Fungi are the main contributor to the biodeterioration of stone building materials and
concrete wastewater distribution systems.
Knowledge of an organism’s genome sequence yields important clues to how an
organism functions and its evolutionary history.
UV radiation is a useful tool in producing mutants of microbial cultures.
Bacteroids are rarely found within plant cells.
An endemic disease is constantly present, usually at low incidence, in a population.
Despite having smaller genomes, the protozoans Paramecium and Trichomonas have
significantly more genes than humans.
One fundamental technique of genetic engineering includes the ability to cut DNA into
random fragments.
Many hyperthermophiles are chemolithoautotrophs.
A marked seasonality to a disease is often indicative of
A) certain modes of transmission.
B) the presence of carriers.
C) a zoonotic infection.
D) a bacterial disease.
Which of the following would be useful for treating Candida?
A) an azole
B) a fusion inhibitor
C) a macrolide
D) a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
In symbiotic associations between sulfur chemolithotrophs and eukaryotes such as tube
worms and giant clams, the bacterial symbiont provides ________ while the host
provides ________.
A) nitrogen / carbon and oxygen
B) sulfide / oxygen
C) a carbon and energy source / stable sulfide and oxygen levels
D) organic acids / stable sulfate levels
Regarding CO2 fixation mechanisms in the autotrophic green sulfur bacteria,
A) Chlorobium uses the reverse citric acid cycle, and Chloroflexus uses the
hydroxypropionate pathway.
B) Chlorobium uses the hydroxypropionate pathway, and Chloroflexus uses the reverse
citric acid cycle.
C) both Chlorobium and Chloroflexus use the reverse citric acid cycle.
D) both Chlorobium and Chloroflexus use the hydroxypropionate pathway.
Developments in the fields of immunology and medical microbiology were practical
extensions of the work of
A) Sergei Winogradsky.
B) Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.
C) Joseph Lister.
D) Robert Koch.
Water in the rocks and soils of Earth’s subsurface is called
A) groundwater.
B) surface water.
C) subsurface water.
D) deep water.
In bubonic plague, buboes are swellings formed in the lymph nodes and filled with
A) Yersinia pestis.
B) Rickettsia prowazekii.
C) Xenopsylla cheopis.
D) Clostridium tetani.
Which of the following is an example of herd immunity?
A) Brucellosis is no longer found in farm animals in the United States.
B) If 70% of the population is immunized against polio, the disease will be essentially
absent from the population.
C) Federal law requires that all cattle not immune to anthrax be destroyed.
D) All farm animals used for food must be immunized against all the common agents of
disease that infect humans.
Which of the following emergence factors has contributed to the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
A) climate change
B) rapid pathogen adaptation and change
C) increasing travel to endemic areas
D) exotic pet and meat trade
Analyses of sulfur isotopes have been used as evidence against life on the Moon,
because the sulfides in lunar rocks have
A) an isotope composition similar to marine sulfate, which is enriched in 34S.
B) an isotope composition similar to marine mud, which is depleted in 34S.
C) an isotope composition similar to igneous rocks.
D) exactly equal amounts of 34S and 32S.
How is the syphilis spirochete initially transmitted?
A) penetration of unbroken skin
B) through the eyes
C) from mother to child
D) through tiny breaks in the skin epithelial layer
When DNA is transferred into a prokaryotic cell it may
A) be degraded by enzymes.
B) replicate independent of the host chromosome.
C) recombine with the host chromosome.
D) be degraded by enzymes, replicate independent of the host chromosome, or
recombine with the host chromosome.
Which of the following diseases would be the easiest to control in a human population?
A) an infectious disease with wild animals as a reservoir
B) an infectious disease with humans as the only reservoir
C) an infectious disease with domestic cows as the only reservoir
D) an infectious disease with several possible reservoirs
The unique antigenic determinants of the 90 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae are
found
A) on the cell-surface M proteins.
B) on the capsular polysaccharides.
C) in the bacterial cell wall.
D) in the inclusions in the periplasmic space.
F+ strains of Escherichia coli
A) do not have an F factor.
B) have the F factor as a plasmid.
C) have an integrated F factor.
D) transfer the F factor to recipient cells at a high frequency.
The ability of humans to resist a disease is called
A) dormancy.
B) immunity.
C) resistance.
D) susceptibility.
DNA replication always proceeds in only one direction because the ________ of the
incoming nucleotide is attached to the free ________ of the growing DNA strand.
A) 5′-phosphate / 3′-hydroxyl
B) 3′-phosphate / 5′-hydroxyl
C) 5′-deoxyribose / 3′-base
D) 3′-base / 5′-deoxyribose
Which of the following are malaria vaccines currently in development?
A) synthetic peptide vaccines
B) recombinant particle vaccines
C) DNA vaccines
D) synthetic peptide, recombinant particle and DNA vaccines
Cyclic AMP is synthesized from ATP by an enzyme called ________ which is involved
in ________.
A) adenylate cyclase / catabolite repression
B) adenylate cyclase / transcriptional activation
C) cAMP receptor protein (CRP) synthase / catabolite repression
D) cAMP receptor protein (CRP) synthase / transcriptional activation
GTP provides energy for
A) transcription.
B) translation.
C) DNA replication.
D) protein folding.
The Staphylococcus aureus toxins are
A) neurotoxins.
B) endotoxins.
C) ectotoxins.
D) superantigen toxins.
The MOST effective antibiotics in preventing growth of disease-causing bacteria are
A) bacteriocidal.
B) bacteriostatic.
C) bacteriolytic.
D) bacteriolytic or bacteriocidal.
Which genus is MOST easily distinguishable from others below by occurring in packets
of 8 or more?
A) Peptostreptococcus
B) Sarcina
C) Staphylococcus
D) Streptococcus
Where are ectomycorrhizae MOST commonly found?
A) boreal and temperate forests
B) forests with especially low nutrients
C) tropical forests
D) boreal and temperate forests, forests with especially low nutrients, and tropical
forests
Which of the following pathogens is spread by infected lice?
A) Borrelia burgdorferi
B) Plasmodium falciparum
C) Rickettsia prowazekii
D) Yersinia pestis
The rising of bread dough is the result of
A) biotin production.
B) carbon dioxide produced by fermentation.
C) oxidative phosphorylation.
D) oxygen being released.
Which of the following are soluble mediators and activators for T lymphocytes and B
cells?
A) IL-2
B) IL-4
C) IL-5
D) IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5
Approximately ________ of the Methanocaldococcus jannaschii genes have no
counterparts in known genes from other sequenced organisms.
A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 40%
D) 70%
The process whereby microorganisms are used to help clean up pollution created by
human activities is known as
A) bioaugmentation.
B) biodegradation.
C) bioengineering.
D) bioremediation.
Which of the following IS a characteristic of an isoenzyme?
A) More than one enzyme is regulated by the same mechanism.
B) The same reaction can be catalyzed by multiple enzyme variants.
C) Multiple binding sites on the same enzyme enable multiple regulation mechanisms.
D) More than one gene makes the same enzyme.
Which of the following is a likely target for a toll-like receptor (TLR)?
A) tumor necrosis factor
B) interleukin IV
C) flagellin
D) insulin
After digesting a DNA sequence, a restriction endonuclease can generate
A) blunt ends.
B) overhangs.
C) sticky ends.
D) blunt ends, overhangs, or sticky ends.
The disease anthrax is caused by the pathogenic bacterium ________, which produces
heat-resistant structures known as ________.
A) Azotobacter chroococcum / endospores
B) Azotobacter chroococcum / plasmids
C) Bacillus anthracis / endospores
D) Bacillus anthracis / plasmids
Which bacterial genus would be best to select for fermenting cabbage to make
homemade sauerkraut?
A) Clostridium
B) Lactobacillus
C) Propionibacterium
D) Staphylococcus
Why does the burning of fossil fuels cause an imbalance within the carbon cycle? What
is the consequence of this imbalance? Include a diagram of the carbon cycle to illustrate
your answer.
Explain how Escherichia coli can grow with a doubling time of 20 minutes when
chromosome replication takes 40 minutes.
Some essential genes and DNA sequences in cells DO NOT encode for proteins but are
still essential for cellular growth and replication. Give two examples of a gene or
sequence of which this is true and explain why it is essential for growth or replication.
Discuss the importance of homologous recombination and transposition in natural
horizontal gene transfer and evolution. Be sure to define all of the terms you use and
connect them together logically in your answer.
Using the sudden bloom of cyanobacteria in a lake due to anthropogenic fertilizer
inputs as an example, explain the coupling of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycling.
Exclude discussion of all organisms other than microorganisms.
Design an experiment to determine whether a potential pathogen produces hemolysins.
Explain the relationship between chickenpox and shingles, how each is contracted, and
how each can be prevented.
How might mutations in the dnaQ sequence, whose enzyme is involved in DNA
proofreading, be beneficial for a microbe in a highly competitive and dynamic
community?
Briefly describe how a phagocyte engulfs and ingests a pathogen.
The intracellular parasite Nanoarchaeum equitans has one of the smallest prokaryotic
genomes. Why is the genome of N. equitans so small? How is it possible that the
genome of N. equitans contains more genes than that of Mycoplasma genitalium, which
is actually 90 kbp larger?
Describe the signal transduction pathway that is activated when LPS binds to TLR-4.
Why was the discovery of retroviruses important to the field of molecular biology?
How does the FoodExpert-ID identify macroorganisms and why is this significant?
Life is believed to have originated at hydrothermal springs on the ocean floor rather
than on near the surface of Earth. What conditions made the hydrothermal springs the
likely place for the beginning of life? Relate the conditions of the early oceans to the
likely metabolism of the first cells.
Explain how both biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand are
measured.
You are interested in the minimum set of genes necessary for survival of a eukaryotic
microorganism such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Design an experiment to
systematically test which genes are essential for survival and which are not under high
nutrient, aerobic conditions.
Explain why prokaryotes tend to survive and adapt more rapidly to extreme and
dynamic environmental conditions than eukaryotes.
Why is sulfur cycling more complex to study than other nutrient cycles such as the
nitrogen cycle? How might this influence researchers whose primary research interest is
in understanding sulfur cycling?
Describe protein synthesis in terms of initiation, elongation, and termination/release.