BIOL 2420 EXAM #1 Study Guide
Microbes - answerminute living things that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye;
include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, microscopic algae, and viruses
Benefits of Microogranisms - answerbasis of food chains in marine & freshwater
environments; decomposers; imp...
Microbes - answer✔✔minute living things that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye;
include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, microscopic algae, and viruses
Benefits of Microogranisms - answer✔✔basis of food chains in marine & freshwater
environments; decomposers; important role in photosynthesis; digestion in human intestine;
synthesis of Vitamin B and Vitamin K; synthesize food & alcohol
Pathogenic - answer✔✔disease producing
Bacteria - answer✔✔Unicellular prokaryotic organisms; enclosed in cell walls composed of
peptidoglycan; generally reproduce by binary fission; swim using flagella
Archaea - answer✔✔Prokaryotic organisms with cell walls that lack peptidoglycan (if they have
them); found in extreme environments;
3 Main Groups:
-Methanogens
-Extreme Halophiles
-Extreme Thermophiles
Do not cause disease in humans
Methanogens - answer✔✔type of Archaea that produce methane as a waste product from
respiration
Extreme Halophiles - answer✔✔type of Archaea that live in extremely salty environments
Extreme Thermophiles - answer✔✔type of Archaea that live in hot sulfurous water
Fungi - answer✔✔Eukaryotic organisms that can be uni (yeasts) or multicellular; cannot carry
out photosynthesis; cell walls are composed of Chitin; absorb nutrients from solutions of organic
material from their environment; reproduce sexually & asexually
Yeasts - answer✔✔unicellular form of fungi; oval shaped & larger than bacteria
Molds - answer✔✔most typical fungi form; form visible masses called mycelia
Mycelia - answer✔✔visible mass of a mold made of long filaments called hyphae that branch
and intertwine; appear as cottony growths
Protozoa - answer✔✔Unicellular eukaryotic microbes; move using pseudopods (Amebae),
flagella, or cilia; can live independently or as parasites; can also be photosynthetic; can
reproduce sexually or asexually
Algae - answer✔✔Photosynthetic eukaryotes; can reproduce sexually or asexually;
microbiologist interested in unicellular; cell wall composed of cellulose;
Viruses - answer✔✔can only be seen with an electron microscope; acellular; contain a core
made up of either DNA or RNA that is surrounded by a protein coat sometimes encased by a
lipid membrane (envelope); can only reproduce using the cellular machinery of other organisms
Helminths - answer✔✔parasitic flatworms and roundworms; microscopic in size during the early
stages of their lives; eukaryotic
Classification of Microogranisms - answer✔✔Created by Carl Woese;
Three groups
-Bacteria (cell walls contain peptidoglycan)
-Archaea (cell walls that lack peptidoglycan)
-Eukarya (included Protists; Fungi; Plants; Animals)
Cell Theory - answer✔✔First discovered by Robert Hooke when he used his microscope to view
cells in cork; theory that all living things are composed of cells
Anton van Leeuwenhok - answer✔✔Dutch merchant & scientist who observed live
microorganisms (bacteria & protozoa) through his improved compound microscope
Spontaneous Generation - answer✔✔belief that some forms of life could arise spontaneously
from nonliving matter
Francesco Redi - answer✔✔jar experiment proved spontaneous generation did not exist
John Needham - answer✔✔broth experiment strengthened case for spontaneous generation when
microorganisms grew in his heated broth
Lazzaro Spallnzani - answer✔✔broth experiment heating broth in closed flasks proved
spontaneous generation wrong; received criticism because of lack of oxygen
Biogenesis - answer✔✔hypothesis created by Rudolf Virchow that living cells arise only from
preexisting living cells
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