NEU Microbiology Spring 2011 Lec 5 – Flashcards

Glyocolysis uses substrate-level phosphorylation. It phosphorylyses glucose into various substrates and splits it off to produce 2 ATPs through various steps due to electron gradients and electrons that are left over during the process

2 molecules are produced. Through the entire process anywhere from 38-40 molecules of ATP can be produced but within glycolysis only 2 are produced

Glucose is converted into glucose-6-phosphate (a phosphate group is attached to the site where the carboxylic acid group normally goes)

Without fermentation processes there would simply not be any ATP produced!

Pyruvate is fed into the system. The system works so that way the last pyruvate that goes through the system is primed to help the next incoming pyruvate through the process and then once that new pyruvate goes through the process the old pyruvate goes on to become useful to further energy production

Oxygen works as the best final electron acceptor due to various reasons

Their reduction potential can vary; this makes them very versatile in regards to their use in the electron transport chain

The second complex completely bypasses the first complex and changes succinate (a product from the citric acid cycle) to fumarate. Less hydrogens are contributed to the proton motive force in this case but it still gets hydrogens across

An acidophile is an organism that grows best at low pH levels, typically below 6

An aerobe is an organism that can use oxygen in respiration (some require oxygen ex. humans and pretty much every animal out there)

An aerotolerant anaerobe is a microorganism that is unable to respire oxygen but whose grwoth is unaffected by oxygen

An alkaliphile is an organisms that has a growth pH optimum of 9 or higher

An anaerobe is an organism that con't use oxygen in respiration and whose growth is typically inhibited by the presence of oxygen

Autolysis is the spontaneous cell lysis usually due to the activity of lytic proteins called autolysins

A batch culture is a closed-system microbial culture of fixed volume

Binary fission is the cell division following enlargement of a cell to twice its minimum size

A biofilm is an attached polysaccharide matrix containing bacterial cells

Cardinal temperatures are the minimum, maximum and optimum growth temperatures for a given organism

A chemostat is a device that allows for the continuous culture of microorganisms with independent control of both growth rate and cell number

A compatible solute is a molecule that is accumulated in the cytoplasm of a cell for adjustment of water activity but that does not inhibit biochemical processes

A divisome is a xomplex of proteins that directs cell division processes in prokaryotes

Exponential growth is the growth of a microbial population in which cell numbers double within a specific time interval

An extreme halophile is a microorganism that requires very large amounts of salt (NaCl), usually greater than 10% and, in some cases, close to complete saturation for growth

An extremophile is an organism that grows potimally under one or more chemical or physical extremes such as high or low temperature or pH

A facultative organism is an organism that, with respect to oxygen, can grow in either its absence or presence

The FtsZ protein is a protein that forms a ring along the mid-cell division plane to initiate cell division

Generation time is the time required for a population of microbial cells to double

A halophile is typically referred to as a microorganism that requires NaCl to grow but other various salts can be used in this process

A halotolerant microorganism is a microorganism that doesn't require NaCl to grow but is able to grow in the presence of salt and, in some cases, substantial levels of salt

A hyperthermaphile is a prokaryote that has a growth temperature optimum of 80 degrees Celsius or greater

A mesophile is an organism that grows best at temperatures between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius

A microaerophile is an aerobic organism that can grow only when oxygen tensions are reduced from that present in the air

An obligate anaerobe is an organsism that can't grow in the presence of oxygen

An osmophile is an organism that grows best in the presence of high level of solute, typically a sugar

pH is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution

A psychrophile is an organism with a growth temperature optimum of 15 degrees Celsius or lower and a maximum growth temperature below 20 degrees Celsius

A plate count is a viable counting method where the number of colonies on a plate is used as a measure of all numbers

A psychrotolerant microorganism is a microorganism that is capable of growing at low temperatures but which has an optimum above 20 derees Celsius

A thermophile is an organism whose growth temperature optimum lies between 45 and 80 degrees Celsius

Transpeptidation is the formation of peptide cross-links between muramic acid residues in peptidoglycan synthesis

Water activity is the ratio of the vapor pressure of air in equilibrium with a solution to that of pure water

A xerophile is an organism that is able to live (or that lives best) in very dry environments