Microbiology-Chapter Six Terms – Flashcards

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Psychrophiles
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Cold loving microbes
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Mesophiles
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Moderate temperature loving microbes. Most common type of microbe which have an optimum growth of 25-40 degrees Celsius
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Thermophiles
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Heat loving microbes who can not grow in temperatures below 45 degrees celsius.
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Minimum growth temperature
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Is the lowest temperature at which the species will grow
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Optimum growth temperature
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Is the temperature at which the species grows best.
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Maximum growth temperature
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Is the highest temperature at which growth is possible.
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Pscyhrotroph
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An organism that is capable of growth between about 0 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees celsius.
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Hyperthermophiles or extreme thermophiles
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Microbes who are members of the Archaea that have a optimum growth temperature of 80 degrees Celsius or higher
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Acidophiles
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Bacteria that are remarkably tolerant of acidity.
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Plasmolysis
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Shrinkage of the cell’s cytoplasm.
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Extreme halophiles
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Organisms who have adapted so well to high salt concentrations that they actually require them for growth.
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Facultative Halophiles
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Organisms that do not require high salt concentration but are able to grow at salt concentrations up to 2%, a concentration that inhibits the growth of many other organisms. A few of this species can tolerate even 15% salt.
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Trace Elements
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Microbes that require very small amounts of other mineral elements, such as iron, copper, molybdenum, and zinc. Most are essential for the functions of certain enzymes usually as cofactors.
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Obligate aerobes
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Organisms that require oxygen to live.
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Facultative Anaerobes
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Aerobic bacteria that have developed and retained the ability to continue growing in the absence of oxygen. These organisms can use oxygen when it is present but are able to continue growth by using fermentation or anaerobic respiration when oxygen is not available.
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Obligate anaerobes
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Are bacteria that are unable to use molecular oxygen for energy-yielding reactions.
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Singlet Oxygen
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Is normal molecular oxygen that has been boosted into a higher-energy state and is extremely reactive.
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Superoxide radicals or Superoxide anions
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Are formed in small amounts during the normal respiration of organisms that use oxygen as a final electron acceptor forming water.
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Superoxide dismutase (SOD)
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An enzyme that destroys superoxide.
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Peroxide anion
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An oxygen anion consisting of two atoms of oxygen.
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Catalase
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An enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide.
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Peroxidase
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An enzyme that destroys hydrogen peroxide.
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Ozone (o3)
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O3
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Hydroxyl radical
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Is another intermediate form of oxygen and probably the most reactive. It is formed in the cellular cytoplasm by ionizing radiation.
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Aerotolerant anaerobes
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Organisms that does not use molecular oxygen but is not affected by its presence.
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Microaerophile
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An organism that grows best in an environment with less molecular oxygen than is normally found in air.
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Organic Growth Factors
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Essential organic compounds an organism is unable to synthesize. They must be directly obtained from the environment. Example: Vitamins, amino acids, purines, and pyrimidines.
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Biofilms
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A microbial community that usually forms as a slimy layer on a surface.
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Culture medium
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Ia nutrient material prepared for the growth of microorganisms in a laboratory.
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Inoculum
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Microbes that are introduced into a culture medium to initiate growth.
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Culture
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The microbes that grow and multiply in or on a culture medium.
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Sterile
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It must initially contain no living microorganisms.
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Agar
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Has long been used as a thickener in foods such as jellies and ice cream. A complex polysaccharide derived from a marine alga.
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Chemically Defined medium
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Is one whose exact chemical composition is known.
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Fastidious
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Organisms that require growth factors
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Complex media
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Media that is made up of nutrients including extracts from yeasts, meat, or plants, or digest of proteins from these and other sources.
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Nutrient Broth
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A complex medium in liquid form.
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Nutrient Agar
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When agar is added to a complex medium in liquid form.
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Reducing media
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A culture medium containing ingredients that will remove dissolving oxygen from the medium to allow the growth of anaerobes.
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Canophiles
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Microbes that grow better at high co2 concentrations
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Selective Media
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Designed to suppress the growth of unwanted bacteria and encourage the growth of the desired microbes.
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Differential Media
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Make it easier to distinguish colonies of the desired organism from other colonies growing on the same plate.
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Streptococcus pyogenes
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The bacterium that causes strep throat, showing a clear ring around their colonies where they have lysed the surrounding blood cells.
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Enrichment Culture
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A culture medium used for preliminary isolation that favors the growth of a particular microorganism.
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Colony
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A group of microorganisms that theoretically arises from a single spore or vegetative cell attach to on another in clumps or chains. They have distinctive appearance that distinguishes one microbe from another.
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Streak Plate Method
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The isolation method most commonly used to get pure cultures. A sterile inoculating loop is dipped into a mixed culture that contains more than one type of microbe and is streaked in a pattern over the surface of the nutrient medium.
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Deep-freezing
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Is the process in which a pure culture of microbes is placed in a suspending liquid and quick-frozen at temperatures ranging from -50 degrees celsius to -95 degrees celsius. The culture can usually be thawed even several years later.
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Lyophilization (Freeze-Drying)
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A suspension of microbes is quickly frozen at temperatures ranging from -54 degrees celsius to -72 degrees Celsius and the water is removed by a high vacuum. While under vacuum, the container is sealed by melting the glass with a high-temperature torch. The remaining powder-like residue that contains the surviving microbes can be stored for years. These organisms can be revived at any time by hydration with a suitable liquid nutrient medium.
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Binary Fission
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Prokaryotic cell reproduction by division into two daughter cells.
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Budding
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Bacterial species reproduce by forming small initial outgrowth that enlarges until its size approaches that of the parent cell and then it separate.
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Generation Time
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The time required for a cell to divide. This time period varies considerably among organisms and with environmental conditions such as temperature.
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Bacterial Growth Curve
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A graph indicating the growth of a bacterial population over time.
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Lag Phase
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The time interval in a bacterial growth curve during which there is no growth.
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Log Phase
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Exponential Growth Phase
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The cells begin to divide and enter a period of growth, or logarithmic increase. Is also the time when cells are most active metabolically and is preferred for industrial purposes where a product needs to be produced efficiently.
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Stationary Phase
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The period in a bacterial growth curve when the number of cells dividing equals the number dying.
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Death Phase or Logarithmic Decline Phase
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When the number of deaths eventually exceeds the number of new cells formed and population enters death. The phase continues until the population is diminished to a tiny fraction of the number of cells in the previous phase or until the population dies out entirely.
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Plate Count
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A method of measuring bacterial populations and measures the number of viable cells however may take up to 24 hours. Assumes that each bacterium grows and divides to produce a single colony.
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Serial Dilution
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The process of diluting a sample several times.
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Pour Plate Method
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A method of inoculating a solid nutrient medium by mixing bacteria in the melted medium and pouring the medium into a Petri Dish to solidify.
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Spread Plate Method
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A plate count method in which inoculum is spread over the surface of a solid culture medium.
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Filtration
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The passage of a liquid of gas through a screen like material. Filter removes bacteria.
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Most Probable Number Method (MPN)
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A statistical determination of the number of coliforms per 100 ml of water or 100 grams of food.
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Direct Microscopic Count
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Enumeration of cells by observation through a microscope.
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Turbidity
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Is a practical way of monitoring bacterial growth.
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Spectrophotometer
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Is an instrument used to measure turbidity. A beam of light is transmitted through a bacterial suspension to a light sensitive detector. As bacteria numbers increase the amount of light will decrease.
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Optical Density OD
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Is the change of light as a logarithmic expression which is calculated as Abs=2-log of transmittance %. The absorbance is used to plot bacterial growth.
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Metabolic Activity
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Method assumes that the amount of a certain metabolic product such as carbon dioxide is in direct proportion to the number of bacteria present.
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Dry Weight
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The fungus is removed from the growth medium, filtered to remove extraneous material and dried in a desiccator.
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