Microbe Mission Flashcards

a. For each of the following topics, participants will be expected to use quantitative reasoning and

computational skills, analyze and interpret experimental results, and draw evidence-based conclusions.

i. Microscopy:

(1) Identify and describe the parts/functions of bright-field light microscopes.

(2) Compare and contrast light (i.e., bright-field, dark-field, and phase contrast) and electron

microscopy (i.e., TEM and SEM) and be able to identify what type of microscope was used to

take provided images.

(3) Estimate the size of microbes using scale bars.

ii. Structure and Morphology:

(1) Describe the basic structure, composition, and function of components of a bacterial cell (i.e.,

membrane, cell wall, flagella, pilus, fimbria, nucleoid, cytoplasm).

(2) Contrast Gram (+) and Gram (-) cells and explain the Gram stain procedure.

(3) Identify bacterial cell shapes (i.e., vibrio, bacillus, coccus, spirochete).

(4) Describe basic structural components of viruses and their functions.

(5) State and Nationals only: Describe the structure and function of specialized organelles in

bacteria and eukaryotic microbes (i.e., gas vesicles, endospores, contractile vacuoles, eyespots,

carboxysomes).

(6) State and Nationals only: Connect and explain how (1 & 5) are determined by the habitat and

life strategy of microbes.

iii. Culture and Growth:

(1) Describe applications of different methods to culture bacteria (i.e., liquid vs. agar) and different

media used to do this (i.e., selective vs. differential).

(2) Interpret bacterial growth curves and discuss what is happening at each stage.

(3) Use plate count data (i.e., CFUs) to calculate the number of cells in a culture.

(4) Outline the steps of bacterial cell division (i.e., binary fission) and genome replication,

including the function and properties of the origin of replication, DNA unwinding element,

DnaA, and DNA polymerase.

(5) Describe how sterilization and disinfection techniques (i.e., heat, ultraviolet radiation,

filtration, and chemical) are able to compromise/eliminate microbes.

(6) State and Nationals only: Understand the limitations of culture-based approaches to study

microbes.Metabolism and Applications:

(1) Describe microbial metabolic strategies based on carbon and energy sources.

(2) Describe the primary inputs and outputs of major metabolic processes (i.e., fermentation,

oxygenic photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation) and where they occur in the cell.

(3) Describe the role of microbes in: fermentation in bread baking, soy sauce production, and

sauerkraut production; photosynthesis in biofuel production; and nitrogen fixation in the

rhizosphere. Connect these applications of microbes to the processes listed in (2).

v. Evolution & Ecology

(1) Discuss the endosymbiotic theory of organellar evolution.

(2) Describe common adaptations to extreme environmental conditions (i.e., temperature, salinity,

pH).

(3) Describe lytic and lysogenic viral life cycles using examples from the Microbes and Agents

List.

(4) Outline the mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer (i.e., transduction, conjugation, and

transformation) and explain the role of horizontal gene transfer and viral infection in

microbial evolution.

(5) Identify and describe community interactions between microbes (i.e., cooperation/mutualism,

commensalism, predation, parasitism).

(6) State and Nationals only: Describe applications and limitations of 16S amplicon

sequencing, interpret data from 16S amplicon sequencing experiments (i.e., bacterial

community composition, alpha diversity, beta diversity).

b. Microbes and Agents List: Participants will be expected to be able to describe the general

characteristics (i.e., life cycle/replication strategy, genome structure, and morphology). For disease￾causing agents, identify what disease they cause. Otherwise, understand their environmental

function. Microbes not listed here may be included on the exam, but sufficient background

information will be provided to answer questions.

i. Bacteria: Escherichia coli, Rickettsia rickettsii, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis,

Microcystis aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Helicobacter pylori

ii. Archaea: State and Nationals only: Pyrococcus furiosus

iii. Eukaryotes: Plasmodium falciparum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Nannochloropsis sp.. State and

Nationals only: Paramecium sp.

iv. Viruses & other subcellular agents: Escherichia virus T4, Escherichia virus Lambda, Measles virus,

Smallpox virus. State and Nationals only: SARS-CoV-2 virus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Major Prion protein