Section 12: Microbial Nutrition And Culturing

Question 0

List the six most abundant types of molecules in living bacterium

Answer 0

Water
Proteins
RNA
Carbohydrates 
Lipids 
DNA

Question 1

Name the six most abundant elements in microbes

Answer 1

Carbon
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Hydrogen
Phosphorous 
Sulfur

Question 2

Autotrophs

Answer 2

Bacteria that can use carbon dioxide from the air as their carbon source

Question 3

Heterotrophs

Answer 3

Bacteria that require their carbon source in an organic form

Question 4

Auxotrophs

Answer 4

Mutant bacteria that are in capable of synthesizing an organic molecule, such as a vitamin

Question 5

Fastidious Organisms

Answer 5

Bacteria that do not produce their own vitamins, usually because they can acquire them from the host

Question 6

Photoautotrophs

Answer 6

Bacteria that derive energy from light

Question 7

Halophiles

Answer 7

Bacteria that have adapted to growth in high-salt conditions

Question 8

Methanogens

Answer 8

Bacteria that derive energy from carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce methane gas

Question 9

Chemoautotrophs

Answer 9

Bacteria that derive energy from rocks or minerals rather than sunlight or organic materials

Question 10

Broths

Answer 10

Liquid media

Question 11

Defined Synthetic Media

Answer 11

Consist of completely known chemicals

Question 12

Complex Nonsynthetic Media

Answer 12

Consists of unknown chemicals

Question 13

Blood Agar

Answer 13

Medium generally used for isolation of human pathogens

Question 14

Selective Media

Answer 14

For many different organisms

Question 15

Diffusion

Answer 15

Spreading out
Nutrient molecules contact the bacteria surface and penetrate through the outer layers of the cytoplasmic membrane
Movement from an area of low concentration to an area of higher concentration

Question 16

Osmotic Hydrostatic Pressure

Answer 16

Pressure due to water trying to reduce the chemical gradient inside the cell enough to rupture the cytoplasmic membrane

Question 17

Obligate Aerobes

Answer 17

Absolutely require oxygen to grow

Question 18

Obligate Anaerobes

Answer 18

Only grow in the absence of oxygen

Question 19

Facultative Anaerobes

Answer 19

Grow with or without oxygen

Question 20

Microaerophiles

Answer 20

Require reduced levels of oxygen, less than 20%

Question 21

Acidophiles

Answer 21

Bacteria that grow in acidic environments

Question 22

Alkalinophiles

Answer 22

Bacteria that grow in alkaline environments

Question 23

Obligate Halophiles

Answer 23

Bacteria that cannot grow without a high concentration of salt

Question 24

Psychrophiles

Answer 24

Micro organisms that require temperatures less than ~12 degrees Celsius to grow

Question 25

Mesophiles

Answer 25

Microorganisms that grow optimally at 37C but do well from ambient temps up to ~40C

Question 26

Thermophiles

Answer 26

Archaea that grow best in hot temps above 55C

Question 27

Psychrotrophs

Answer 27

Cold-adapted mesophiles

Question 28

Thermoduric Bacterium

Answer 28

Bacterium that cannot grow at high temps but is not killed if at high temps for a short time

Question 29

Symbiosis

Answer 29

Living together

Question 30

Synergism

Answer 30

Total growth success of the community of organisms is greater than the organisms’ success would have been individually

Question 31

Mutualistic Symbiosis

Answer 31

Organisms need each other for a high quality of living

Question 32

Commensalism

Answer 32

A form of symbiosis where one organism helps another but the first is unaffected for good or bad by the second

Question 33

Antagonism

Answer 33

Mutually harmful relationship