Unit 2 Vocab

Antibiotic

a substance that inhibits the growth oforkills microorganisms

Bacillus

Rod shaped bacterium

Bacteriophage

A virus that infects bacteria

Binary Fission

A form of asexual reproduction in single-celled organisms by which cone cell divides into two cells of the same size

Capsid

A protein sheath that surrounds the nucleic acid core in a virus

Coccus

Sphere-shaped bacterium

Conjugation

An exchange of genetic information in plasmid via pili

Emerging disease

A disease that is caused by new or reappearing infectious agents that typically exist in animal populations

Eukaryote

An organism made up of cells that have a nucleus enclosed by a membrane (not bacteria or archaea)

Lysogenic infection

A method of viral replication in which a viral genome is replaced as a provirious without destroying the host cell

Lytic infection

A method of viral replication that results in the destruction of a host cell and the release of many new virus particles

Pathogen

A virus/organism that cause disease

Peptidoglycan

A protein-carb compound that makes the cell walls of bacteria rigid

Pilus

A short, thick hair-like protein structure that allows a bacterium to attach to other bacteria and surfaces

Prion

An infectious particle that consists only of a protein and that does not contain DNA or RNA

Prokaryote

A single celled organism that has no nucleus and no membrane-bound organelles (bacteria and archaea)

Prophage

The viral genome (DNA) of a bacteriophage that has entered a bacterial cell, has become attached to the bacterial chromosome, and is replicated with the host bacterium’s DNA

Retrovirus

A virus with RNA instead of DNA

Spirillum

Spiral shaped bacterium

Vaccine

Injecting killed or weakened bacteria to stimulate immune system response

Virus

Nonliving infectious particle made up of nucleic acid and protein coat