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17 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Spontaneous generation
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Life from nonliving materials. Disproved by Redi and Pasteur
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What composes the largest biomass group of living organisms?
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Microorganisms
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Nitrogen fixation
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converting atmospheric nitrogen (gas) to biomolecules (e.g. nucleic acids, amino acids, etc.)
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Oxygen production
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Convert carbon dioxide to molecular oxygen (O2)
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What are two examples of microorganisms degrading organic materials?
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GI tract and sewage treatment plant
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Zoonotic agents
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The hosts that new infectious agents inhabit in the wild
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Bacteria
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-Prokaryotes
-Most have rigid cell walls composed of peptidoglycan |
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Archea
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AKA: extremophiles
-Similar to bacteria but no peptidoglycan -Found in extreme environments |
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Eucarya
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-Complex organelles
-Larger than bacteria and archea -Includes algea, fungi, protozoa |
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Viruses are:
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-Complex microorganisms
-Not considered alive -obligate intracellular parasites |
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Viruses are __________, not killed.
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inactivated
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Viruses tend to be _________-specific.
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Species
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Discuss virus host relationships including reservoir hosts, species "jumps".
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Viruses reside in a reservoir host (like the hantavirus in the deer mouse) and cause disease when the virus "jumps" species (like the hantavirus in humans).
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Humans infected with Sin Nombre virus often develop what?
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hantavirus cadiopulmonary syndrome (33% death rate)
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Viroids
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-Composed of RNA
-Smaller then viruses -Rely on other viruses to replicate -Best characterized in plants |
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Prions
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-Composed of proteins only
-Cause neurological disease -Can be transmitted to humans from some animals |
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Spongiform encephalopathy
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The neurological diseases that can be caused by prions
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