Biol 345 Midterm 1 Exam Questions and Answers
What kinds of microorganisms are classified as 'Eukaryotes'? - Answer-having a
nucleus; don't really use the terms euk/prok any more; algae, fungi, protozoa,
nematodes
/.Acellular microorganisms? - Answer-viruses, viroids, prions
/.What are the three domains of life? - Answer-bacteria, archaea, and eukarya
/.What molecular differences do bacteria have from archaea? - Answer-4-subunit RNA
polymerase, peptidoglycan cell wall, ester-linked fatty acid membrane lipids
/.What molecular differences do archaea have from bacteria? - Answer-8-subunit RNA
polymerase, non-peptidoglycan cell wall, ether-linked isoprenoid cell membrane lipids
/.What are the defining characteristics of euk cells? - Answer-nucleated; mostly linear
chromosomes; membranous organelles; most complex ribosomes; reproductively
diploid sexual reproduction; large; usually multicellular
/.What are the characteristics that define a cell? - Answer-metabolism, reproduction,
communication, evolution, movement, differentiation
/.How many cells in the average human? - Answer-about 10 trillion
/.And how many microorganisms in the average human? - Answer-10 times as many!!
100 trillion!!!!
/.About what percentage of Earth's biodiversity is microbial? - Answer-99%
/.What is the rate-limiting step in microbes? - Answer-DNA replication
/.Where are microbial populations most dense? (in terms of MO's per gram or per mL) -
Answer-soil! then fresh water, then the ocean
/.Does density predict diversity (# of taxa in a community)? - Answer-nope
/.Describe the turnover rate of microbes in the oceanic subsurface. How does this relate
to the abundance of microbes in this area? - Answer-the turnover rate is slow, which
contributes to the high abundance of microbes in the oceanic subsurface
, /.What is known about the oceanic subsurface in relation to nitrogen and phosphorous?
- Answer-oceanic subsurface is a huge N and P reservoir
/.How do bacteria compare to plants in C, N, and P? - Answer-bacteria contain 60-100%
of the cellular carbon of all plants and about 10x the N and P of all plants!
/.What are the 4 "ages" of microbio history? - Answer-the age of sanitation (pre-1660's),
the age of discovery (1660's-1850's), the age of diagnoses (1850's-1920's), and the age
of biotechnology (1920's-present)
/.Robert Hooke - Answer-first person to see MOs under a microscope; saw cell structure
of plants of fungi, but his lenses were too poor to see bacteria
/.Francesco Redi - Answer-first to seriously argue against "spontaneous generation";
experiment proved maggots are not spontaneously generated in rotten meat
/.Anton van Leeuwenhoek - Answer-first to see and describe bacteria and characteristic
morphology; drawings of "wee animalcules"; originally drove development of
microscope b/c of thread counting for fabric
/.Edward Jenner - Answer-introduces concept of vaccination using cowpox material to
prevent small pox
/.Ignaz Semmelweis - Answer-reduces infant mortality in hospitals (wash your hands
before delivering a baby!); no germ theory yet
/.what is variolation? - Answer-scraped off some cowpox and put it on patient to provide
immunity to to stronger strain of disease (small pox)
/.Louis Pasteur - Answer-settles question of spontaneous generation with swan necked
flask experiments; Germ Theory; contributed to development of vaccinations for the
immunization against rabies, anthrax, and chicken cholera; fermentation; pastuerization
/.What is the germ theory? - Answer-aka cell theory; microbiology becomes a discipline;
MOs known to have same fundamental properties as other living organisms
/.What is pasteurization? - Answer-heat food then let it cool down before canning it;
originally used for canned food for Napoleon's armies
/.Joseph Lister - Answer-introduced antiseptic methods to medicine; introduced
practices to limit exposure of infections MOs during surgery
/.Robert Koch - Answer-established relationship between MOs and infectious disease;
Koch's postulates; discovered causative agent for anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera;
contributed to Germ Theory
What kinds of microorganisms are classified as 'Eukaryotes'? - Answer-having a
nucleus; don't really use the terms euk/prok any more; algae, fungi, protozoa,
nematodes
/.Acellular microorganisms? - Answer-viruses, viroids, prions
/.What are the three domains of life? - Answer-bacteria, archaea, and eukarya
/.What molecular differences do bacteria have from archaea? - Answer-4-subunit RNA
polymerase, peptidoglycan cell wall, ester-linked fatty acid membrane lipids
/.What molecular differences do archaea have from bacteria? - Answer-8-subunit RNA
polymerase, non-peptidoglycan cell wall, ether-linked isoprenoid cell membrane lipids
/.What are the defining characteristics of euk cells? - Answer-nucleated; mostly linear
chromosomes; membranous organelles; most complex ribosomes; reproductively
diploid sexual reproduction; large; usually multicellular
/.What are the characteristics that define a cell? - Answer-metabolism, reproduction,
communication, evolution, movement, differentiation
/.How many cells in the average human? - Answer-about 10 trillion
/.And how many microorganisms in the average human? - Answer-10 times as many!!
100 trillion!!!!
/.About what percentage of Earth's biodiversity is microbial? - Answer-99%
/.What is the rate-limiting step in microbes? - Answer-DNA replication
/.Where are microbial populations most dense? (in terms of MO's per gram or per mL) -
Answer-soil! then fresh water, then the ocean
/.Does density predict diversity (# of taxa in a community)? - Answer-nope
/.Describe the turnover rate of microbes in the oceanic subsurface. How does this relate
to the abundance of microbes in this area? - Answer-the turnover rate is slow, which
contributes to the high abundance of microbes in the oceanic subsurface
, /.What is known about the oceanic subsurface in relation to nitrogen and phosphorous?
- Answer-oceanic subsurface is a huge N and P reservoir
/.How do bacteria compare to plants in C, N, and P? - Answer-bacteria contain 60-100%
of the cellular carbon of all plants and about 10x the N and P of all plants!
/.What are the 4 "ages" of microbio history? - Answer-the age of sanitation (pre-1660's),
the age of discovery (1660's-1850's), the age of diagnoses (1850's-1920's), and the age
of biotechnology (1920's-present)
/.Robert Hooke - Answer-first person to see MOs under a microscope; saw cell structure
of plants of fungi, but his lenses were too poor to see bacteria
/.Francesco Redi - Answer-first to seriously argue against "spontaneous generation";
experiment proved maggots are not spontaneously generated in rotten meat
/.Anton van Leeuwenhoek - Answer-first to see and describe bacteria and characteristic
morphology; drawings of "wee animalcules"; originally drove development of
microscope b/c of thread counting for fabric
/.Edward Jenner - Answer-introduces concept of vaccination using cowpox material to
prevent small pox
/.Ignaz Semmelweis - Answer-reduces infant mortality in hospitals (wash your hands
before delivering a baby!); no germ theory yet
/.what is variolation? - Answer-scraped off some cowpox and put it on patient to provide
immunity to to stronger strain of disease (small pox)
/.Louis Pasteur - Answer-settles question of spontaneous generation with swan necked
flask experiments; Germ Theory; contributed to development of vaccinations for the
immunization against rabies, anthrax, and chicken cholera; fermentation; pastuerization
/.What is the germ theory? - Answer-aka cell theory; microbiology becomes a discipline;
MOs known to have same fundamental properties as other living organisms
/.What is pasteurization? - Answer-heat food then let it cool down before canning it;
originally used for canned food for Napoleon's armies
/.Joseph Lister - Answer-introduced antiseptic methods to medicine; introduced
practices to limit exposure of infections MOs during surgery
/.Robert Koch - Answer-established relationship between MOs and infectious disease;
Koch's postulates; discovered causative agent for anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera;
contributed to Germ Theory
