Prepare for Portage Learning Microbiology exams with these practice questions and answers. This covers all course modules, lab concepts, and final exam content.
Q: Microorganism
Answer: Single cell (bacteria, archaeons, fungi, protozoa, algae)
Q: Virus
Answer: Not living, not considered microorganisms, considered microbes
Q: Microbes
Answer: Include microorganisms and viruses, can be advantageous or harmful
Q: Cell
Answer: Smallest, most basic biological unit of life
Q: All cells are compromised of
Answer: Macromolecules (building bloacks)
Q: Four main types of macromolecules found ing cells
Answer: Proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and polysaccharides
Q: Proteins
Answer: Comprised of amino acids, facilitate movement of materials, act as enzymes to speed up biochemical processes, structural role
Q: Amino Acid
Answer: Way proteins are formed by varying combinations, 20 different kinds
Q: Each protein
Answer: has its own unique sequence of amino acids
Q: Essential Amino Acids
Answer: human body cannot produce them, they must be taken in from the environment through other sources (food you eat)
Q: Nucleic Acid
Answer: chemical molecules that carry genetic information within the cell
Q: Two types of nucleic acids
Answer: DNA and RNA
Q: DNA
Answer: deoxyribonucleic acid, contains vast amount of hereditary info and is responsible for the inheritable characteristics of living organisms, made from nucleotides
Q: RNA
Answer: ribonucleic acid, responsible for deciphering the hereditary information in DNA and using it to synthesize proteins
Q: Can DNA and RNA be found in the nucleus?
Answer: Yes
Q: Can DNA and RNA leave the nucleus?
Answer: Only RNA. DNA is highly compact in the nucleus
Q: Three parts of a nucleotide
Answer: Nitrogenous base, sugar called deoxyribose, and a phosphate group
Q: Four kinds of nitrogenous bases
Answer: Adenine or guanine (purine bases) and cytosine or thymine (pyrimidine bases)
Q: What forms the backbone of a DNA strand?
Answer: Sugar and phosphate
Q: What base protrudes outward from the deoxyribose sugar?
Answer: Nitrogenous base
Q: Strands from DNA produce a
Answer: double helix (two strands held together by hydrogen bonding)
Q: Adenine and Thymine
Answer: Complimentary bases, form two hydrogen bonds
Q: Guanine and Cytosine
Answer: Complimentary bases, form three hydrogen bonds
Q: RNA contains the _____ ribose rather than deoxyribose
Answer: Sugar
Q: RNA is always ______ stranded
Answer: Single
Q: RNA contains bases
Answer: adenine, guanine, cytosine, uracil (no thymine); U pairs with A, A can still pair with T
Q: Lipids form the
Answer: foundation of the plasma membrane; this surrounds the cell as a barrier that separates the inside of the cell from the outside surrounding environment
Q: Lipids are composed of
Answer: Hydrophobic hydrocarbons
Q: Plama membrane
Answer: restricts movement of materials either in or out of the cell, keep what is needed, prevent escape of essential nutrients
Q: Polysaccharides and Proteins
Answer: are often associated with the membrane and aid in controlling movement of materials in and out of the cell
Q: Lipid Bi-Layer
Answer: Two layers of lipids stacked on top of each other, with the hydrophobic tail regions pointing inward
Q: Carbohydrates
Answer: Made of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen atoms (CH2O)n (# of carbon and oxygen is always equal with the number of hydrogen levels doubled; C6H12O6)
Q: 3 groups of Carbohydrates
Answer: Monosaccharide, Disaccharide, Polysaccharide
Q: Monosaccharide
Answer: One single sugar unit; glucose, fructose, and galactose are examples; linear or ring structures
Q: Disaccharide
Answer: Two monosaccharides joined together; sucrose, maltose, lactose; broken into monosaccharides by hydrolysis reactions
Q: Polysaccharide
Answer: 3 or more monosaccharides linked together; glucose molecules important for cellular energy storage
Q: In plants, polysaccharides are called
Answer: Starch
Q: In animals, polysaccharides are called
Answer: Glycogen
Q: Polysaccharides are important in cellular structures because
Answer: They form cell walls in plants, sugar in chitin is the structural component of fungal cell walls
Q: Prokaryotic cells
Answer: lack a nucleus
Q: Eukaryotic cells
Answer: have a nucleus
Q: Life can characterized into three categories
Answer: Bateria, archaea, eukarya
Q: Bacteria and Archaea
Answer: Prokaryotic
Q: Bacteria
Answer: large cohort of prokaryotic microorganisms
Q: Coccus
Answer: Round/spherical (streptococcus)
Q: Bacillus
Answer: Rod (e coli)
Q: Vibrio
Answer: Curved rod
Q: Spirillum
Answer: Spiral/corkscrew
Q: Eukarya
Answer: presence of a membrane-bound nuclear region within the cell
Q: Animalia
Answer: multicellular eukaryotic organisms, heterotrophic, ability to move
Q: Heterotrophic
Answer: incapable of producing their own energy
Q: Plantae
Answer: multicellular, can obtain energy from photosynthesis
Q: Fungi
Answer: multicellular or unicellular, heterotrophic, presence of chitin in cell walls, molds, mushrooms, yeast
Q: Protista
Answer: Unicellular, form as colonies, colonies do not form tissue layers and retain the unicellular classification, amoeba, algae, mold
Q: Viruses
Answer: Not considered prokaryotic or eukaryotic, must replicate with host, no metabolism, not cellular, contain a capsid: membrane-like structure that contains genetic material
Q: Cell membrane
Answer: Encloses the main body of the cell, permeable barrier surrounding the cytoplasmic space of a cell
Q: Cell membrane may also be referred to as
Answer: Plasma membrane or the cytoplasmic membrane
Q: Semi-permeable
Answer: allows certain substances to pass through while excluding others, barrier to the outside environment while preventing the intracellular components from being lost
Q: Bilayer (cell membrane)
Answer: Composed for amphipathic phospholipids (water loving heads and water hating tails), tails face inward
Q: Cell membrane has a high level of
Answer: fluidity, lipids can move freely between the two layers, slower at lower temps and faster at high temps
Q: Sterol lipids
Answer: In eukaryotic membrane composition
Q: Cell wall
Answer: Found in bacteria, plants, fungi, and algae and help form the shape of the cell, provide protection
Q: Combination of the cell membrane and the outer membrane are referred to as the
Answer: Cell envelope
Q: Cytoplasm
Answer: Open volume within a cell, comprised mostly of water with dissolved substances
Q: Organelles
Answer: membrane-encolosed structures that perform specific functions
Q: Nucleus
Answer: command center of cell
Q: Nucleolus
Answer: site of ribosome synthesis
Q: Ribosomes
Answer: organelles responsible for protein synthesis, located in the cytoplasm or prokaryotic cells and attached to the ER in eukaryotic cells
Q: Endoplasmic Reticulum
Answer: Series of membrane-enclosed sacs and lumen, smooth ER and rough ER
Q: Golgi complex
Answer: interconnected saves located between the nucleus and cytoplasmic membrane, distribution center of the cell
Q: Lysosomes
Answer: membrane-enclosed organelles that contain enzymes that can degrade unwanted cellular debris, waste disposal system
Q: Mitochondira
Answer: Double membrane-enclosed organelles responsible for generating ATP, power house of cell
Q: Chloroplasts
Answer: double membrane-enclosed organelles specific to algae and plants, animal cells to not contain chloroplasts, site of photosynthesis