Define microorganisms - ANSWER Organisms too small to be seen clearly by the
unaided eye
Define prokaryotic cells - ANSWER Cells having a type of structure characterized by the
lack of a true, membrane-enclosed nucleus. All known members of Archaea and most
members of Bacteria exhibit this type of cell structure; some members of the bacterial
phylum Planctomycetes have a membrane surrounding their genetic material.
Define eukaryotic cells - ANSWER Cells that have a membrane-delimited nucleus; all
plants, fungi, protists and animals are eukaryotic.
List the 5 major kingdoms - ANSWER Monera, Protista, Fungi, Animalia, and Plantae
What kingdom did prokaryotes used to be placed in? - ANSWER Monera
What are the two major divisions of prokaryotes? - ANSWER Archaea and bacteria
What are the major groups of microorganisms? - ANSWER Bacteria, Archaea, and
Eukarya
Define bacteria - ANSWER Usually single-celled organisms. Most have cell walls that
contain the structural molecule peptidoglycan. Mostly prokaryotes.
1
,Define archaea - ANSWER A group of microorganisms similar to bacteria with
distinctive rRNA sequences, lack of peptidoglycan in their cell walls, and unique membrane
lipids
Define methanogens - ANSWER Archaea which produce methane.
List the major types of protists - ANSWER Protozoa, algae, slime molds, water molds
Define protozoa - ANSWER Unicellular, animal-like protists that are usually motile.
Many free-living protozoa function as the principal hunters and grazers of the microbial
world. They obtain nutrients by ingesting organic matter and other microbes
Define slime molds - ANSWER Protists that behave like protozoa in one stage of their
life cycle but like fungi in another. In the protozoan phase, they hunt for and engulf food
particles, consuming decaying vegetation and other microbes
Define water molds - ANSWER Protists that grow on the surface of freshwater and
moist soil. They feed on decaying vegetation such as logs and mulch.
Define fungi - ANSWER A diverse group of microorganisms that range from unicellular
forms (yeasts) to molds and mushrooms. They absorb nutrients from their environment,
including the organic molecules they use as sources of carbon and ener
Define hyphae - ANSWER Each of the branching filaments that make up the mycelium
of a fungus.
Define viruses - ANSWER Acellular entities that must invade a host cell to multiply
Define virions - ANSWER The simplest virus particles composed only of proteins and a
nucleic acid,
2
, Define viroids - ANSWER Infectious agents composed only of ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Define satelites - ANSWER Viruses composed of a nucleic acid enclosed in a protein
shell
Define prions - ANSWER Viruses composed only of protein which are responsible for
causing a variety of spongiform encephalopathies such as scrapie and "mad cow disease."
What would be the best direct evidence for the nature of primitive life - ANSWER A
fossil record
What is the major flaw of the fossil record for microbes - ANSWER The fossil record for
microbes is sparse and always open to reinterpretation
Define ribozymes - ANSWER RNA molecules capable of acting as an enzyme which
suggest that RNA at some time had the ability to catalyze its own replication, using itself as
the template
Describe the RNA world - ANSWER A precellular stage in the evolution of life in which
RNA was capable of storing, copying, and expressing genetic information, as well as
catalyzing other chemical reactions. It was ended when a lipid membrane must have formed
around the RNA
Define the endosymbiotic hypothesis - ANSWER Over time a bacterial endosymbiont
of an ancestral cell in the eukaryotic lineage lost its ability to live independently, becoming
either a mitochondrion, if the intracellular bacterium used aerobic respiration, or a
chloroplast, if the endosymbiont was a photosynthetic bacterium
Define endosymbiosis - ANSWER An interaction between two organisms in which one
organism lives inside the other
3
unaided eye
Define prokaryotic cells - ANSWER Cells having a type of structure characterized by the
lack of a true, membrane-enclosed nucleus. All known members of Archaea and most
members of Bacteria exhibit this type of cell structure; some members of the bacterial
phylum Planctomycetes have a membrane surrounding their genetic material.
Define eukaryotic cells - ANSWER Cells that have a membrane-delimited nucleus; all
plants, fungi, protists and animals are eukaryotic.
List the 5 major kingdoms - ANSWER Monera, Protista, Fungi, Animalia, and Plantae
What kingdom did prokaryotes used to be placed in? - ANSWER Monera
What are the two major divisions of prokaryotes? - ANSWER Archaea and bacteria
What are the major groups of microorganisms? - ANSWER Bacteria, Archaea, and
Eukarya
Define bacteria - ANSWER Usually single-celled organisms. Most have cell walls that
contain the structural molecule peptidoglycan. Mostly prokaryotes.
1
,Define archaea - ANSWER A group of microorganisms similar to bacteria with
distinctive rRNA sequences, lack of peptidoglycan in their cell walls, and unique membrane
lipids
Define methanogens - ANSWER Archaea which produce methane.
List the major types of protists - ANSWER Protozoa, algae, slime molds, water molds
Define protozoa - ANSWER Unicellular, animal-like protists that are usually motile.
Many free-living protozoa function as the principal hunters and grazers of the microbial
world. They obtain nutrients by ingesting organic matter and other microbes
Define slime molds - ANSWER Protists that behave like protozoa in one stage of their
life cycle but like fungi in another. In the protozoan phase, they hunt for and engulf food
particles, consuming decaying vegetation and other microbes
Define water molds - ANSWER Protists that grow on the surface of freshwater and
moist soil. They feed on decaying vegetation such as logs and mulch.
Define fungi - ANSWER A diverse group of microorganisms that range from unicellular
forms (yeasts) to molds and mushrooms. They absorb nutrients from their environment,
including the organic molecules they use as sources of carbon and ener
Define hyphae - ANSWER Each of the branching filaments that make up the mycelium
of a fungus.
Define viruses - ANSWER Acellular entities that must invade a host cell to multiply
Define virions - ANSWER The simplest virus particles composed only of proteins and a
nucleic acid,
2
, Define viroids - ANSWER Infectious agents composed only of ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Define satelites - ANSWER Viruses composed of a nucleic acid enclosed in a protein
shell
Define prions - ANSWER Viruses composed only of protein which are responsible for
causing a variety of spongiform encephalopathies such as scrapie and "mad cow disease."
What would be the best direct evidence for the nature of primitive life - ANSWER A
fossil record
What is the major flaw of the fossil record for microbes - ANSWER The fossil record for
microbes is sparse and always open to reinterpretation
Define ribozymes - ANSWER RNA molecules capable of acting as an enzyme which
suggest that RNA at some time had the ability to catalyze its own replication, using itself as
the template
Describe the RNA world - ANSWER A precellular stage in the evolution of life in which
RNA was capable of storing, copying, and expressing genetic information, as well as
catalyzing other chemical reactions. It was ended when a lipid membrane must have formed
around the RNA
Define the endosymbiotic hypothesis - ANSWER Over time a bacterial endosymbiont
of an ancestral cell in the eukaryotic lineage lost its ability to live independently, becoming
either a mitochondrion, if the intracellular bacterium used aerobic respiration, or a
chloroplast, if the endosymbiont was a photosynthetic bacterium
Define endosymbiosis - ANSWER An interaction between two organisms in which one
organism lives inside the other
3
