Microbiology (Bio205) Rio Salado Midterm
questions and answers with solutions
Microbes/Microorganisms - ANSWER minute living things that individually are too small to be
seen with the unaided eye. Includes: Bacteria, Fungi (yeasts and molds), Protozoa, Microscopic
algae, Viruses
Pathogenic - ANSWER disease producing
List several ways microbes affect our lives - ANSWER a.Help maintain the balance of life in our
environment
b.Soil microbes break down waste by using nitrogen gas to recycle chemical elements in soil,
water, living organisms, and air
c.Synthesis of vitamins in intestines for digestion (vitamin B-metabolism, Vitamin K-blood-
clotting)
d.Used to produce acetone and butanol (Weizmann-1914, smokeless gunpowder-WWI)
e.Food: pickles, soy sauce, vinegar, sauerkraut, cheese, yogurt
Recognize the system of scientific nomenclature that uses genus and specific epithet names -
ANSWER Genus: first name, always capitalized
Specific epithet: species name, second name, not capitalized
Established in 1735 by Carollus Linnaeus
Both names underlined and italicized
,After mentioned once, abbreviate genus with initial and write specific epithet (E. coli)
Bacteria - ANSWER single-celled organisms, genetic material not enclosed in a special nuclear
membrane
Prokaryotes - ANSWER bacterial cells, include both bacteria and archaea
Bacterial cell shapes - ANSWER Bacillus (rod-like)
Coccus (spherical or ovoid)
Spiral (corkscrew or curved)
Star shaped
Square
What is bacteria enclosed in? - ANSWER enclosed in cell walls composed of a carb and protein
(peptidoglycan)
How do bacterial cells reproduce? - ANSWER binary fission
Where do bacteria get nutrition? - ANSWER Organic chemicals (from dead or living organisms)
Photosynthesis
Inorganic substances
How do bacteria move? - ANSWER Flagella: bacteria use these moving appendages to swim
,Archaea - ANSWER consist or prokaryotic cells, but if they have cell walls they lack
peptidoglycan, often found in extreme environments. (don't cause disease in humans)
3 groups of archaea - ANSWER Methanogens: produce methane as a waste product from
respiration
Extreme halophiles: (salt-loving) live in extremely salty environments (Dead Sea/Great Salt Lake)
Extreme thermophiles: live in hot sulfurous water (hot springs)
Fungi - ANSWER eukaryotes: organisms that has cells with a distinct nucleus containing DNA
surrounded by a nuclear membrane) unicellular or multicellular, can't carry out photosynthesis,
cell walls composed of chitin
Large multicellular fungi: mushrooms
Unicellular fungi: yeasts (oval shaped) (larger than bacteria)
Mold: most typical fungi, forms masses called mycelia composed of long filaments (hyphae) that
branch and intertwine (found on bread and fruit)
Reproduce sexually or Asexually
Obtain nourishment through absorbing organic material from soil, water, animal/plant host
Protozoa - ANSWER unicellular eukaryotic microbes
, Move by pseudopods, flagella, or cilia
Free entities or parasites
Use light as a source of energy and carbon dioxide to produce sugars
Reproduce sexually and asexually
Viruses - ANSWER so small only can be seen with an electron microscope, acellular, contains
core made of DNA or RNA, only can reproduce by using cellular machinery of other organisms,
non-living
Multicellular Animal parasites - ANSWER eukaryotes, Two major groups of parasitic worms
collectively called helminths:
Flatworms
Round worms
Differentiate among the major characteristics of each group of microorganisms - ANSWER 1978
Carl Woese devised a system to classify all organisms
Bacteria (cell walls contain a protein-carobohydrate complex called peptidoglycan)
Archaea (cell walls, if present, lack peptidoglycan)
Eukarya
1.Protists (slime molds, protozoa, and algae)
questions and answers with solutions
Microbes/Microorganisms - ANSWER minute living things that individually are too small to be
seen with the unaided eye. Includes: Bacteria, Fungi (yeasts and molds), Protozoa, Microscopic
algae, Viruses
Pathogenic - ANSWER disease producing
List several ways microbes affect our lives - ANSWER a.Help maintain the balance of life in our
environment
b.Soil microbes break down waste by using nitrogen gas to recycle chemical elements in soil,
water, living organisms, and air
c.Synthesis of vitamins in intestines for digestion (vitamin B-metabolism, Vitamin K-blood-
clotting)
d.Used to produce acetone and butanol (Weizmann-1914, smokeless gunpowder-WWI)
e.Food: pickles, soy sauce, vinegar, sauerkraut, cheese, yogurt
Recognize the system of scientific nomenclature that uses genus and specific epithet names -
ANSWER Genus: first name, always capitalized
Specific epithet: species name, second name, not capitalized
Established in 1735 by Carollus Linnaeus
Both names underlined and italicized
,After mentioned once, abbreviate genus with initial and write specific epithet (E. coli)
Bacteria - ANSWER single-celled organisms, genetic material not enclosed in a special nuclear
membrane
Prokaryotes - ANSWER bacterial cells, include both bacteria and archaea
Bacterial cell shapes - ANSWER Bacillus (rod-like)
Coccus (spherical or ovoid)
Spiral (corkscrew or curved)
Star shaped
Square
What is bacteria enclosed in? - ANSWER enclosed in cell walls composed of a carb and protein
(peptidoglycan)
How do bacterial cells reproduce? - ANSWER binary fission
Where do bacteria get nutrition? - ANSWER Organic chemicals (from dead or living organisms)
Photosynthesis
Inorganic substances
How do bacteria move? - ANSWER Flagella: bacteria use these moving appendages to swim
,Archaea - ANSWER consist or prokaryotic cells, but if they have cell walls they lack
peptidoglycan, often found in extreme environments. (don't cause disease in humans)
3 groups of archaea - ANSWER Methanogens: produce methane as a waste product from
respiration
Extreme halophiles: (salt-loving) live in extremely salty environments (Dead Sea/Great Salt Lake)
Extreme thermophiles: live in hot sulfurous water (hot springs)
Fungi - ANSWER eukaryotes: organisms that has cells with a distinct nucleus containing DNA
surrounded by a nuclear membrane) unicellular or multicellular, can't carry out photosynthesis,
cell walls composed of chitin
Large multicellular fungi: mushrooms
Unicellular fungi: yeasts (oval shaped) (larger than bacteria)
Mold: most typical fungi, forms masses called mycelia composed of long filaments (hyphae) that
branch and intertwine (found on bread and fruit)
Reproduce sexually or Asexually
Obtain nourishment through absorbing organic material from soil, water, animal/plant host
Protozoa - ANSWER unicellular eukaryotic microbes
, Move by pseudopods, flagella, or cilia
Free entities or parasites
Use light as a source of energy and carbon dioxide to produce sugars
Reproduce sexually and asexually
Viruses - ANSWER so small only can be seen with an electron microscope, acellular, contains
core made of DNA or RNA, only can reproduce by using cellular machinery of other organisms,
non-living
Multicellular Animal parasites - ANSWER eukaryotes, Two major groups of parasitic worms
collectively called helminths:
Flatworms
Round worms
Differentiate among the major characteristics of each group of microorganisms - ANSWER 1978
Carl Woese devised a system to classify all organisms
Bacteria (cell walls contain a protein-carobohydrate complex called peptidoglycan)
Archaea (cell walls, if present, lack peptidoglycan)
Eukarya
1.Protists (slime molds, protozoa, and algae)
