MICROBIOLOGY STRAIGHTERLINE QUIZZES STUDY GUIDE | COMPLETE QUIZ
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
Studies by Emil von Behring and Shiba Saburo Kitasato demonstrated that inactivated toxins can induce
the synthesis of antitoxins in the blood of rabbits. These antitoxins (antibodies) are the basis of...
a. humoral immunity
b. cell-mediated immunity
c. antibiotic immunity
d. phagocyte-mediated immunity - ANS ✔✔a. humoral immunity
Who of the following first discovered that some blood leukocytes could engulf disease-causing bacteria?
a. von Behring
b. Meister
c. Metchnikoff
d. Ivanovski - ANS ✔✔c. Metchnikoff
Who is credited with developing a vaccine against chicken cholera?
a. Koch
b. Pasteur
c. Jenner
d. Lister - ANS ✔✔b. Pasteur
The concept that living organisms arise from nonliving material is called...
a. biogenesis
b. cell theory
c. spontaneous generation
d. germ theory - ANS ✔✔c. spontaneous generation
Protists contain all of the following forms of life EXCEPT...
a. protozoa
b. fungi
c. slime molds
d. algae - ANS ✔✔b. fungi
Cells with a relatively simple cell morphology that do not have a true membrane-delimited nucleus are
called...
a. prokaryotes
b. eukaryotes
c. urkaryotes
d. nokaryotes - ANS ✔✔a. prokaryotes
,The ribosomal RNA studies that led to the division of prokaryotic organisms into the Bacteria and the
Archaea were begun by...
a. Pasteur
b. Woese
c. Needham
d. Watson - ANS ✔✔b. Woese
In a search for new antibiotics, a previously unknown organism has been recovered from the soil. It is
nonmotile and is composed of long threadlike structures formed from nucleated cells. It is not-
photosynthetic and absorbs its nutrients. This organism will most likely be classified among the...
a. bacteria
b. archaea
c. eukaryotes (fungi)
d. eukaryotes (protozoa)
e. eukaryotes (algae) - ANS ✔✔c. eukaryotes (fungi)
If immersion oil was replaced with water, what would happen?
a. The refractive index would increase, improving resolution
b. The refractive index of water would be greater than air but less than oil, improving resolution less
than oil.
c. The refractive index of water would be less than that of air, decreasing resolution.
d. There would be no difference. - ANS ✔✔b. The refractive index of water would be greater than air but
less than oil, improving resolution less than oil.
Prior to staining, smears of microorganisms are heat-fixed in order to...
a. allow eventual visualization of internal structures.
b. ensure removal of dust particles from the slide surface.
c. attach it firmly to the slide.
d. create small pores in cells that facilitates binding of stain to cell structures. - ANS ✔✔c. attach it firmly
to the slide.
If the decolorizer is left on too long in the Gram-staining procedure, gram-positive organisms will be
stained __________ and gram-negative organisms will be stained __________.
a. purple; blue
b. purple; colorless
c. purple; pink
d. pink; pink - ANS ✔✔d. pink; pink
Regions of a specimen with higher electron density scatter ___________ electrons and, therefore,
appear __________ in the image projected onto the screen of a transmission electron microscope.
a. more; lighter
b. more; darker
,c. fewer; darker
d. fewer; lighter - ANS ✔✔b. more; darker
In the Gram-staining procedure, the mordant is...
a. iodine.
b. safranin.
c. crystal violet.
d. alcohol. - ANS ✔✔a. iodine.
Acid-fast organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis contain lipids constructed from
________________in their cell walls.
a. proteins
b. carbohydrates
c. mycolic acids
d. peptidoglycan - ANS ✔✔c. mycolic acids
Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis is particularly important in public health because in this
application, microbiologists seek to identify specific microbial pathogens in ______.
a. food and water
b. patient samples
c. genomic analysis
d. genetic diseases - ANS ✔✔a. food and water
Genomic DNA sequences seem to support the idea that the first eukaryotic cell arose from within the
_____ lineage.
a. archaeal
b. bacterial
c. viral
d. last universal common ancestor (LUCA) - ANS ✔✔a. archaeal
An unrooted tree containing four unrelated species can become rooted by adding
a. a descendant group related to two of the species.
b. an unrelated outgroup.
c. a distantly related outgroup.
d. a descendant related to only one of the species. - ANS ✔✔c. a distantly related outgroup.
A general term used to describe groups based on mutual similarity or evolutionary relatedness is
______.
a. class
b. taxa
c. system
d. group - ANS ✔✔b. taxa
, The temperature at which half of the strands of a double-stranded DNA molecule have separated from
each other is called the __________ temperature.
a. separation
b. melting
c. destabilizing
d. mobilization - ANS ✔✔b. melting
Which of the following is true about Bergey's Manual?
a. The first edition is mostly phenetic while the second edition is more phylogenetic.
b. The first edition is largely phylogenetic while the second edition is more phenetic.
c. The first and second editions are both largely phenetic.
d. The first and second editions are both largely phylogenetic - ANS ✔✔a. The first edition is mostly
phenetic while the second edition is more phylogenetic.
All of the following are reasons why some scientists believe that the term "prokaryote" is a somewhat
artificial designation and should be discarded EXCEPT...
a. Some bacteria have internal membranous structures.
b. Some bacteria have their genetic material enclosed within a membrane.
c. Some bacteria have 80S ribosomes.
d. Many bacterial have cytoskeletal elements. - ANS ✔✔c. Some bacteria have 80S ribosomes.
The type III bacterial protein secretion machinery...
a. has a needlelike structure through which proteins are secreted.
b. includes structural features that may be evolutionarily related to the basal bodies of bacterial flagella.
c. is found in gram-negative bacteria.
d. All of the choices are correct - ANS ✔✔d. All of the choices are correct.
Which of the following is a characteristic of active transport?
a. Saturable uptake rate
b. Use of ATP or a proton gradient as a source of metabolic energy
c. Can move materials against a concentration gradient
d. All of the choices are correct. - ANS ✔✔d. All of the choices are correct.
Lipids with polar and nonpolar ends are said to be...
a. amphipathic.
b. amphibolic.
c. bilateral.
d. None of the choices are correct. - ANS ✔✔a. amphipathic.
Which of the following contribute(s) to the differences between the members of the Domain Archaea
and the Domain Bacteria?
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
Studies by Emil von Behring and Shiba Saburo Kitasato demonstrated that inactivated toxins can induce
the synthesis of antitoxins in the blood of rabbits. These antitoxins (antibodies) are the basis of...
a. humoral immunity
b. cell-mediated immunity
c. antibiotic immunity
d. phagocyte-mediated immunity - ANS ✔✔a. humoral immunity
Who of the following first discovered that some blood leukocytes could engulf disease-causing bacteria?
a. von Behring
b. Meister
c. Metchnikoff
d. Ivanovski - ANS ✔✔c. Metchnikoff
Who is credited with developing a vaccine against chicken cholera?
a. Koch
b. Pasteur
c. Jenner
d. Lister - ANS ✔✔b. Pasteur
The concept that living organisms arise from nonliving material is called...
a. biogenesis
b. cell theory
c. spontaneous generation
d. germ theory - ANS ✔✔c. spontaneous generation
Protists contain all of the following forms of life EXCEPT...
a. protozoa
b. fungi
c. slime molds
d. algae - ANS ✔✔b. fungi
Cells with a relatively simple cell morphology that do not have a true membrane-delimited nucleus are
called...
a. prokaryotes
b. eukaryotes
c. urkaryotes
d. nokaryotes - ANS ✔✔a. prokaryotes
,The ribosomal RNA studies that led to the division of prokaryotic organisms into the Bacteria and the
Archaea were begun by...
a. Pasteur
b. Woese
c. Needham
d. Watson - ANS ✔✔b. Woese
In a search for new antibiotics, a previously unknown organism has been recovered from the soil. It is
nonmotile and is composed of long threadlike structures formed from nucleated cells. It is not-
photosynthetic and absorbs its nutrients. This organism will most likely be classified among the...
a. bacteria
b. archaea
c. eukaryotes (fungi)
d. eukaryotes (protozoa)
e. eukaryotes (algae) - ANS ✔✔c. eukaryotes (fungi)
If immersion oil was replaced with water, what would happen?
a. The refractive index would increase, improving resolution
b. The refractive index of water would be greater than air but less than oil, improving resolution less
than oil.
c. The refractive index of water would be less than that of air, decreasing resolution.
d. There would be no difference. - ANS ✔✔b. The refractive index of water would be greater than air but
less than oil, improving resolution less than oil.
Prior to staining, smears of microorganisms are heat-fixed in order to...
a. allow eventual visualization of internal structures.
b. ensure removal of dust particles from the slide surface.
c. attach it firmly to the slide.
d. create small pores in cells that facilitates binding of stain to cell structures. - ANS ✔✔c. attach it firmly
to the slide.
If the decolorizer is left on too long in the Gram-staining procedure, gram-positive organisms will be
stained __________ and gram-negative organisms will be stained __________.
a. purple; blue
b. purple; colorless
c. purple; pink
d. pink; pink - ANS ✔✔d. pink; pink
Regions of a specimen with higher electron density scatter ___________ electrons and, therefore,
appear __________ in the image projected onto the screen of a transmission electron microscope.
a. more; lighter
b. more; darker
,c. fewer; darker
d. fewer; lighter - ANS ✔✔b. more; darker
In the Gram-staining procedure, the mordant is...
a. iodine.
b. safranin.
c. crystal violet.
d. alcohol. - ANS ✔✔a. iodine.
Acid-fast organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis contain lipids constructed from
________________in their cell walls.
a. proteins
b. carbohydrates
c. mycolic acids
d. peptidoglycan - ANS ✔✔c. mycolic acids
Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis is particularly important in public health because in this
application, microbiologists seek to identify specific microbial pathogens in ______.
a. food and water
b. patient samples
c. genomic analysis
d. genetic diseases - ANS ✔✔a. food and water
Genomic DNA sequences seem to support the idea that the first eukaryotic cell arose from within the
_____ lineage.
a. archaeal
b. bacterial
c. viral
d. last universal common ancestor (LUCA) - ANS ✔✔a. archaeal
An unrooted tree containing four unrelated species can become rooted by adding
a. a descendant group related to two of the species.
b. an unrelated outgroup.
c. a distantly related outgroup.
d. a descendant related to only one of the species. - ANS ✔✔c. a distantly related outgroup.
A general term used to describe groups based on mutual similarity or evolutionary relatedness is
______.
a. class
b. taxa
c. system
d. group - ANS ✔✔b. taxa
, The temperature at which half of the strands of a double-stranded DNA molecule have separated from
each other is called the __________ temperature.
a. separation
b. melting
c. destabilizing
d. mobilization - ANS ✔✔b. melting
Which of the following is true about Bergey's Manual?
a. The first edition is mostly phenetic while the second edition is more phylogenetic.
b. The first edition is largely phylogenetic while the second edition is more phenetic.
c. The first and second editions are both largely phenetic.
d. The first and second editions are both largely phylogenetic - ANS ✔✔a. The first edition is mostly
phenetic while the second edition is more phylogenetic.
All of the following are reasons why some scientists believe that the term "prokaryote" is a somewhat
artificial designation and should be discarded EXCEPT...
a. Some bacteria have internal membranous structures.
b. Some bacteria have their genetic material enclosed within a membrane.
c. Some bacteria have 80S ribosomes.
d. Many bacterial have cytoskeletal elements. - ANS ✔✔c. Some bacteria have 80S ribosomes.
The type III bacterial protein secretion machinery...
a. has a needlelike structure through which proteins are secreted.
b. includes structural features that may be evolutionarily related to the basal bodies of bacterial flagella.
c. is found in gram-negative bacteria.
d. All of the choices are correct - ANS ✔✔d. All of the choices are correct.
Which of the following is a characteristic of active transport?
a. Saturable uptake rate
b. Use of ATP or a proton gradient as a source of metabolic energy
c. Can move materials against a concentration gradient
d. All of the choices are correct. - ANS ✔✔d. All of the choices are correct.
Lipids with polar and nonpolar ends are said to be...
a. amphipathic.
b. amphibolic.
c. bilateral.
d. None of the choices are correct. - ANS ✔✔a. amphipathic.
Which of the following contribute(s) to the differences between the members of the Domain Archaea
and the Domain Bacteria?
