Title: Microbiology an Introduction
Edition: Thirteenth Edition
Authors: Tortora, Funke, Case
Focus: Requirements for microbial growth and related concepts
Category: Bacterial species discussed in relation to growth cycles
6-1: Classify microbes into five preferred temperature ranges.
6-2: Identify the control of pH in culture media and its significance.
6-3: Explain osmotic pressure's role in microbial growth.
Temperature
pH
Osmotic pressure
Carbon
Nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus
Trace elements
Oxygen
Organic growth factors
Minimum growth temperature
Optimum growth temperature
Maximum growth temperature
Psychrophiles: Cold-loving microbes
Mesophiles: Moderate-temperature-loving microbes
Thermophiles: Heat-loving microbes
Data indicating how different organisms respond to varying temperatures
Temperature range: 0°C to 20-30°C
Commonly associated with food spoilage
Destruction of most microbes at specific temperatures.
Danger zone: Temperature at which bacteria thrive.
Thermophiles: Optimum growth at 50°C-60°C found in hot springs.
Hyperthermophiles: Optimum growth at temperatures exceeding 80°C.
Most bacteria: Optimal at pH 6.5-7.5.
Molds and yeasts: Optimal at pH 5-6.
Acidophiles: Microbes thriving in acidic conditions.
Hypertonic environments: Can cause plasmolysis, harming microbial cells.
Extreme or obligate halophiles: Require high salt concentrations.
Facultative halophiles: Can thrive in high osmotic pressures.
Visual representation of plasmolysis in hypertonic solutions impacting cell growth.
Why are hyperthermophiles limited to oceanic depths?
Advantages of phosphate salts as buffers?
Use of osmotic pressure in primitive food preservation?
6-4: Identify uses of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus in microbial growth.
6-5: Classify microbes based on their oxygen requirements.
6-6: Explain how aerobes mitigate damage from toxic oxygen forms.
Carbon: Structural backbone of organic molecules
Chemoheterotrophs: Utilize organic molecules for energy
Autotrophs: Use CO2 for carbon source
Nitrogen: Essential for proteins, DNA, ATP. Sources include protein decomposition and nitrogen fixation.
Sulfur: Necessary for amino acids and vitamins.
Phosphorus: Vital for DNA, RNA, ATP, and membranes.
Definition: Inorganic elements required in small quantities.
Functions: Often act as enzyme cofactors (e.g., iron, copper).
Obligate aerobes: Require oxygen for growth.
Facultative anaerobes: Ferment or anaerobically respire in absence of oxygen.
Anaerobes: Harmed by oxygen.
Aerotolerant anaerobes: Tolerate oxygen but do not utilize it.
Microaerophiles: Require lower oxygen concentration than ambient air.
Reactive oxygen species: Various toxic forms (singlet oxygen, superoxide radicals)
Compounds obtained from the environment, including vitamins and amino acids necessary for growth.
Where would radioactive sulfur be found in bacterial cells?
How to determine if a microbe is a strict anaerobe?
Methods for microbes to avoid oxygen damage?
Definition: Microbial communities forming slime or hydrogels on surfaces.
Bacteria communicate via quorum sensing and share nutrients.
Provide shelter from harmful environmental conditions.
Found in sewage systems and digestive systems; can cause clogging.
Exhibit high resistance to microbial control methods (1000x more resistant).
Contribute to 70% of infections (e.g., catheter-associated, dental caries).
Identify advantages of biofilm formation for pathogens.
6-8: Distinguish between chemically defined and complex media.
6-9: Justify various anaerobic and selective methods in culture.
6-10: Differentiate biosafety levels.
Components and characteristics of culture media for microbial growth.
Sterile: No living microbes present.
Inoculum: Introduction of microbes into culture media.
Culture: Microbes growing in/on a medium.
Agar serves as a solidifying agent, not metabolized by microbes.
Chemically defined media: Exact chemical composition is known.
Complex media: Varies chemically due to organic extracts.
Could humans survive on chemically defined media?
Feasibility of growing rabies in cell cultures historically?
What is the biosafety level of your laboratory?
6-11: Define colony and describe methods to isolate pure cultures.
Pure culture: Contains only one type of organism.
Colony: Population of cells from a single cell or spore.
Streak Plate Method: Used for isolating pure cultures.
6-13: Explain preservation methods like deep-freezing and lyophilization.
Deep-freezing: Between -50°C to -95°C.
Lyophilization: Freeze-dried under vacuum conditions.
6-14: Define bacterial growth and binary fission.
6-15: Compare phases of microbial growth.
Methods of division include binary fission, budding, and fragmentation.
Time taken for a bacterial cell to divide, can range from 20 minutes to 24 hours.
Lag Phase: Preparation for growth.
Log Phase: Exponential growth.
Stationary Phase: New cells balance deaths.
Death Phase: Decline in numbers.
Can complex organisms divide by binary fission?
Plate count: Counts colonies on plates; ideal range is 30-300 colonies.
Filtration: Captures bacteria from liquids.
MPN Method: Multiple tube test for statistical estimates.
Direct microscopic counts: Volume of bacterial suspension counted.
Challenges of measuring filamentous molds by plate count.
Turbidity measurement: Estimation using a spectrophotometer.
Metabolic activity: Measurement based on metabolic products.
Dry weight: Used for filamentous organisms.
Issues with using direct methods for food analysis.
Feasibility of determining vitamin content in products.