BIOL 324 Exam 1

What do microorganisms do

are important in the decomposition organic waste

are producers in the ecosystem by photosynthesis

Produce industrial chemicals such as ethanol and acetone

Produce fermented foods such as vinegar, cheese, and bread

Produce products used in manufacturing (e.g., cellulase) and treatment (e.g., insulin)

What is the importance of knowing microorganisms

Prevent disease occurrence

Improve agriculture yields

Bioremediation – remove pollution

Produce energy and fuels

Improve health - led to aseptic technique

Supplement food supply

Escherichia coli name

Honors the discoverer, Theodor Escherich

Describes the habitat - the large intestine

Staphylococcus aureus

Describes the clustered (staphylo) spherical (cocci) cells

Describes the gold-colored colonies

Bacillus glennii and B. saganii

Describes the shape (bacillus)

Honors John Glenn and Carl Sagan

Types of microorganisms

Bacteria

Archaea

Fungi

Protozoa

Algae

Viruses

Multicellular animal parasites

Bacteria

Prokaryotes with peptidoglycans in the cell walls

Uses binary fission and can use organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals, or photosynthesis for energy

Archaea

Prokaryotic

NO peptidoglycan

Live in extreme environments - methanogens, halophiles, thermophiles

Fungi

Eukaryotes

Chitin cell walls and heterotrophic

Molds/mushrooms = multicellular with mycelia which are made of hyphae filaments

Yeast are unicellular

Protozoa

Eukaryotes and heterotrophic

Motile via pseudopods, cilia, or flagella

Algae

Eukaryotes

Cellulose cell walls and most are photosynthesizers, producing molecular oxygen and other organic compounds

Viruses

Acellular - not technically living but have a DNA or RNA core - only one or the other!

Core is surrounded by a protein coat and may have a lipid envelope

Only replicated when in a host cell

Multicellular animal parasites

Eukaryotes

Parasitic flat and roundworms - helminths with microscopic lifestages

Three domains who goes where

Bacteria - Bacteria

Archaea - Archaea

Eukarya - Protists, fungi, plants, animals

First life on Earth?

Ancestors of bacteria

Who first called living things as cells

Robert Hooke, 1665

Who said cells arise from pre-existing cells

Rudolf Virchow

Cell theory

All living things are composed of cells and come from preexisting cells

What did Anton van Leeuwenhoek do

Described live microorganisms the first time

Spontaneous generation

The hypothesis that living organisms arise from nonliving matter; a “vital force” forms life - not true!

Maggots appear because they were exposed to the life force

Biogenesis

The hypothesis that the living organisms arise from previously existing life - not true!

Maggots appear because they are coming from the previously living meat

Louis Pasteur and microorganisms in the air

Proved that they are in the air - no spontaneous generation or biogenesis - S-shaped flask kept microbes out but let air (vital force) in

When was the golden age of microbiology

1857-1914 - beginning with Pasteur’s work because he is the GOAT

Pasteur and alcohol

Showed that microbes cause fermentation - turning sugar to alcohol

Also showed they cause food spoilage and spoil wine by turning it into vinegar

What did Pasteur do to help with spoiled wine

Heated the alcohol hot enough to kill the bacteria but not ruin the alcohol - Pasteurization - big thing with milk

Agostino Bassi what did he do

Showed that a silkworm disease was caused by a fungus

Louis Pasteur and silkworm diseases

Proved a different silkworm disease was caused by a protozoan

What did Ignaz Semmelweis do

Advocated for handwashing between working in the morgue and working in the OB ward or between OB patients

Joseph Lister what did he do

Uses chemical disinfectants to prevent surgical wound infections

What did Koch do

Proved that a bacterium causes anthrax and created the Koch’s postulate that prove a specific microbe causes a specific disease

Edward Jenner what did he do

Took a sample from someone with cowpox (not bad disease) to someone else, protecting the second person against smallpox - first vaccine

Vaccination word origin

Vacca which is cow (cowpox)

Treatment with chemicals term

Chemotherapy

First synthetic drugs

Quinine from tree bark to treat malaria

What did Erlich do

Created a synthetic arsenic drug, salvarsan, to treat syphilis - a magic bullet that destroyed the pathogen without harming the host

What did Fleming do

Discovered the first antibiotic - penicillium fungus made an antibiotic that killed a different bacteria - widespread use by the 1940s

BActeriology

Study of bacteria

Mycology

Study of fungi

Virology

Study of viruses

Parasitology

Study of protozoa and parasitic worms

What did Lancefield do

Identified bacteria by serotype for immunology

Immunology

Study of immunity - vaccines and interferons (viral medication) to prevent and cure viral diseases

Recombinant DNA

DNA made from two different sources.

In the 1960s, Paul Berg inserted animal DNA into bacterial DNA, and the bacteria produced an animal protein

Microbial genetics

Study of how microbes inherit traits

Molecular biology

Study of how DNA directs protein synthesis

Genomics

Study of an organism’s genes - has been vital in classifying microorganisms lately

Microbial ecology

Bacteria recycle carbon, nutrients, sulfur, and phosphorus that can be used by plants and animals.

Bioremediation

Using bacteria to degrade organic matter in sewage or to degrade/detoxify pollutants

Biological insecticides

Pathogenic to insects but harmless to people

Biotechnology

Using microbes for food - cheese, beer, bread, etc

Bacillus

Rod shaped

Coccus

Spherical

Vibrio

Spiral (least)

Spirillum

Spiral (middle)

Spirochetes

Spiral (most)

Diplo

Pairs

Satphlo

Clusters

Strepto

Chains

Only vital structures of prokaryotes

Cytoplasm

Ribosomes

Plasma Membrane

Nucleoid containing DNA

Optional structures

Cell wall

Glycocalyx (capsule)

Inclusions

Flagella/Pili/Fimbriae

Plasmids

Glycocalyx

Polysaccharide sticky stuff to help with attachment and preventing phagocytosis

Capsule - organized

Slime layer - unorganized and loose

Flagella

For motility by rotating to tumble

Anchored to cell wall by a basal body and made of chains of flagelin protein

Protein can be used for serotyping

Endoflagella

Found only in spirochetes and is inside the cell, anchored at one end

Rotation causes movement

Fimbriae

Used to attach cells to biofilms/aggregations - can determine if a bacteria is pathogenic - some bacteria cannot infect without this structure

Can have a few to hundreds on one cell

Pili

Used for motility and DNA transfer

Longer and fewer than fimbriae on cells, and can cause a twitching motion by extending and retracting or gliding, but we don’t know how that works

DNA conjugation pili can transfer DNA between them, which can spread antibiotic resistance (bad)

Cell wall

Rigid structure outside plasma membrane to prevent osmotic lysis

Peptidoglycan - disaccharide made of N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM)