Chapter 1 A Brief History of Microbiology
1.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1) Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was the first person in history to
A) use a magnifying glass.
B) develop a taxonomic system.
C) view microorganisms and record these observations.
D) disprove spontaneous generation.
E) use the germ theory of disease.
2) The microbes commonly known as ________ are single-celled eukaryotes that are generally
motile.
A) archaea
B) bacteria
C) fungi
D) protozoa
E) viruses
3) Which of the following statements about algae is FALSE?
A) The group includes seaweeds and kelps.
B) They are photosynthetic organisms.
C) They provide most of the oxygen on Earth.
D) They are important in the degradation of dead plants and animals.
E) They are a source of food for aquatic and marine animals.
4) Louis Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation to produce alcohol is caused by
A) aerobes.
B) facultative anaerobes.
C) obligate parasites.
D) archaea.
E) prokaryotes.
5) Which of the following scientists provided evidence in favor of the concept of spontaneous
generation?
A) Pasteur
B) Needham
C) Redi
D) Buchner
E) Spallanzani
6) Pasteur’s experiments on fermentation laid the foundation for
A) industrial microbiology.
B) epidemiology.
C) immunology.
D) abiogenesis.
E) antisepsis.
7) Which of the following statements about fungi is FALSE?
A) Fungi are eukaryotes.
B) Molds are multicellular.
C) Fungi have a cell wall.
D) Fungi are photosynthetic.
E) Yeasts are unicellular.
8) Which of the following contribute to the successful application of Koch’s postulates?
A) The development of the compound microscope.
B) The theory of abiogenesis.
C) The ability to record the appearance of bacteria photographically.
D) The development of simple bacterial staining techniques.
E) The development of techniques for sterile transfer of bacteria.
9) Which of the following individuals pioneered the use of chemicals to reduce the incidence of
infections during surgery?
A) Nightingale
B) Snow
C) Ehrlich
D) Lister
E) Semmelweis
10) The technique developed by Hans Christian Gram is important for bacterial
A) etiology.
B) identification.
C) classification.
D) isolation.
E) epidemiology.
11) The use of chemical agents to harm or kill microbes is
A) immunology.
B) chemotherapy.
C) epidemiology.
D) serology.
E) biotechnology.
12) Parasitic worms, even meters-long tapeworms, are studied in microbiology because
A) they are parasites.
B) diagnosis usually involves microscopic examination of patient samples.
C) the Gram stain can be used to identify them.
D) Leeuwenhoek first discovered them.
E) no one else wants to study them.
13) Which of the following areas of investigation is considered a major driver of modern
microbiology?
A) microbial classification
B) industrial microbiology
C) the etiology of infectious disease
D) genetics
E) food preparation
14) Work by ________ laid the foundations of immunology with the development of vaccines.
A) Redi and Spallanzani
B) Koch and Pasteur
C) Jenner and Pasteur
D) Lister and Semmelweis
E) Pauling and Woese
15) According to Kluyver and van Niel, which of the following are TRUE of basic biochemical
reactions?
A) They are shared by all living things.
B) There are an unlimited number of them.
C) They primarily involve the transfer of electrons and ions.
D) Basic biochemical reactions shared by all living things primarily involve transfer of
electrons and hydrogen ions.
E) They primarily involve transfers of chemical groups.
16) Semmelweis advocated handwashing as a method of preventing which of the following
diseases?
A) cholera
B) puerperal fever
C) smallpox
D) anthrax
E) syphilis
17) Paul Ehrlich used chemotherapy to treat
A) cholera.
B) cancer.
C) anthrax.
D) smallpox.
E) syphilis.
18) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of viruses?
A) They are visible with a light microscope.
B) They are acellular.
C) They are composed of genetic material and protein.
D) They are typically smaller than prokaryotic cells.
E) They are obligatory parasites.
19) The first true vaccine protected against disease caused by a(n) ________ pathogen.
A) bacterial
B) protozoal
C) fungal
D) viral
E) archaeal
20) All of the following individuals were involved in improving public health in the 19th
century EXCEPT
A) Snow.
B) Spallanzani.
C) Nightingale.
D) Semmelweis.
E) Lister.
21) Which of the following types of microbe was NOT observed by Leeuwenhoek?
A) fungus
B) protozoan
C) prokaryote
D) alga
E) virus
22) Inserting a gene from the hepatitis B virus into yeast so that the yeast produces a viral
protein is an example of
A) etiology.
B) genetic engineering.
C) immunology.
D) microbial genetics.
E) gene therapy.
23) Which of the following was NOT an aspect of Pasteur’s experiments to disprove
spontaneous generation?
A) The necks of the flasks he used were bent into an S-shape.
B) He boiled the infusions to kill any microbes present.
C) The flasks were incubated for very long periods of time.
D) The flasks were free of microbes until they were opened.
E) The flasks he used were sealed with corks.
24) Identification of bacteria in the laboratory usually begins with the ________ for placement
in one of two large groups of bacteria.
A) Koch’s stain
B) Gram stain
C) Pasteur fermentation test
D) Petri stain
E) Ehrlich magic test
25) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of protozoa?
A) Most exhibit asexual reproduction.
B) They are single-celled organisms.
C) They are eukaryotic organisms.
D) They are all photosynthetic.
E) They frequently possess cilia or flagella.
26) Whose search for chemicals that would kill microbes without harming humans was the
foundation for chemotherapy?
A) Ehrlich
B) Koch
C) Gram
D) Lister
E) Pasteur
27) The work of Eduard Buchner and the discovery of enzymes laid the foundations for the
field of
A) biochemistry.
B) epidemiology.
C) immunology.
D) mycology.
E) genetics.
28) What is the correct order for the application of Koch’s postulates?
I. Inoculate suspect agent into test subject and observe that subject develops disease of
interest.
II. Isolate and culture suspect agent in the laboratory.
III. Find suspect agent is every case of disease of interest but not in healthy hosts.
IV. Recover and isolate suspect agent from test subject.
A) III, I, IV, II
B) IV, I, III, II
C) I, II, III, IV
D) III, II, I, IV
E) IV, I, II, III
29) John Snow’s research during a cholera outbreak in London laid the foundation for which of
the following branches of microbiology?
A) infection control only
B) epidemiology only
C) immunology only
D) both infection control and epidemiology
E) infection control, epidemiology, and immunology
30) Robert Koch was involved in research on all of the following topics EXCEPT
A) the cause of anthrax.
B) the cause of fermentation.
C) development of a method to determine the cause of an infectious disease.
D) the cause of tuberculosis.
E) techniques for isolating microbes in the laboratory.
31) Which of the following is an INCORRECT pairing?
A) protozoa; multicellular
B) fungi; cell walls
C) algae; aquatic and marine habitats
D) prokaryotes; no nuclei
E) viruses; acellular parasites
32) What was the first disease shown to be bacterial in origin?
A) yellow fever
B) cholera
C) anthrax
D) malaria
E) tuberculosis
33) The work of Lister, Nightingale, and Semmelweis all contributed to controlling infectious
disease by
A) developing techniques for isolating pathogens.
B) developing methods for reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
C) identifying the sources of infectious agents.
D) determining the taxonomic relationships among microbes.
E) developing vaccines.
34) Who discovered penicillin?
A) Fleming
B) Ehrlich
C) Kitasato
D) Pasteur
E) Domagk
35) The principle of disinfection to reduce HAIs (healthcare associated infections) among
patients was initially introduced by
A) L. Pasteur and R. Koch.
B) I. Semmelweis and J. Lister.
C) P. Erhlich and A. Fleming.
D) J. Snow and R. Koch.
E) E. Jenner and L. Pasteur.
36) Microorganisms characterized by the absence of a nucleus are called
A) fungi.
B) pathogens.
C) eukaryotes.
D) prokaryotes.
E) viruses.
37) The term that literally means “against putrefaction” is
A) antisepsis.
B) prokaryote.
C) chemotherapy.
D) recombinant technology.
E) nosocomial.
38) The experiments conducted by John T. Needham using infusions were interpreted as
supporting the theory of
A) antisepsis.
B) bioremediation.
C) spontaneous generation.
D) etiology.
E) chemotherapy.
39) An explanation of observations and data supported by the experimental results of many
scientists for many years is
A) a theory.
B) a hypothesis.
C) scientific method.
D) popular opinion.
E) a control group.
40) The work of ________ on fermentation led to the discovery that enzymes are responsible
for the chemical reactions that occur in cells.
A) Lister
B) Koch
C) Pasteur
D) Buchner
E) Woese
41) The term for the use of microorganisms to restore damaged environments is
A) epidemiology.
B) bioremediation.
C) chemotherapy.
D) serology.
E) ecology.
42) The term ________ involves the study of the blood components that fight infection.
A) antisepsis
B) chemotherapy
C) etiology
D) serology
E) bioremediation
43) The field of ________ is a thoroughly modern discipline that has led to new ways to treat
infectious disease.
A) recombinant DNA technology
B) epidemiology
C) immunology
D) serology
E) biochemistry
1.2 True/False Questions
1) Protozoa are also called prokaryotes.
2) Single-celled organisms known as diatoms have glasslike walls and are a type of algae.
3) The production of human blood-clotting factor by E. coli is an example of bioremediation.
4) Louis Pasteur is considered the Father of Microbiology because of the many carefully
conducted experiments and observations he made with microbes.
5) Gene therapy is a modern approach to preventing infectious disease.
6) Koch’s postulates can be used to determine the causes of infectious diseases.
7) Joseph Lister reduced the incidence of wound infections in health care settings by using
chlorinated lime water.
8) Robert Koch sought a “magic bullet” for the treatment of disease caused by bacteria.
9) Fermentation can occur in the absence of living cells.
10) Lazzaro Spallanzani was the first scientist to provide evidence disproving the spontaneous
generation of microorganisms.
1) The amateur scientist (Koch/Leeuwenhoek/Pasteur) made his own microscopes and first
reported the existence of microbes.
2) A cell that contains a nucleus is called a(n) (prokaryotic/archaeal/eukaryotic) cell.
3) A(n) (photosynthetic/algae/plant) organism makes its own food using light energy.
4) Microbes that cause infectious disease are called (pathogens/germs/viruses).
5) Single-celled eukaryotes that feed on other organisms and have a cell wall are
(algae/fungi/protozoa).
6) A scientist conducts experiments to test a(n) (observation/hypothesis/theory).
7) The work of (Needham/Redi/Spallanzani) using infusions in sealed vials provided strong
evidence that spontaneous generation does not occur.
8) Research done in Robert Koch’s laboratory laid the foundation for
(epidemiology/immunology/etiology), the study of the body’s defenses against disease.
9) A (colony/habitat/biofilm) is a mixed population of microbes growing together on surfaces.
10) Spallanzani’s experiments contradicted the experiments of (Needham/Redi/Pasteur) on
spontaneous generation.
11) Ignaz Semmelweis demonstrated the importance of (antisepsis/vaccination/washing) as a
means of preventing disease transmission.
12) A term synonymous with immunization, (vaccination/infection) is derived from the Latin
name of the cowpox virus.
13) The use of chemicals to treat diseases such as bacterial infections is called (gene
therapy/chemotherapy).
14) The work of Oswald Avery, George Beadle, Edward Tatum and many others into the role
of DNA laid the foundations of (microbial genetics/microbiology/recombinant DNA
technology).
15) The (physiology/metabolism) of an organism is all the chemical reactions that take place in
the organism.
1.4 Essay Questions
1) You are a young scientist who has just learned about one of the hot topics in microbiology,
biofilms. One aspect of the interest in biofilms is that the microbes living within biofilms
appear to behave and function differently from their counterparts not living in a biofilm. Devise
a way to explore the idea. (Do not focus on the technical details of how this might be
accomplished.)
2) Biotechnology can be said to have ancient roots. Explain.
3) Use the basic steps of the scientific method to describe Pasteur’s experiments to investigate
spontaneous generation.
4) Explain how the discipline of biochemistry grew out of the science of microbiology.
5) Compare and contrast the three types of eukaryotic microbes.