Bacteria and Viruses Lecture Notes

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the lecture on bacteria and viruses.

Microbes

Organisms that are microscopic, including bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, viruses, viroids, and prions.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Dutch scientist known for improving the microscope and being one of the first to view microscopic life.

Spontaneous Generation

The disproven theory that life can arise from non-living matter, challenged by Louis Pasteur through experiments.

Virus

A term coined by Louis Pasteur, derived from Latin meaning 'poison'; refers to smaller infectious agents that can only replicate inside living cells.

Normal Microflora

Microorganisms, mostly bacteria, that are normally present in the human body and are generally beneficial.

E. coli O157:H7

A harmful strain of E. coli that produces shiga toxin and can cause severe gastrointestinal distress.

Antibiotics

Medicines that inhibit bacterial growth or kill bacteria, often produced by other bacterial strains.

Decomposers

Organisms, including bacteria and fungi, that break down organic material and recycle nutrients.

Nitrogen Fixation

The process of converting atmospheric N2 into a usable form for organisms, primarily performed by cyanobacteria.

Fermentation

A metabolic process where microbes like bacteria and yeast convert sugars into acids or alcohol, used in food production.

Multidrug Resistance (MDR)

The capability of some bacteria to resist multiple antibiotics through genetic mutations or gene transfer.

Gram Staining

A method to classify bacteria based on the composition of their cell wall, distinguishing between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Lytic Cycle

A viral reproductive cycle in which a virus infects a host cell, replicates, and causes the host cell to rupture, releasing new virions.

Retrovirus

A class of viruses that replicate by reverse transcription, integrating into the host DNA after conversion of their RNA to DNA.

Prion

Infectious agents composed of protein that induce abnormal folding of normal proteins in the brain, leading to neurodegenerative diseases.

Viroid

A small, circular piece of RNA that infects plants and does not encode proteins.

E. coli

A bacterium that can be part of normal gut microflora but certain strains can cause serious illness.

Clostridium difficile

A type of bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions, particularly after antibiotic use.

Salmonella

A genus of bacteria often associated with foodborne illness, some engineered for use in targeted cancer therapies.

Flu Virus

An influenza virus classified by its hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins; notable for seasonal outbreaks.

Coronavirus

A family of viruses that can cause respiratory illness in humans; includes SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.