CLLS 202 - Introduction to Microbes Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from the CLLS 202 lecture notes, covering core concepts of microbiology, types of microbes, historical milestones, vaccines, antimicrobial therapies, and branches of microbiology.

Microorganisms

Organisms that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, microscopic algae, and viruses.

Infectious Disease

Illnesses caused by germs (such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that enter the body, multiply, and can cause an infection.

Bacteria

Unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms that have peptidoglycan cell walls, lack organelles and an organized nucleus, and divide via binary fission.

Archaea

Prokaryotes that lack peptidoglycan cell walls or cell walls entirely, often live in extreme environments, and are generally not known to cause disease in humans.

Viruses

Acellular entities consisting of a DNA or RNA core surrounded by a protein coat, which are inert outside living hosts and replicate only inside a living host cell.

Fungi

Eukaryotes with a distinct nucleus surrounding DNA genetic material and chitin cell walls, which absorb organic chemicals for energy.

Hyphae

Filaments that compose masses of mycelia in molds.

Protozoa

Unicellular eukaryotes that absorb or ingest organic chemicals, may be motile via pseudopods, cilia, or flagella, and reproduce sexually or asexually.

Parasite

An organism that lives in or on and takes its nourishment from another organism, and cannot live independently.

Obligate Parasites

Parasites that must be parasitic and cannot exist without the aid of another host.

Facultative Parasites

Organisms that can have both parasitic and free-living abilities, such as N. fowleri.

Germ Theory of Disease

The principle that microorganisms might cause disease.

Joseph Lister

An English physician who in the 1860s used phenol to treat surgical wounds, proving that microorganisms caused wound infections and significantly reducing infections and deaths.

Bacillus anthracis

The rod-shaped bacteria discovered by Robert Koch in the blood of cattle that died of anthrax.

Koch's Postulates

A sequence of experiments used to directly link a specific microbe to a disease.

Edward Jenner

The physician who in 1796 inoculated a person with cowpox material to confer immunity against smallpox.

Attenuated Vaccine

A vaccine prepared using live, avirulent microbial strains with decreased virulence, such as the MMR vaccine.

Killed Vaccine

A vaccine prepared using killed microbial strains, such as the flu vaccine.

Immunity

The protection against disease provided by vaccination.

Chemotherapy

The treatment of disease using chemical substances.

Antibiotics

Chemicals produced naturally by bacteria and fungi that can be used against other microorganisms.

Synthetic Drugs

Chemotherapeutic agents prepared from chemicals in the laboratory.

Salvarsan

An arsenic derivative effective at treating syphilis, synthesized by Paul Ehrlich in 1910.

Penicillium chrysogenum

The mold discovered by Alexander Fleming that produced penicillin, an active inhibitor of bacterial growth.

Bacteriology

The study of bacteria.

Mycology

The study of fungi.

Parasitology

The study of protozoa and parasitic worms.

Immunology

The study of the immune system.

Virology

The study of viruses.

Dmitri Iwanowski

A scientist who reported in 1892 that the organism causing mosaic disease in tobacco was small enough to pass through a filter.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV)

The virus demonstrated by Wendall Stanley in 1935 as the cause of tobacco mosaic disease.