Vocabulary
This term refers to microscopic organisms that include bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
What is a microbe?
These microscopic organisms can be found in nearly every environment on Earth, including soil, water, and the human body, and include both single-celled and multicellular forms.
What are microbes?
This is the basic process by which most microbes, including bacteria, reproduce by splitting into two identical daughter cells.
What is binary fission?
These microbes live on or inside the human body, helping with processes like digestion and immunity.
What are microbiota?
This bacterial infection is commonly known for causing sore throat and fever and is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes.
What is strep throat?
This process, carried out by certain microbes, involves the breakdown of organic matter to produce energy in the absence of oxygen.
What is fermentation?
These single-celled organisms lack a nucleus and can be classified into two major groups based on their cell wall structure: Gram-positive and Gram-negative.
What are bacteria?
This metabolic process allows certain microbes, like yeast, to produce energy without oxygen by converting glucose into either alcohol or lactic acid.
What is fermentation?
This term describes microbes that thrive in very hot environments, such as hot springs or deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
What are thermophiles?
This viral infection, which is spread by mosquitoes, causes fever, joint pain, and a rash, and is prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions.
What is dengue fever?
This term describes the study of microbes and their interactions with living organisms.
What is microbiology?
These microbes are unicellular eukaryotes and can be free-living or parasitic, with some species capable of causing diseases such as malaria and amoebic dysentery.
What are protozoa?
This process, carried out by some bacteria and cyanobacteria, converts light energy into chemical energy, producing oxygen as a byproduct.
What is photosynthesis?
Microbes that live in environments with high salt concentrations, such as salt lakes or salt mines, are known as this.
What are halophiles?
This bacterial infection, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, primarily affects the lungs and can lead to persistent cough, chest pain, and weight loss.
What is tuberculosis?
The tiny structures found inside a bacterial cell that carry genetic information are called this.
What is a plasmid?
These organisms, often found in extreme environments, have unique biochemical properties and cell wall structures that differentiate them from bacteria, and they can include species that live in hot springs or highly saline environments.
What are archaea?
Some microbes can survive in the absence of oxygen by using alternative electron acceptors in a process known as this.
What is anaerobic respiration?
Microbes that live in extremely acidic environments, such as sulfuric hot springs or acidic mine runoff, are called this.
What are acidophiles?
This parasitic disease, caused by Plasmodium species and transmitted by mosquitoes, leads to fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms and is most common in tropical regions.
What is malaria?
The process by which bacteria can take up and incorporate foreign DNA from their environment is known as this.
What is transformation?
These non-living entities consist of a protein coat and genetic material (either DNA or RNA), and they require a host cell to replicate, causing diseases like HIV and influenza.
What are viruses?
This complex process involves the secretion of extracellular enzymes by microbes to break down complex organic compounds outside their cell, which are then absorbed for nutrition.
What is extracellular digestion?
These microorganisms can survive in environments with little or no oxygen and are often found in places like deep soil, swamps, or the intestines of animals.
What are anaerobes?
This potentially life-threatening disease is caused by Vibrio cholerae and is characterized by severe watery diarrhea, leading to dehydration and possibly death if not treated.
What is cholera?