MBIO 3401 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026
Microbiology - Answers - The study of microorganisms
Why is it important to study microbiology? - Answers - Microbes are a vital part of the
environment, they provide insight into life processes, and are human health concerns
Environmental functions of microbes - Answers - Decomposition
Bioremediation
Digestion
Nutrient production
Synthesis of antibiotics
Nutrient cycling
Life processes observed through microbes - Answers - Genetic
Metabolic
Human health concerns - Answers - Pathogens
Diseases linked through history and society
Vaccines
Why are microbes used in research? - Answers - Simple structures
Fast growth rate
Large population numbers
Large surface to volume ratio
Small genome sizes
Relatively cheap to maintain
Bacteria - Answers - Prokaryote
Single-celled
Not photosynthetic
Can be sphere (cocci), rod (bacilli), or spiral (spirilla) shaped
Can be gram positive or gram negative
Cyanobacteria - Answers - Prokaryote
Single-celled
Photosynthetic
Major producers of atmospheric oxygen
Archaea - Answers - Prokaryote
Single-celled
Not photosynthetic
Closely related to eukaryotes
Extremophiles
,Algae - Answers - Eukaryote
Can be single-celled or multi-celled
Photosynthetic
Used for food, abrasive compounds, or other microbial growth
Found in water or soil
Fungi - Answers - Eukaryote
Can be single-celled or multi-celled
Not photosynthetic
Break down organic matter
Protozoa - Answers - Eukaryote
Can be single-celled or multi-celled
Some are photosynthetic, but most aren't
"First animal"
Can define by locomotion
Viruses - Answers - Acellular
Neither single-celled nor multi-celled
Not photosynthetic
Only can replicate within a suitable host
Prokaryotes - Answers - Without a nucleus
No membrane bound organelles
Include bacteria, cyanobacteria, and archaea
Eukaryotes - Answers - Have a true nucleus
Have membrane bound organelles
Include fungi, algae, protozoans, and worms
Acellular - Answers - Lack a cellular component (such as a membrane)
Include viruses
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek - Answers - Father of Microbiology
Developed first single-lens microscope
First to observe and describe bacteria
Aristotle - Answers - Developed the theory of spontaneous generation
Francesco Redi - Answers - Performed first experiments to go against spontaneous
generation using jars with different coverings
Saw that only jar exposed to air produced maggots
Lazaro Spallanzani - Answers - Boiled sealed containers and then observed for growth
Only the one exposed to air showed growth
, Therefore microbes must be in the air
Louis Pasteur - Answers - Disproved the concept of spontaneous generation using
swan-neck flask experiment
Developed process of fermentation known as pasteurization
Advanced the germ theory of disease
Robert Koch - Answers - Advanced the germ theory of disease
Developed Koch's postulates
Developed pure culture isolation
Developed agar used for media prep
Koch's Postulates - Answers - 1. Diseased animal with symptoms
2. Culture a pure sample from diseased animal
3. Take pure culture and inject a healthy animal
4. Healthy animal should present with the same disease and symptoms as seen in case
1
5. Re-obtain same organism (have to come full circle)
Ignaz Semmelweis - Answers - Introduced hand washing before medical procedures
Joseph Lister - Answers - Developed antisepsis
Used carbolic acid to disinfect surgical equipment
Father of Antiseptic Surgery
Florence Nightingale - Answers - Introduced using new dressings at new locations
Cleaned scrub brushes and equipment
Edward Jenner - Answers - Father of Vaccines
Inoculated 11-year-old boy with pustule from cowpox lesion to prevent further smallpox
infection
John Snow - Answers - Father of Epidemiology
Alexander Fleming - Answers - Discovered penicillin
Hans Christian Gram - Answers - Developed gram staining to differentiate between
chemical and physical characteristics of cell wall
Theodor Schewann/Matthais Schlediden - Answers - Developed the cell theory
Spontaneous Generation/Abiogenesis - Answers - Life arises spontaneously from
nonorganic material
Fermentation - Answers - Chemical breakdown of a substance and release of heat
Microbiology - Answers - The study of microorganisms
Why is it important to study microbiology? - Answers - Microbes are a vital part of the
environment, they provide insight into life processes, and are human health concerns
Environmental functions of microbes - Answers - Decomposition
Bioremediation
Digestion
Nutrient production
Synthesis of antibiotics
Nutrient cycling
Life processes observed through microbes - Answers - Genetic
Metabolic
Human health concerns - Answers - Pathogens
Diseases linked through history and society
Vaccines
Why are microbes used in research? - Answers - Simple structures
Fast growth rate
Large population numbers
Large surface to volume ratio
Small genome sizes
Relatively cheap to maintain
Bacteria - Answers - Prokaryote
Single-celled
Not photosynthetic
Can be sphere (cocci), rod (bacilli), or spiral (spirilla) shaped
Can be gram positive or gram negative
Cyanobacteria - Answers - Prokaryote
Single-celled
Photosynthetic
Major producers of atmospheric oxygen
Archaea - Answers - Prokaryote
Single-celled
Not photosynthetic
Closely related to eukaryotes
Extremophiles
,Algae - Answers - Eukaryote
Can be single-celled or multi-celled
Photosynthetic
Used for food, abrasive compounds, or other microbial growth
Found in water or soil
Fungi - Answers - Eukaryote
Can be single-celled or multi-celled
Not photosynthetic
Break down organic matter
Protozoa - Answers - Eukaryote
Can be single-celled or multi-celled
Some are photosynthetic, but most aren't
"First animal"
Can define by locomotion
Viruses - Answers - Acellular
Neither single-celled nor multi-celled
Not photosynthetic
Only can replicate within a suitable host
Prokaryotes - Answers - Without a nucleus
No membrane bound organelles
Include bacteria, cyanobacteria, and archaea
Eukaryotes - Answers - Have a true nucleus
Have membrane bound organelles
Include fungi, algae, protozoans, and worms
Acellular - Answers - Lack a cellular component (such as a membrane)
Include viruses
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek - Answers - Father of Microbiology
Developed first single-lens microscope
First to observe and describe bacteria
Aristotle - Answers - Developed the theory of spontaneous generation
Francesco Redi - Answers - Performed first experiments to go against spontaneous
generation using jars with different coverings
Saw that only jar exposed to air produced maggots
Lazaro Spallanzani - Answers - Boiled sealed containers and then observed for growth
Only the one exposed to air showed growth
, Therefore microbes must be in the air
Louis Pasteur - Answers - Disproved the concept of spontaneous generation using
swan-neck flask experiment
Developed process of fermentation known as pasteurization
Advanced the germ theory of disease
Robert Koch - Answers - Advanced the germ theory of disease
Developed Koch's postulates
Developed pure culture isolation
Developed agar used for media prep
Koch's Postulates - Answers - 1. Diseased animal with symptoms
2. Culture a pure sample from diseased animal
3. Take pure culture and inject a healthy animal
4. Healthy animal should present with the same disease and symptoms as seen in case
1
5. Re-obtain same organism (have to come full circle)
Ignaz Semmelweis - Answers - Introduced hand washing before medical procedures
Joseph Lister - Answers - Developed antisepsis
Used carbolic acid to disinfect surgical equipment
Father of Antiseptic Surgery
Florence Nightingale - Answers - Introduced using new dressings at new locations
Cleaned scrub brushes and equipment
Edward Jenner - Answers - Father of Vaccines
Inoculated 11-year-old boy with pustule from cowpox lesion to prevent further smallpox
infection
John Snow - Answers - Father of Epidemiology
Alexander Fleming - Answers - Discovered penicillin
Hans Christian Gram - Answers - Developed gram staining to differentiate between
chemical and physical characteristics of cell wall
Theodor Schewann/Matthais Schlediden - Answers - Developed the cell theory
Spontaneous Generation/Abiogenesis - Answers - Life arises spontaneously from
nonorganic material
Fermentation - Answers - Chemical breakdown of a substance and release of heat
