Microbiology Ch. 1 Key Terms

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Microbiology

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A specialized area of biology that deals with living things ordinarily too small to be seen w/o magnification, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa and viruses.

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Bacteria

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Category of prokaryotes with peptidoglycan in their cell walls and circular chromosomes. This group of small cells is widely distributed in the earth's habitats.

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Viruses

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microscopic, acellular agent composed of nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat

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Fungi

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macroscopic and microscopic heterotrophic eukaryotic organisms that can be uni- or multicellular.

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Protozoa

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A group of single-celled eukaryotic organisms

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Microorganisms or Microbes

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A living thing ordinarily too small to be seen without magnification; an organism of microscopic size

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Microscopic

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Invisibile to the naked eye

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Immunology

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The study of the system of body defenses that protect against infection

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Epidemiology

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The study of the factors affecting the prevalence and spread of disease within a community.

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Ubiquitous

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Present everywhere at the same time

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photosynthesis

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A process occuring in plants, algae and some bacteria that traps the sun's energy and converts it to ATP in the cell. This energy is used to fix CO2 into organic compounds.

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decomposition

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The breakdown of dead matter and wastes into simple compounds that can be directed back into the natural cycle of living things.

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Biotechnology

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The use of microbes or their products in the commercial or industrial realm.

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genetic engineering

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A field involving deliberate alterations of the genomes of microbes, plants and animals through special technological processes.

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Recombinant DNA Technology

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A technology, aka genetic engineering, that deliberately modifies the genetic structure of an organism to create novel products, microbes, animals, plants, and viruses.

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Bioremdiation

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Decomposition of harmful chemicals by microbes or consortia of microbes.

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Pathogens

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Any agent (usually a virus, bacterium, fungus, protozoan, or helminth) that causes disease

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Organelles

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A small component of a eukaryotic cell that is membrane-bound and specialized in function.

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Parasites

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An organism that lives on or within another organism (the Host), from which it obtains nutriens and enjoys protection. The parasite produces some degree of harm in the host.

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Scientific method

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Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of a hypothesis.

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Taxonomy

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the formal system for organizing, classifying, and naming living things

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nomenclature

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A set system for scientifically naming organisms, enzymes, anatomical structures, and so on.

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taxa

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taxonomic categories

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List of taxa from broades to most specific category

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domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

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Binomial scientific names

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these names consist of the genus and species name. Both must be italized or underlines and the genus should be capitalized while the species should be lower case.

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3 Domains Include

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Archaea; Bacteria; Eukarya

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eubacteria

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Term used for nonarchaea prokaryotes, means "true bacteria."