MICROBIOLOGY FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes have ribosomes, but some antibiotics specifically
target prokaryotic ribosomes. How is it possible to use these antibiotics to treat
human diseases and how do they affect eukaryotic cells? - answerThese antibiotics
can be used because they attack components that human cells don't have like a cell
wall. They don't affect eukaryotic cells
Discuss what might be three different beneficial consequences and three different
detrimental consequences of killing all microorganisms on the earth. -
answerBenefits: they can illness in animals, plants, and humans; they can
contaminate food; and they are the source of disease transmission.
Detrimental: they help in the production of many food items; making specific
medicines; and keeping the environment clean.
Discuss five of the reasons why infectious disease are increasing in numbers around
the world. - answer1. increase travel
2. urbanization
3. poverty
4. warming climate
5. encroaching into new environments
What characteristics might make you think a protist could be pathogenic? Are certain
nutritional characteristics, methods of locomotion, or morphological differences likely
to be associated with the ability to cause disease? - answerProtists that are
heterotrophic are more likely to cause disease than autotrophic protists. Protists that
are missing certain organelles or that are not motile are more likely to be parasitic or
pathogenic than those that have all of the usually organelles and those that are
motile.
Microorganisms can thrive under many different conditions, including high-
temperature environments such as hot springs. To function properly, cell membranes
have to be in a fluid state. How do you expect the fatty acid content of bacteria living
in high-temperature environments might compare with that of bacteria living in more
moderate temperatures? - answerBacteria living in hot springs will likely have a
greater saturated fatty acid content than bacteria living in more moderate
temperatures. Saturated fatty acids experience stronger mutual attractive forces due
to their relatively straight hydrocarbon chains, thus many are solids near room
temperature and only become fluid when adequately heated. The "kinked"
hydrocarbon chains of unsaturated fatty acids make then less strongly attracted to
one another, and they are fluid at room temperature. At elevated temperatures, the
mutual attractions among unsaturated fatty acids may be weakened to the point that
the membrane dissociates.
Name three elements incorporated into a plasmid vector for efficient cloning. -
answer1. an antibiotic resistance gene to allow for selection of plasmid-containing
transformants.
2. a polylinker, or MCS, into which foreign DNA can be inserted.
3. a gene whose product can be easily monitored such that insertion of foreign DNA
into this gene can be readily observed.
Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes have ribosomes, but some antibiotics specifically
target prokaryotic ribosomes. How is it possible to use these antibiotics to treat
human diseases and how do they affect eukaryotic cells? - answerThese antibiotics
can be used because they attack components that human cells don't have like a cell
wall. They don't affect eukaryotic cells
Discuss what might be three different beneficial consequences and three different
detrimental consequences of killing all microorganisms on the earth. -
answerBenefits: they can illness in animals, plants, and humans; they can
contaminate food; and they are the source of disease transmission.
Detrimental: they help in the production of many food items; making specific
medicines; and keeping the environment clean.
Discuss five of the reasons why infectious disease are increasing in numbers around
the world. - answer1. increase travel
2. urbanization
3. poverty
4. warming climate
5. encroaching into new environments
What characteristics might make you think a protist could be pathogenic? Are certain
nutritional characteristics, methods of locomotion, or morphological differences likely
to be associated with the ability to cause disease? - answerProtists that are
heterotrophic are more likely to cause disease than autotrophic protists. Protists that
are missing certain organelles or that are not motile are more likely to be parasitic or
pathogenic than those that have all of the usually organelles and those that are
motile.
Microorganisms can thrive under many different conditions, including high-
temperature environments such as hot springs. To function properly, cell membranes
have to be in a fluid state. How do you expect the fatty acid content of bacteria living
in high-temperature environments might compare with that of bacteria living in more
moderate temperatures? - answerBacteria living in hot springs will likely have a
greater saturated fatty acid content than bacteria living in more moderate
temperatures. Saturated fatty acids experience stronger mutual attractive forces due
to their relatively straight hydrocarbon chains, thus many are solids near room
temperature and only become fluid when adequately heated. The "kinked"
hydrocarbon chains of unsaturated fatty acids make then less strongly attracted to
one another, and they are fluid at room temperature. At elevated temperatures, the
mutual attractions among unsaturated fatty acids may be weakened to the point that
the membrane dissociates.
Name three elements incorporated into a plasmid vector for efficient cloning. -
answer1. an antibiotic resistance gene to allow for selection of plasmid-containing
transformants.
2. a polylinker, or MCS, into which foreign DNA can be inserted.
3. a gene whose product can be easily monitored such that insertion of foreign DNA
into this gene can be readily observed.
