Micro CH 1
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Himothy ChalmetteMicro CH 1
Uploaded by
Himothy ChalmetteCh.
1 Study Guide: Microorganisms and Microbiology
1. DO BACTERIA HAVE A NUCLEUS?
- no
2. ARE BACTERIA PROKARYOTIC OR EUKARYOTIC?
- bacteria are PROKARYOTIC
- prokaryote a cell or organism lacking a nucleus and other membrane-enclosed
organelles and usually having its DNA in a single circular molecule
- eukaryote a cell or organism having a unit membrane-enclosed (true) nucleus
and usually other organelles
3. WHAT TYPE OF CELLS HAVE CELL MEMBRANES?
- ALL cells have cell membranes
4. WHAT ARE CELL MEMBRANES MADE OF?
- phospholipid bilayer (head: hydrophilic phosphate; tail: hydrophobic fatty acid)
5. WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT BACTERIAL CELL WALLS?
- made up of PEPTIODOGLYCAN, which is made from polysaccharides
- gram (+) have a THICK cell wall consisting of many layers of peptiodoglycan
- gram (-) have a relatively THIN wall with a second lipid membrane around it
6. WHAT ARE THE FOLLOWING AND WHAT IS THEIR FUNCTION WITHIN A
CELL?
a) cytoplasmic membrane- barrier that separates the inside of the cell from the
outside environment (phospholipid bilayer)
b) cytoplasm- fluid that fills the cells
c) nucleus- a membrane-enclosed structure in EUKARYOTES containing the genetic
material (DNA) organized in chromosomes; site of protein synthesis
d) nucleoid- the aggregated mass of DNA that makes up the chromosome of
PROKARYOTIC cells
e) ribosome- structures upon which new proteins are made in the cell
f) cell wall- maintains the overall shape of the cell
7. DO MICROORGANISMS TYPICALLY LIVE IN PURE CULTURE?
- no, they live in HABITATS
8. WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE THE TYPES OF MICROORGANISMS PRESENT?
- the environment such as, temperature, pH, and presence of water
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9. WHAT DO MICROORGANISMS DO TO THE ENVIRONMENT THEY ARE IN?
- populations in microbial communities interact in various ways, both harmful and
beneficial
- in many cases microbial populations interact and cooperate. For example, the
waste products of the metabolic activities of some cells can be nutrients for others.
- the activities of microbial communities can affect the chemical and physical
properties of their habitats
- organisms carrying out metabolic processes remove nutrients from the
environment and use them to build new cells. At the same time, organisms excrete
waste products of their metabolism into the environment.
- bacteria use enzymes to break down macromolecules and to convert nutrients into
needed cellular components (biochemical pathways)
10. HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?
- 4.6 billion years old
11. DESCRIBE THE PROGRESSION OF THE TYPES OF ORGANISMS AND
CHANGES IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE EARTH.
- 4 billion years ago (bya): bacteria are the first and only living organism
- 3 bya: the atmosphere was anoxic and the evolution of cyanobacteria (oxygen-
producing phototrophes) occurred
- 2 bya: earth is slowly oxygenated; origin of eukaryotes
- 1bya: algai diversity
- 1bya to present (in order): earth’s atmosphere became 20% oxygen, which led to
shelly invertebrates, vascular plants, mammals, and finally humans
12. WHERE ARE MOST OF THE MICROORGANISMS FOUND IN THE
ENVIRONMENT?
- in oceanic and terrestrial subsurfaces; upper layer of dirt is the best place to find
microorgansims
13. HOW HAS THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH CHANGED BETWEEN 1900 AND
2008?
- in 1900s the leading causes of death (influenza and pneumonia) were caused by
viruses and bacteria; overtime antibiotics and vaccines were developed and the
leading causes of death (heart disease and cancer) became associated with lifestyle
rather than viruses and bacteria.
14. WHAT ARE BIOFUELS? GIVE EXAMPLES.
- microorganisms convert existing waste materials such as grain and animal wastes
into biofuels
- ex: methane and ethanol
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15. WHAT IS BIOREMEDIATION?
- a process that uses microorganisms to help clean up pollution created by human
activities
- ex: in an oil spill use pseudomonas, which breaks down oil to carbon dioxide and
water
16. WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE CAREERS IN MICROBIOLOGY?
- clinical medicine (medical technicians)
- research and development (pharmaceutical, chemical/biochemical, biotechnology)
- microbial monitoring in food and beverage industries, public health, and
government
17. WHAT CONTRIBUTION TO MICROBIOLOGY DID THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE
MAKE?
a) Robert Hooke-
* was the first to describe microbes and plant cells that he called “little boxes”
- illustrated the fruiting structures of molds
b) Anton van Leeuwenhoek-
* built simple microscopes, further progress required the development of more
powerful microscopes
- first to describe and discover bacteria; “wee animalicules.”
c) Ferdinand Cohn-
* discovered bacterial endospores
- founded the field of bacteriology
d) Louis Pasteur-
* disproved spontaneous generation; this led to the development of methods for
controlling the growth of microorganisms
- pasteurization, used heat to eliminate contaminants
- developed the swan-necked flask (Pasteur flask), which prevents matter
containing microbial contaminants from entering the main body of the flask and
growing
- developed vaccines for anthrax, fowl cholera, and rabies
- discovered that living organisms discriminate between optical isomers
- discovered that alcoholic fermentation was a biologically mediated process
(originally though to be purely chemical)
e) Robert Koch-
* Koch’s Postulatesmicroorganisms cause disease
- developed technique (solid media) for obtaining pure cultures of microbes
- discovered the cause of tuberculosis
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f) Martinus Beijerinck-
* developed Enrichment Culture Techniquemicroorganisms are isolated from
natural samples in a selective fashion by manipulating nutrient and incubation
conditions
- this technique suppresses normal flora organisms and allows a pathogen or
other organism to over grow, therefore increasing its numbers thus
increasing the likelihood of isolation
- discovered the concept of the virus
g) Sergei Winogradsky-
- proposed the concept of chemolithotrophythe oxidation of inorganic compounds
linked to energy conservation
h) Robert Lister-
- developed antiseptic principles in surgery
i) Eli Metchnikoff-
- phagocytosis
j) Karl Landsteiner-
- defined human blood groups
k) Paul Ehrlich-
- chemotherapeutic agents
l) Frederick Griffith-
- discovered pneumococcus transformation
m) Alexander Fleming-
discovery of penicillin
n) Barbara McClintock-
- discovery of transposable elements
o) Watson & Crick-
- structure of DNA
p) Francois Jacob-
- gene regulation by repressor proteins
q) Thomas Brock-
- discovery of bacteria growing in boiling hot springs
r) Fred Sanger-
- methods for sequencing DNA
s) Stanley Prusiner-
- characterization of prions
t) Luc Montagnier-
- discovery of HIV
18. WHAT IS SPONTANEOUS GENERATION? HOW WAS IT DISPROVED? WHY
WOULD PEOPLE BELIEVE IN IT?
- the belief that life comes from nonliving things
- it was disproved by Pasteur’s experiments (swan neck flask)
- people believed it because they couldn’t see bacteria. For example, if meat is left
out and rots, maggots grow from the bacteria on it. The people observing this had no
other explanation for the maggots other than they came from nothing.
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19. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF KOCH’S POSTULATES? WHEN WOULD IT NOT
BE POSSIBLE TO USE THEM?
- the purpose is to prove that microbes cause infectious disease
- it is not possible to use the postulates for every infectious disease, because animal
models are not always available, some microbes only grow in humans.
20. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR SUBDISCIPLINES OF MICROBIOLOGY?
- microbiology has 2 distinct subdisciplines, APPLIED and BASIC
- subdisciplines of APPLIED microbiology:
- medical microbiology and immunology (emerged from Koch)
- agricultural and industrial microbiology (from Beijerinck and Winogradsky)
- aquatic and marine microbiology (from soil microbiology)
- microbial ecology
- subdisciplines of BASIC microbiology:
- microbial systematics the science of grouping and classifying
microorganisms
- microbial physiology study of the nutrients that microbes require for
metabolism and growth and the products that they generate
- cytology study of cellular structure
- microbial biochemistry study of microbial enzymes and chemical
reactions
- bacterial genetics study of heredity and variation in bacteria
- virology study of viruses
Additional notes from Ch1
Microbiology- the study of microorganisms
- viruses, bacteria, fungi, protist, and algae are studied in microbiology
microbiologist- person who studies microbiology
mycologist- person who studies fungi
bacteriologist- person who studies bacteria
To view bacteria, a sample is put in a PETRI DISH, which contains a SOLID MEDIA
that allows bacteria to grow and it provides a PURE CULTURE. The media is solid
because it contains AGAR, this helps isolate the colonies.
Culture- a particular strain or kind of organism growing in a laboratory medium
Culture medium- an aqueous solution of various nutrients suitable for the growth of
microorganisms
Pure culture- a culture containing a single kind of microorganism
Bacterial cells divide by BINARY FISSION; every time bacteria divide they double in
number.
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Some places that you could find microorganisms include:
- water gram negative microorganisms
- soil gram positive (bacillus)
- skin staphylococcus
- air respiratory (mold spores)
- surfaces bacillus/staphylococcus
Molecular Microbiology:
Biotechnology- manipulation of cellular genomes; DNA from one organism can be
“transplanted” into a bacterium and the proteins encoded by the DNA harvested
(cloning)
Genomics- study of all of the genetic material (DNA) in living cells
- proteomics- study of all the proteins produced by cells
- metabolomics- study of metabolic expression in cells