The hyperthermophilic members of the Crenarchaeota branch very close to the root of
the universal tree.
Oligotrophic organisms do NOT grow well under nutrient-replete conditions.
The primary domains were founded based on comparative ribosomal RNA gene
sequencing.
Beta-oxidation exclusively removes two carbons at a time to catabolize fatty acids
regardless of the carbon chain length.
Artificially synthesizing DNA strands (e.g., oligonucleotide primers) involves the
careful attachment of one nucleotide at a time to an immobilized sequence.
Although Cyanobacteria contribute more than 35% of all photosynthesis on Earth, they
are not visible in the natural environment.
All ciliates have cilia at some point during their life cycle, and some use the cilia not
just for movement but also to direct food as well.
It is generally accepted that independent mutation rather than gene duplication is the
mechanism for evolution of most new genes.
Laboratory-based genetic systems have been difficult to develop for Archaea, because
they do NOT naturally undergo conjugation or transduction.
Bacterial cells themselves serve as major sources of protein and vitamins in hindgut
fermenting animals such as rabbits and horses.
Energy yields are high enough for Fe2+ oxidation that the bacteria that perform this
reaction require only small quantities of Fe2+ to be available.
Approximately 4 billion years ago Archaea and Bacteria diverged as being distinct
from each other.
Men are 20 times more likely to develop systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) than
women.
For much of the period of microbial growth in food, there is no visible or easily
detectable change in food quality.
Heterotrophs need only a few more genes than autotrophs.
Monocytes are circulating precursors of macrophages and dendritic cells.
A high-affinity antibody binds nonspecifically and loosely to antigen.
Phototrophic purple bacteria such as Rhodobacter species grow ONLY by
photosynthesis, using bacteriochlorophylls to harvest light.
Budding bacteria form new cell wall material at a single point rather than throughout
the whole cell.
The formation of new DNA does NOT require energy.
Archaea are commonly present in rumens.
During chemotaxis, attractants increase the rate of autophosphorylation whereas
repellants decrease this rate.
The influenza viral envelope is unique because it contains only one type of protein.
The genetic material in a virus is technically called a plasmid.
Bioremediation of uranium depends on metal-reducing bacteria to change the oxidation
state of the uranium to form insoluble uranium compounds.
Bacterial capsules enhance the adherence of phagocytes to bacterial cell walls, thereby
promoting phagocytosis.
The acetyl-CoA pathway is a primary route for carbon source utilization.
During the electron transport process, protons and electrons become physically
separated in the cell membrane.
To be certain the botulinum toxin is inactivated, the source must be heated for at least 2
minutes at 100C.
DNA ligase mediates the insertion of foreign DNA into a vector, but it will only be able
to do so if the inserts and vector have matching sticky or blunt ends.
When viable cell concentrations are too high to count on an agar medium, it is most
common to use larger sized plates to increase the surface area for counting the colonies.
Cells require iron supplemented in their growth medium as a trace metal, because it is
consumed by quinones during electron transport for ATP production.
Biosynthesis of glucose can occur by compounds other than sugars via
gluconeogenesis.
If Lyme disease is not treated early, it can infect the central nervous system.
Paralogs always have the same function.
MOST fungi are harmless to humans, although certain superficial infections are quite
common.
Food poisoning generally results from the ingestion of food containing microbial
toxins.
Varied transcription mechanisms distinguish the different DNA virus Baltimore classes,
whereas varied translational mechanisms distinguish RNA viruses.
Some anaerobic bacteria not only use organic compounds as a carbon source but can
also use them for energy as well.
Which of the following cell types has NO nucleus?
A) erythrocytes
B) lymphocytes
C) phagocyte
D) All of these cells lack a nucleus.
Typical electron donors used by dissimilative sulfate-reducers are
A) hydrogen, water, and hyrdrogen sulfide.
B) hydrogen, lactate, and pyruvate.
C) carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and water.
D) sulfate, sulfur, and thiosulfate.
Very few preventative measures are taken against anthrax, because
A) the general population is not exposed to infected materials or animals regularly.
B) non-weaponized anthrax causes only a mild flu-like illness.
C) no vaccines are effective.
D) the causative agent Bacillus anthracis mutates rapidly.
Which of the following is a probable lifespan of memory B cells?
A) 5 minutes
B) 5 hours
C) 5 days
D) 5 years
Polyproteins made from human viruses such as poliovirus must be ________ in order to
yield the required functional units of the virus.
A) able to interact with VPg proteins
B) chemically modified with either glycolation or methylation
C) post-translationally cleaved
D) properly folded into secondary and tertiary structures
Which disease listed does NOT require quarantine?
A) smallpox
B) HIV/AIDS
C) plague
D) cholera
If you allowed 10 identical parallel Salmonella cultures to evolve for 10,000
generations under new growth conditions with very little nitrogen, the parallel cultures
would
A) evolve identical adaptations to use the nitrogen source provided in the media.
B) not change or adapt very much over this small number of generations.
C) each accumulate different random mutations resulting in different adaptations to use
the nitrogen in the media.
D) direct mutations to occur in nitrogen utilization and uptake genes in order to adapt
rapidly to the culture conditions.
Antibody titer can be measured by
A) negative microscopy.
B) agglutination.
C) plate counts done after isolating the pathogen.
D) polymerase chain reaction.
Which two metabolic processes are MOST dissimilar?
A) citric acid cycle and glycolysis
B) glycolysis and gluconeogenesis
C) proton motive force and substrate-level phosphorylation
D) pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis
Improperly functioning acyl carrier proteins (ACPs) would likely result in
A) a physiological shift to anaerobic metabolism where an energized membrane is less
important for energy production.
B) enhanced growth of a bacterium due to faster growth substrate uptake by a
weakened membrane.
C) no harm to bacteria, because only archaeons and eukaryotes use ACPs for fatty acid
biosynthesis.
D) death for a bacterium due to poor lipid bilayer integrity.
A thin, crescent-shaped organism with a single flagellum originating from a basal body
and which folds back laterally across the cell would most likely be a member of the
genus
A) Trypanosoma.
B) Glossina.
C) Entamoeba.
D) Gambiense.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a viral respiratory disease caused by contact with
A) rat fleas.
B) rodents.
C) mosquitoes.
D) bats.
Which is an example of a micronutrient?
A) arginine
B) inorganic phosphorous
C) iron
D) vitamin B12
The science of grouping and classifying microorganisms is known as
A) microbial physiology.
B) proteomics.
C) metabolomics.
D) microbial systematics.
The failure to develop tolerance may result in dangerous reactions to self-antigens, a
condition called
A) type I hypersensitivity.
B) immunotolerance.
C) autoimmunity.
D) immunodeficiency.
The F (fertility) plasmid contains a set of genes that encode for the ________ proteins
that are essential in conjugative transfer of DNA.
A) pili
B) SOS repair
C) transduction
D) transformation
Compatible solutes counteract the tendency of a cell to become
A) buoyant in high ionic strength environments.
B) hyperosmotic in low ionic strength environments.
C) dehydrated in high ionic strength environments.
D) viscous in low ionic strength environments.
The signaling factors of arbuscular mycorrhizae most likely gave rise to the signaling
factors used in rhizobial nodule formation, yet less is known about arbuscular
mycorrhizae because
A) they cannot be maintained in pure culture.
B) they are not as important for plant health.
C) no genetic systems have been developed for fungi.
D) they are not as important for plant health and no genetic systems have been
developed for fungi.
A sequence variant of a gene is called a(n)
A) allele.
B) mutation.
C) nucleotide polymorphism.
D) ribotype.
A pure culture
A) is sterile.
B) is a population of identical cells.
C) is made of a clearly defined chemical medium.
D) contains one microbial cell.
Culture-independent approaches avoid issues associated with
A) detecting very rare phylotypes.
B) conflating phylogenetic and functional diversity.
C) growing organisms in the lab.
D) next generation sequencing.
Dissimilatory iron-oxidation is a relatively new metabolism and is restricted to one
unusual phylum of bacteria.
Evidence of ________ supports the hypothesis that eukaryotes are derived from
bacteria.
A) antibiotic resistance
B) DNA content in the nucleus
C) ribosome contents
D) ribosome contents and DNA content in the nucleus
Which group in Bacteria lacks cell walls?
A) Corynebacterium
B) Mycoplasma
C) Sporosarcina
D) Tenericutes
Compared with today, the temperature on Earth during its first half-billion years was
probably
A) considerably warmer.
B) considerably colder.
C) about the same as today.
D) about the same as today on average, but the diurnal fluctuations were much greater.
A bacterium with which metabolism is MOST likely to form a relationship with
Syntrophobacter wolinii?
A) acetate oxidation
B) ammonia oxidation
C) molecular hydrogen oxidation
D) propionate catabolism
The basic reproduction number of a pathogen
A) can vary during an epidemic based on infection control measures.
B) can be determined experimentally in the lab.
C) is usually high for pathogens that are transmitted through direct contact.
D) can be determined experimentally and is usually high for pathogens that are
transmitted through direct contact.
The enhancement of phagocytosis due to deposition of antibody on the surface of a
pathogen or antigen is called
A) complementation.
B) opsonization.
C) inflammation.
D) antibody class switching.
Based on the phylogenetic tree below, which of the following statements is FALSE?
A) Species E is more closely related to species A than to species D.
B) Species D is more closely related to species C than to species E.
C) Species F is more closely related to species D than to species E.
D) Species C is more closely related to species B than to species D.
Which of the following was an emerging mosquito-borne disease in the early 2000s but
has now decreased in frequency?
A) malaria
B) Rocky Mountain spotted fever
C) typhus
D) West Nile fever
What is the basis for inferring infection of a pathogen when a serological EIA is
performed? In this context, what does a positive result indicate?
What are the pros and cons of traditional enrichment culture techniques? What
advances in the last decade are improving enrichment culture techniques to aid the
cultivation of uncultured microorganisms?
T4 and other bacteriophages commonly use a method of DNA replication and
packaging called “headful packaging.” Explain how viral genomes are replicated and
packaged in this process and hypothesize how headful packaging might affect evolution
of BOTH the bacteriophages and their prokaryotic hosts.
What makes the lifestyle and genome of Nanoarchaeum equitans unique?
The following quote is taken from a university extension publication for farmers:
“Grain poisoning, also known as grain overload or lactic acidosis, is usually the result
of stock consuming large quantities of grain or pellets to which they are unaccustomed.
Pasture-fed cows or feedlot cattle not yet adapted to grain may become acutely ill or
die after eating only moderate amounts of grain, whereas stock accustomed to diets
high in grain content may consume large amounts of grain with little or no effect.”
What is happening in the digestive system of the livestock that causes grain poisoning
and why does a gradual shift in diet avoid this problem?
How does the SOS system simultaneously fix damage DNA and increase the mutation
rate? How does the SOS system increase the survival of microorganisms?
How would the presence of endospores in Louis Pasteur’s nutrient solutions have
affected his conclusions about spontaneous generation?
Why is the water solubility of different nitrogen species of importance to
agriculturalists? What processes in the nitrogen cycle are LEAST beneficial to
agricultural production of crops?
Describe the difference between the use of streptokinase and coagulase as a defense
mechanism among pathogens.
Explain how electroporation works and the significance of the procedure for genetic
experiments.
List and discuss five factors responsible for the emergence of new pathogens or the
reemergence of existing pathogens.
Give an example of an acute and a chronic carrier of disease. What disease
characteristics allow for chronic carriers to play significant roles in the spread of the
disease? How are diseases with chronic carriers controlled?
Explain how codon bias and GC content can be used to detect horizontal gene transfer
within a genome.
Using the tryptophan operon as a model, explain a transcription pause site and the
formation of a stem-loop.
Why are the chances of an immune response in a patient given between 10g and 1g of
an immunogen (drug) higher than a patient given higher than 1g or lower than 10g of
the same drug?