Question 1

Which of the following best explains why viruses are considered non-living?

Accepted Answer

They lack metabolic processes and cannot reproduce without a host cell.

Question 2

A patient is diagnosed with a disease caused by prions. Which of the following best describes prions?

Accepted Answer

Infectious proteins that cause other proteins to misfold.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a typical target for antibiotics?

Accepted Answer

Viral reverse transcriptase

Question 4

Why are antibiotics generally ineffective against viral infections?

Accepted Answer

Viruses use host cell machinery for replication, lacking unique targets for antibiotics.

Question 5

Which of the following is a reason why certain viruses can only infect specific organisms or cell types?

Accepted Answer

The presence of specific proteins or carbohydrates on the cell surface that match viral surface proteins.

Question 6

A scientist discovers a new infectious agent that consists only of a protein coat and single-stranded RNA. It cannot reproduce or metabolize outside a host cell. How should this agent be classified?

Accepted Answer

Virus

Question 7

Which of the following statements about bacteria is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

Bacterial cells contain mitochondria and lysosomes.

Question 8

Which equation best represents the exponential growth of bacteria under ideal conditions, where $$N_0 is $$the initial number of bacteria and $$r is $$the number of generations?

Accepted Answer

$$N = N_0$ 	imes 2^r$$

Question 9

Which of the following practices contributes most to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

Accepted Answer

Using antibiotics in agriculture and for non-bacterial infections

Question 10

A patient is prescribed antibiotics for a suspected infection. For which of the following conditions would antibiotics be completely ineffective? (Choose all that apply)

Accepted Answer

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (prion)

Question 11

Which of the following best describes the role of plasmids in bacterial antibiotic resistance?

Accepted Answer

Plasmids contain genes that help bacteria survive unusual circumstances, such as exposure to antibiotics.

Question 12

Retroviruses, such as HIV, use which enzyme to convert their RNA genome into DNA?

Accepted Answer

Reverse transcriptase

Question 13

Which of the following is a major reason why viral medicines are more difficult to develop than antibiotics?

Accepted Answer

Viruses use host cell machinery, making it hard to target the virus without harming host cells.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a type of infectious agent that can cause disease in humans?

Accepted Answer

Archaea

Question 15

Which of the following statements about the human microbiota is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

It makes up a large proportion of the total number of cells in the body.

Question 16

Which process allows bacteria to increase genetic diversity despite reproducing asexually?

Accepted Answer

Exchange of plasmids and uptake of DNA from the environment

Question 17

Which of the following is a correct statement about bacteriophages?

Accepted Answer

They are viruses that specifically infect bacteria.

Question 18

Which of the following is a plausible reason why as much as 8% of human DNA appears to have come from viruses?

Accepted Answer

Ancient viral infections incorporated viral DNA into the human genome.

Question 19

Which of the following is a common mechanism by which pathogenic bacteria cause disease?

Accepted Answer

Releasing destructive enzymes or toxins that damage host tissues

Question 20

Which of the following equations represents the process by which a retrovirus converts its RNA genome into DNA?

Accepted Answer

$$RNA \xrightarrow{	ext{reverse transcriptase}} DNA$$

Infectious Agents and Pathogens: Viruses and Bacteria

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