Chapter 10
Multiple Choice Test: Microbiology
1. Distinguish between the three domains of living organisms based on the following characteristics:
a. Genetic characteristics - presence/absence of introns
b. Absence or presence of peptidoglycan in the cell wall
c. Absence or presence of membrane-bound nucleus
Question 1: What characteristic is used to distinguish between the three domains of living organisms?
a. Presence of introns
b. Presence of peptidoglycan in the cell wall
c. Presence of a membrane-bound nucleus
d. All of the above
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2. Given a bacterial name, write it in the correct format of a genus & species.
Question 2: How should a bacterial name be written in the correct format of genus and species?
a. Genus_species
b. Genus-Species
c. Genus species
d. Genus.Species
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3. Name the molecule used by Carl Woese to classify organisms into their proper domain.
Question 3: What molecule did Carl Woese use to classify organisms into their proper domain?
a. DNA
b. RNA
c. rRNA
d. tRNA
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4. Describe basic characteristics of eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and acellular infectious agents.
Question 4: Which of the following is a characteristic of eukaryotes?
a. Presence of membrane-bound nucleus
b. Absence of introns
c. Presence of peptidoglycan in the cell wall
d. Acellular nature
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5. Define taxonomy and describe the different concepts involved with the field.
Question 5: What is taxonomy?
a. Study of viruses
b. Classification of organisms
c. Molecular biology
d. Cellular respiration
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6. What is a species and how can it be defined?
Question 6: How is a species defined?
a. A group of similar organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
b. Any living organism
c. A group of organisms with similar genetic characteristics
d. A group of organisms with similar ecological roles
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7. What is meant by phylogeny, and what is a phylogenetic tree?
Question 7: What is phylogeny?
a. The study of fungi
b. The study of evolutionary relationships among organisms
c. The study of cellular structure
d. The study of ecological interactions
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8. Understand that despite genetic speciation, informal phenotypic groupings are still a convenient way to categorize organisms and are based on a number of different categories, both phenotypic and genotypic.
Question 8: Why are informal phenotypic groupings still convenient for categorizing organisms?
a. Because they are based only on genetic characteristics
b. Because they are based on both phenotypic and genotypic characteristics
c. Because they are used for prokaryotes only
d. Because they are not important in taxonomy
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9. Describe grouping based on microscopic morphology. How do microscopic characteristics help identify and categorize organisms, and what types of factors are used to categorize organisms?
Question 9: How are organisms categorized based on microscopic morphology?
a. By color
b. By size
c. By shape and structure
d. By metabolic capabilities
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10. Describe metabolic characteristics used to identify organisms. Understand how culture characteristics, and metabolic capabilities are different for each species and how dichotomous keys can be used for identification of unknown species of bacteria.
Question 10: How are dichotomous keys used for the identification of unknown species of bacteria?
a. By analyzing genetic material
b. By observing metabolic characteristics
c. By counting the number of cells
d. By measuring the temperature of the culture
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11. Define serology and what is the relevance to categorizing organisms.
Question 11: What is serology?
a. The study of cellular structure
b. The study of viruses
c. The study of antibodies and antigens in blood serum
d. The study of bacterial metabolism
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12. What is MALDI-TOF, and how is it used to classify organisms?
Question 12: What is MALDI-TOF used for in microbiology?
a. A technique for studying DNA sequences
b. A mass spectrometry method for identifying microorganisms
c. A staining technique for bacterial cells
d. A method for culturing bacteria
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13. Describe how genetic methods are useful in the identification, classification, and categorization of organisms. Define nucleic acid probes, FISH, and NAATs/PCR.
Question 13: What is the role of nucleic acid probes in genetic methods?
a. They are used to stain bacterial cells
b. They are used to amplify DNA
c. They are used to identify specific DNA sequences
d. They are used to measure metabolic activity
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14. Discuss the importance of ribosomal RNA gene sequences (specifically 16S rRNA) in speciation. Understand why rRNA sequences are stable over long periods of time, and thus only small changes tolerable.
Question 14: Why are ribosomal RNA gene sequences important in speciation?
a. Because they determine the color of bacteria
b. Because they are stable over long periods of time
c. Because they code for enzymes
d. Because they vary greatly between species
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15. Describe DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) and how it measures organism relatedness.
Question 15: How does DNA-DNA hybridization measure organism relatedness?
a. By analyzing the structure of DNA
b. By comparing the DNA sequences of different organisms
c. By measuring the melting temperature of DNA
d. By counting the number of DNA strands
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16. Understand the different between species and strains. Why is it important to be able to distinguish among strains of the same species?
Question 16: Why is it important to distinguish among strains of the same species?
a. Because strains have different genetic characteristics
b. Because strains are a different domain
c. Because strains have different microscopic morphology
d. Because strains have different metabolic capabilities
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Good luck with the test! Let me know how you did!
Answer Key: Microbiology Multiple Choice Test
1. Question 1: d. All of the above
2. Question 2: c. Genus species
3. Question 3: c. rRNA
4. Question 4: a. Presence of membrane-bound nucleus
5. Question 5: b. Classification of organisms
6. Question 6: a. A group of similar organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
7. Question 7: b. The study of evolutionary relationships among organisms
8. Question 8: b. Because they are based on both phenotypic and genotypic characteristics
9. Question 9: c. By shape and structure
10. Question 10: b. By observing metabolic characteristics
11. Question 11: c. The study of antibodies and antigens in blood serum
12. Question 12: b. A mass spectrometry method for identifying microorganisms
13. Question 13: c. They are used to identify specific DNA sequences
14. Question 14: b. Because they are stable over long periods of time
15. Question 15: c. By measuring the melting temperature of DNA
16. Question 16: a. Because strains have different genetic characteristics
Let me know how you scored!