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Introduction to Microbiology

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Termini in questo insieme (23)

  • What is microbiology?

    Microbiology is the study of microorganisms or microbes, including cellular living forms like bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, helminths, and nonliving entities like viruses and prions.

  • Difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells

    Prokaryotic cells are unicellular and lack a nucleus (e.g., bacteria, archaea). Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus and can be unicellular or multicellular (e.g., fungi, protists, helminths).

  • What are prions?

    Prions are infectious proteins, nonliving, discovered in the 1980s, transmitted by transplant or ingestion, and can cause inherited diseases.

  • What is spontaneous generation?

    Spontaneous generation is the disproven theory that life arises from nonliving matter.

  • What is biogenesis?

    Biogenesis is the principle that life arises from existing life, demonstrated by Louis Pasteur.

  • Louis Pasteur's contribution to microbiology

    Disproved spontaneous generation, developed pasteurization, and created vaccines for anthrax and rabies.

  • Germ theory of disease

    The theory that microbes cause infectious diseases, established by Robert Koch.

  • Koch's postulates
    1. Same organism present in every disease case
    2. Isolate organism in pure culture
    3. Inoculate susceptible host to cause disease
    4. Re-isolate organism from diseased host
  • What are aseptic techniques?

    Practices to prevent contamination by microbes, such as hand washing, sterilizing instruments, and decontaminating surfaces.

  • Ignaz Semmelweis' contribution

    Introduced hand washing in hospitals to reduce mortality from childbed fever.

  • Joseph Lister's contribution

    Proved sterilizing instruments and sanitizing wounds with carbolic acid prevents infections in surgery.

  • Taxonomy in microbiology

    The study of classifying organisms by shared features like morphology and physiology.

  • Taxonomic hierarchy order

    Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

  • Three domains of life

    Bacteria (unicellular prokaryotes), Archaea (prokaryotes in extreme environments), and Eukarya (unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes).

  • Binomial nomenclature

    A two-name system for naming species: Genus (capitalized) and species (lowercase), both italicized (e.g., Escherichia coli).

  • Difference between pathogen and opportunistic pathogen

    Pathogens always cause disease; opportunistic pathogens cause disease only in weakened hosts.

  • What is a biofilm?

    A sticky community of microbes on surfaces, resistant to antibiotics and immune responses, causing many infections.

  • Symbiotic relationships types

    Mutualism: both benefit
    Commensalism: one benefits, other unaffected
    Parasitism: one benefits, other harmed

  • What is normal microbiota?

    Microbes living on and in the human body that help train the immune system, produce vitamins, and protect against pathogens.

  • How can disruption of normal microbiota cause disease?

    Antibiotics can reduce normal flora, allowing opportunistic pathogens like Candida albicans to cause infections.

  • Human Microbiome Project goal

    To characterize all microbes living in and on the human body.

  • How have microbes influenced human evolution?

    Example: Sickle cell gene mutation provides resistance to malaria, showing coevolution of humans and microbes.

  • What is bioremediation?

    Use of microbes to metabolize toxic substances into harmless compounds to clean up environmental waste.