exam 1 Flashcards
(320 cards)
what is DNA?
material of inheritance that is common to all organisms
what is evidence that all organisms evolved from a single common ancestor?
DNA is common to all organisms
what is the most accurate measure of relatedness?
how similar genomes are
what was the first genetic material that was widely compared?
rRNA sequences
life depends on ______ synthesis.
protein
what functions to make proteins?
ribosomes
genes for rRNA evolve _________.
very slowly
why were rRNA the first widely compared sequences?
the length of the sequences are ideal and they evolve very slowly
_____ confirmed many previous classification schemes.
sequencing
what is archaea more closely related to?
eukaryotes
what are eukaryotes?
cells with a nucleus
what are prokaryotes?
cells without a nucleus
archaea were originally thought to be what?
a type of bacteria
what are the 3 domains of life?
bacteria, archaea, and eukarya
why are dyes used to visualize bacteria?
bacteria are hard to see even at 100X
what is gram staining?
using violet, then red dye
what does gram positive mean?
the cell wall of a bacteria takes up the violet dye (and looks purple)
what does gram negative mean?
the cell wall of a bacteria is underneath an outer membrane (and appears pink from the red counterstain)
what is (and isn’t) gram staining useful for?
useful for identification, but not for phylogenies
how does gram staining work?
the purple dye sticks to the peptidoglycan in the cell wall when it is on the outside of the cell, but not when it is between layers of membranes
where are prokaryotes found?
everywhere on earth, even in extreme environments
what are the 3 shapes of bacteria?
coccus (spheres), bacillus (rods), and helix (spiral)
what are ways that bacteria can move?
by using flagella, twisting, or gliding (and some don’t move)
how do bacteria communicate?
by chemicals or light