Survey of Bacteria & Archaea (Ch.11)

Question 1

What are the three basic shapes of prokaryotic cells?

Answer 1

Spherical cocci, rod-shaped bacilli, spirals (spirilla and spirochetes).

Question 2

What are the two types of spiral bacteria?

Answer 2

Stiff spirals (spirilla) and flexible spirals (spirochetes).

Question 3

What is the structure of cocci in groups?

Answer 3

Streptococci (chains), diplococci (pairs), tetrads (fours), sarcinae (cuboidal packets), staphylococci (clusters).

Question 4

How do bacilli arrange themselves?

Answer 4

Single, in pairs, in chains, or in palisade arrangement.

Question 5

What are endospores and which genera produce them?

Answer 5

Environmentally resistant spores produced by Gram-positive Bacillus and Clostridium.

Question 6

What are the types of endospore placement?

Answer 6

Terminal, subterminal, or centrally located.

Question 7

How do prokaryotes reproduce?

Answer 7

Binary fission, snapping division, spore formation, and budding.

Question 8

What is Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology?

Answer 8

The most authoritative reference for prokaryotic classification.

Question 9

What are extremophiles?

Answer 9

Microbes that thrive in extreme conditions (temperature, pH, salinity).

Question 10

What are thermophiles?

Answer 10

Organisms that live at temperatures above 45°C.

Question 11

What are hyperthermophiles?

Answer 11

Organisms that live at temperatures above 80°C.

Question 12

What are halophiles?

Answer 12

Organisms that require high salt concentrations.

Question 13

What are methanogens?

Answer 13

Anaerobic organisms that produce methane, important in sewage treatment.

Question 14

What is nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria?

Answer 14

The process of reducing atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3).

Question 15

What is the function of heterocysts in cyanobacteria?

Answer 15

Specialized cells for nitrogen fixation, protecting it from oxygenic photosynthesis.

Question 16

What are green sulfur and purple sulfur bacteria?

Answer 16

Phototrophic bacteria that use H2S for anoxygenic photosynthesis.

Question 17

What is the significance of Firmicutes?

Answer 17

Includes low G+C bacteria like Clostridia, Bacillus, and Mycoplasmas.

Question 18

What diseases do Clostridium species cause?

Answer 18

Gangrene, tetanus, botulism, and diarrhea.

Question 19

What is unique about Mycoplasmas?

Answer 19

Lack cell walls, Gram-positive, pleomorphic, and cause pneumonia and UTIs.

Question 20

What is the role of Bacillus in industry?

Answer 20

Produces Bt toxin and is involved in anthrax and food poisoning.

Question 21

What is the significance of Streptococcus and Enterococcus?

Answer 21

Both are Gram-positive bacteria causing various human diseases.

Question 22

What are actinomycetes?

Answer 22

Filamentous bacteria, including species like Streptomyces, which produce antibiotics.

Question 23

What is the structure of Mycobacterium cell walls?

Answer 23

Contain waxy mycolic acids, making them resistant to environmental stress.

Question 24

What are the six classes of Proteobacteria?

Answer 24

Alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-, epsilon-, and zetaproteobacteria.

Question 25

What is the importance of Azospirillum and Rhizobium?

Answer 25

Nitrogen fixers that help in agriculture.

Question 26

What diseases does Neisseria cause?

Answer 26

Gonorrhea and meningitis.

Question 27

What are the characteristic features of Rickettsia?

Answer 27

Intracellular pathogens causing diseases like typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Question 28

What diseases do Campylobacter and Helicobacter cause?

Answer 28

Campylobacter causes gastrointestinal issues, while Helicobacter causes stomach ulcers.

Question 29

What is the role of Bdellovibrio?

Answer 29

A predatory bacterium that infects other bacteria.

Question 30

What is the structure of Chlamydia?

Answer 30

Gram-negative cocci causing diseases like neonatal blindness and pneumonia.

Question 31

What are spirochetes?

Answer 31

Flexible, helical bacteria like Treponema (syphilis) and Borrelia (Lyme disease).

Question 32

What are vibrios?

Answer 32

Curved, rod-shaped bacteria, often found in marine environments.

Question 33

How is bacteremia different from septicemia?

Answer 33

Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood, septicemia is the harmful systemic infection caused by bacteria.

Question 34

What is the key difference between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria?

Answer 34

Gram-positive have thick peptidoglycan walls, while Gram-negative have thinner peptidoglycan and an outer membrane.

Question 35

What are the different types of nitrogen metabolism?

Answer 35

Nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, and ammonification.

Question 36

What is the difference between virulent and non-virulent Staphylococcus species?

Answer 36

Virulent species produce toxins and enzymes that enhance pathogenicity, non-virulent species are less harmful.

Question 37

What are four enzymes/toxins that enhance streptococcal virulence?

Answer 37

Streptokinase, hyaluronidase, erythrogenic toxin, and M protein.

Question 38

How are Streptococcus species differentiated?

Answer 38

By Lancefield grouping, hemolysis patterns (alpha, beta, gamma), and biochemical tests.

Question 39

What diseases do Bacillus cause?

Answer 39

Anthrax and food poisoning.

Question 40

What diseases do Clostridia cause?

Answer 40

Tetanus, botulism, gangrene, and diarrhea.

Question 41

What makes Listeria potentially deadly?

Answer 41

It can grow at refrigerator temperatures and causes bacteremia and meningitis.

Question 42

How is Corynebacterium transmitted and what does diphtheria toxin do?

Answer 42

Transmitted via respiratory droplets, the toxin inhibits protein synthesis in cells.

Question 43

How is tuberculosis transmitted and what is its action in the body?

Answer 43

Transmitted via respiratory droplets, Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects the lungs and causes granuloma formation.

Question 44

How is tuberculosis diagnosed, treated, and prevented?

Answer 44

Diagnosed with a skin test, treated with antibiotics like rifampin, and prevented with the BCG vaccine.

Question 45

What are three structural features of Neisseria that contribute to pathogenicity?

Answer 45

Pili for attachment, endotoxins, and the ability to survive inside phagocytes.