regulation
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15
Q

What is metabolism

A

Chemical transformation of nutrients and allows grwoth

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16
Q

What is reproduction

A

Generation of two cells from one

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17
Q

What is differentiation

A

Synthesis of new substances or structures that modify the cell (only in some microbes, ex. spores)

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18
Q

What is communication

A

Generation of, and response to, chemical signals (not in all microbes)

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19
Q

What is movement

A

Via self-propulsion, several forms (only in some microbes)

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20
Q

What is evolution

A

Genetic changes in cells that are transferred to offspring

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21
Q

What is regulation

A

The ability to turn processes on and off. Regulate the activities of enzymes, gene expression, metabolism, movement.

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22
Q

What are the 2 fundamental functions of cells

A

Cells as catalysts and as coding devices

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23
Q

What do cells do as catalysts

A

They carry out chemical reactions with enzymes

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24
Q

What are enzymes

A

Proteins (or RNA) catalysts that accelerate chemical reactions and can be regulated

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25
What do cells do as coding devices
Cells store and process information that is passed on to offspring (genetics) during reproduction through DNA, evolution
26
What is transcription
DNA copied to RNA
27
What is translation
RNA codes for amino acids in protein. Proteins are critical for all aspects of cell structure and metabolism
28
What is a population
A group of the same species of organisms
29
What is a community
A group of different species (different populations interacting)
30
What is a habitat
The environment in which a microbial population lives
31
What is an ecosystem
Refers to all the living organisms plus abiotic physical and chemical constituents of their envonrment
32
What controls the diversity and abundance of microbes
The resources (nutrients) and the environmental conditions (temp, pH, oxygen)
33
What can the microbial communities do to the environment
The activities of microbial communities can affect the chemical and physical properties of their habitats (ex. removal of nutrients and the excretion of waste products (oxygen in the atmosphere))
34
Which bacteria caused the earth to rust over 2 billion years ago and form an oxygen atmosphere
Cyanobacteria
35
What is LUCA
Last Universal Common Ancestor: ancestral cell from which all extant cells/organisms descended
36
What are the basic components of life
dsDNA genomes, ribosomes, tRNA, genetic code, etc
37
How old is the Earth
4.6 billion years old
38
When did the first cells appear
Between 3.8-3.9 billion years ago
39
The Earth was anoxic until how long ago?
The atmosphere was anoxic (no oxygen) until 2 billion years ago. Before that, metabolisms were exclusively anaerobic until evolution of oxygen-producting phototrophs
40
How long was life exclusively microbial
Until about 1 billion year ago
41
Where are microbes found
Microbes are found in almost every environment and most microbial cells are found in oceanic and terrestrial SUBSURFACE'S, so not easily seen. You have 10x more microbe cells in and on you than human cells
42
What is the impact of microorgansisms on humans
They are both beneficial and harmful to humans
43
How has control of iinfectious diseases changed during the last century
The control of infectious diseases during the last century has greatly improved, the top 10 killers list no longer has a majority of microbial diseases
44
What are some positive impacts of microorganisms on agriculture
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, cellulose degrading microbes in the rumen (cows), and regeneration of nutrients in soil and water
45
What are some negative impacts of microorganisms on agriculture
Diseases in plants and animals
46
What do nitrogen fixing bacteria do
Converts N2 gas into NH3 ammonia
47
What does rumen do
Grass -> Cellulose -> Glucose -> Microbial Fermentation -> Fatty Acids or CO2 and CH4 waste products
48
What are some positive impacts of microorganisms on food?
Microbial transformations (fermentations) yield: dairy products (cheese, yogurt, buttermilk), and other food products (sauerkraut, pickles, leavened breads, beer, and wine)
49
What are some negative impacts of microorganisms on food?
Food spoilage by microorganisms. Requires special preservation of foods (drying, salting, canning, refrigeration, and freezing)
50
What is industrial microbiology
Production of organic compounds, antibiotics, fermentation products (acids and alcohols)
51
How are microbes used for biofuels
Sugars, methane, ethanol, and hydrogen are used in biofuel production
52
How are microbes for cleaning up pollutants
Bioremediation - some bacteria can eat or degrade compounds that are toxic to humans or that damage the environment
53
How are the genetic resources of microorgansisms used
The exploitation of natural microbes for production of antibiotics, enzymes, and various chemicals such as ethanol. Genetic engineering of microbes to generate products of value to humans such as insulin and many other drugs and biochemicals
54
Who was Robert Hooke
The first to describe microbes
55
Who was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
The first to describe bacteria
56
Who was Ferdinand Cohn
Founded the field of bacterial classification and discovered bacterial endospores
57
Who was Louis Pasteur
Discovered that living organisms discriminate between organic optical isomers, a property of biological enzymes, that alcoholic fermentation was a biologically mediated process, disproved the theory of spontaneous generation, and developed vaccines for anthrax, fowl cholera, and rabies
58
What is spontaneous generation
The hypothesis that living organisms can originate from nonliving matter
59
What experiment did Pasteur perform to disprove spontaneous generation
He poured a nonsterile liquid broth into a flash, bent the neck of the flask so nothing would be able to enter, and sterilized the broth by heating it. Over time the liquid remained completely sterile and dust and microorganisms got stuck in the bend in the neck. In the control experiment, he tipped the flask to the side which allowed microorganisms to enter through the bend at the neck, and after a short period of time the liquid was no longer pure.
60
Who was Robert Koch
Demonstrated the link between microbes and infectious diseases, developed Koch's postulates, and developed techniques for solid media and obtaining pure cultures of microbes
61
What is a pure culture
A colony containing one one type of bacteria
62
What are Koch's postulates
1. The suspected pathogen must be present in all cases of the disease and absent from healthy animals 2. The suspected pathogen must be grown in pure culture 3. Cells from a pure culture of the suspected pathogen must cause disease in a healthy animal 4. The suspected pathogen must be reisolated and shown to be the same as the original
63
Whoa is Martinus Beijernick
Developed the enrichment culture technique
64
What is the enrichment culture technique
Most environments contain too many different microbes to easily study. They can be isolated from natural samples in a highly selective fashion by manipulating nutrient and incubation conditions. Ex. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are isolated on medium lacking nitrogen compounds
65
Who is Sergei Winogradsky
The concept of chemolithotrophy, demonstrated that specific bacteria are linked to specific biogeochemical transformations
66
What is chemolithotrophy
Use of minerals as a source of "food" energy
67
What are the two directions of microbiology nowadays
Applied and Basic
68
What is microbial systematics
The science of grouping and classifying microorganisms, understanding diversity
69
What is microbial physiology
Study of nutrients, metabolism, growth, and products
70
What is cell biology/cytology
Study of cellular structure
71
What is microbial biochemistry
Study of microbial enzymes and chemical reactions
72
What is bacterial genetics
Study of heredity, variation, and evolution. Provided the foundation of Molecular Biology, gene expression
73
What is virulology
Study of viruses
74
What is molecular biology
Study of basic mechanisms of microbe life processes. Biotechnology
75
What is biotechnology
Manipulation of genes and cellular genomes. DNA from one organism can be inserted into a bacterium and the proteins encoded by that DNA harvested for use.

BIMM 120 (17 decks)

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