Week 1 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is microbiology?
study of microorganisms
what’s a microorganism/microbe?
an organism that can only be seen using a microscope
Name all info you can about bacteria
prokaryotes, usually single-celled, no nucleus, no membrane-bound organelles, help develop immune system, peptidoglycan cell wall, contains ribosomes, and DNA
Name all info you can about archaea
prokaryotes, cell wall made of protein S-layer, no nucleus, can withstand extreme environments, unicellular, no membrane-bound organelles, contain DNA, contain ribosomes
Name all info you can about eukarya
can be unicellular or multicellular, contain DNA, contain ribosomes, have cell-membranes, can have cell walls, have a nucleus, have membrane-bound organelles
what makes up the domain eukarya?
plants, animals, fungi, & protists
what’s a ribosome, and what does it do?
an organelle found in all cells that translates a genetic code to produce a chain of amino acids (protein molecules)
what’s a virus?
An infectious microbe containing a protein coat and a nucleic acid genome that must invade a host to reproduce
what’s a viroid?
An infectious agent composed only of RNA
What’s a satellite?
made up of nucleic acid enclosed in a protein shell that can only coinfect a host cell with a helper virus to complete its lifecycle
What type of disease does viroid cause?
plant
what type of disease do satelittes and helper viruses cause?
plant and animal
what’s a prion? what type of disease does it cause?
infectious agent made of only protein
neurological disease
When addressing an organism by scientific name, what does the first part of the name mean? And what does the second part of the name mean? followed by what?
First part is the genus (capitalized)
second is the species (lowercase)
strain (numbers and letters)
Describe spontaneous generation
living organisms could develop from non-living matter
What is the purpose of Koch’s Postulates?
he proved the casual relationship between a microorganism and a specific disease and explains why some microbes can be pathogenic while others are not
Define virulence and virulence factor
virulence: severity of disease
virulence factor: a molecule produced by a microorganism that helps cause disease in a host
Define an autotroph
an organism that creates its own food using light, oxygen, CO2, or other chemicals
Define species
A collection of strains that share properties and differ significantly from other groups of strains
What is a strain?
A strain is the descendent of a single, pure microbial culture
what does axenic mean?
pure or isolated
what’s the role of a membrane-bound organelle?
to separate cellular materials and processes from others
