Lecture Exam 3 Flashcards
Physical requirements for microbial growth
Temperature, pH
What are psychrophiles?
Cold loving microbes
What are mesophiles?
Moderate-temperature-loving microbes
What are thermophiles?
Heat-loving microbes
What are acidophiles?
Bacteria tolerant of acidity
What is an example of acidophiles?
bacteria genus Clostridium
What do chemical buffers do?
They stabilize the pH of the media, so it is not affected by acid accumulation.
What are the chemical requirements for microbial growth?
Carbon
Nitrogen, Sulfur, and Phosphorus
Trace elements
Oxygen
What are trace elements?
Mineral elements needed for growth
What are some examples of mineral elements?
Iron, copper and zinc
Microorganisms can be classified into obligate aerobes, facultative anaerobes, and obligate anaerobes based on
their requirements for oxygen.
What are obligate aerobes?
Microorganisms that require oxygen to grow.
What is an example of obligate aerobes?
bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa
What are facultative anaerobes?
Microbes that can grow with or without oxygen
What are some examples of facultative anaerobes?
E.coli, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus
What are Obligate anaerobes?
Microorganisms that are unable to use oxygen for their growth.
What is an example of an obligate anaerobe?
genus Clostridium
What is binary fission?
When bacteria normally reproduce, divide or multiply.
What is the doubling time aka generation time?
the time it takes for a bacterial cell to double its cell population
We need to use logarithmic scale when plotting a bacterial growth curve because bacterial population doubles its numbers at each generation which leads to a large population of bacterial cells over a short period of time
A typical bacterial growth curve contain how many phases and what are they?
4;
the lag phase, the log phase, the stationary phase, and the death phase
What is happening during the lag phase?
bacterial cells are undergoing metabolic activity involving the synthesis of enzymes and various chemical molecules that are required for their growth later.
What happens during the log phase?
This is the phase where bacterial cells begin to divide or to split. Its population is doubled
Microbiologists like to work with bacterial cells from log phase for experiments because bacterial cells are most active at this phase.