Characteristics of Microbes

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering various microorganisms, their characteristics, and specific pathological examples based on the lecture transcript.

Algea

Microorganisms that provide food for marine life and may be beneficial or harmful to humans.

Bacteria

Prokaryotic organisms that divide by the process of binary fission and may be beneficial or harmful to humans.

Fungi

Eukaryotic organisms that can be unicellular or multicellular; the majority are considered opportunistic pathogens, such as yeasts, mushrooms, and multicellular molds.

Worms (Helmin

A multicellular animal whose primary route of transmission is by way of ingestion of contaminated food or water.

Prions

Non-living protein strands that do not contain DNA or RNA; they are responsible for mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Viruses

Non-living particles made up of either DNA or RNA that are completely reliant on the host cell and are replicated within it rather than many multiplying independently.

Viroids

Pathogens that lack a protective protein coat, do not contain DNA, and are pathogenic only to plants.

Blue-green

Organisms that can produce a harmful cyanotoxin and produce roughly $50\%$ of the earth's photosynthetic activity.

Zygomycosis

A common bread mold caused by fungi.

Parasites

Examples of these organisms include Protozoa and metazoan.

ICTV

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which holds jurisdiction over the classification of viruses.

Baltimore classification system

A system used to categorize virus groups according to the manner of mRNA.