Introduction to Microbiology Review Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Microbiology provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts and principles underlying the study of microorganisms. Students will explore the structure, function, classification, and metabolism of various microbes, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. The course examines the roles these organisms play in health, disease, and environmental processes, with an emphasis on microbial genetics, growth, and the human immune response. Laboratory methods for culturing, identifying, and controlling microorganisms are also introduced, enabling students to develop essential skills in microbiological techniques and safety practices.
Recommended Textbook
Living in a Microbial World 1st Edition by Bruce Hofkin
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16 Chapters
208 Verified Questions
208 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Living in a Microbial World
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A) All living things are unicellular.
B) All living things are multicellular.
C) Most microorganisms are multicellular.
D) Living things are composed of one or more cells.
Answer: D
Q2) What are the primary differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells? Which groups of microorganisms have which cell type?
Answer: Prokaryotic cells are simpler and usually smaller in size than eukaryotic cells. In prokaryotic cells, membrane-bound organelles, including the nuclear membrane, are not present. In eukaryotic cells, cellular processes occur in organelles, with different activities taking place in discreet locations within the cell. Bacteria and Archaea have prokaryotic cells. Fungi, protozoa, and algae all have eukaryotic cells.
Q3) Which typical characteristics of living things are not observed in viruses?
Answer: Viruses are not composed of cells. They are unable to replicate outside the cells of other organisms and they have little if any independent metabolism.
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Chapter 2: The Chemistry of Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) The purines of nucleic acids are ________ and ________.
A) thymine; guanine
B) adenine; guanine
C) adenine; cytosine
D) thymine; cytosine
E) cytosine; guanine
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following compounds will not dissolve in water?
A) one consisting largely of non-polar covalent bonds
B) one consisting largely of polar covalent bonds
C) one consisting largely of ionic bonds
D) one that readily forms hydrogen bonds
E) one in which many of the atoms have partial charges
Answer: A
Q3) Describe the relationship between an atom's stability and its energy. How does this impact an atom's reactivity?
Answer: There is an inverse relationship between an atom's stability and its energy level. They are more likely to interact with other atoms (they are more reactive) when their energy is greater and their stability is lower.
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Page 4
Chapter 3: The Cell: Where Life Begins
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is/are composed of long, slender protein filaments and act(s) as a type of scaffolding for eukaryotic cells.
A) The cilia
B) The cytoskeleton
C) The endoplasmic reticulum
D) The endomembrane system
E) The endospore
Answer: B
Q2) What is taxis as it applies to bacteria? What structure does bacteria that are capable of taxis possess?
Answer: Taxis refers to the ability of many bacteria to move toward favorable conditions (positive taxis) or away from unfavorable conditions (negative taxis). Only motile bacteria are capable of taxis. In an almost all cases, motile bacteria rely on flagella.
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5
Chapter 4: A Field Guide to the Microorganisms
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is different about the synthesis stage in a plus- and a minus-strand RNA virus?
Q2) Which of the following are the most closely related?
A) Two animals that are in the same phylum
B) Two plants that are in the same class
C) Two fungi that are in the same order
D) Two bacteria that are in the same family
Q3) Which of the following statements is true about archaea?
A) They are in the domain Bacteria.
B) They have cells walls identical to those of bacteria.
C) They have eukaryotic cells.
D) They often are found in extreme environments.
E) All known archaea require oxygen for survival.
Q4) The classification of living things according to their evolutionary relationships is called:
A) taxonomy.
B) phylogenetics.
C) taxonomic hierarchy.
D) the five-kingdom system of classification.
E) the three-domain system of classification.
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Chapter 5: The Microbiology of History and the History of Microbiology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not a vector-borne disease?
A) bubonic plague
B) yellow fever
C) malaria
D) typhus
E) anthrax
Q2) The principle of attenuation discovered by Pasteur had important implications for:
A) antibiotic development.
B) vaccine development.
C) aseptic surgery.
D) pure culture technique.
E) the development of variolation as a defense against smallpox.
Q3) Why is a large population of hosts more important for the maintenance of a "crowd disease" than it is for other types of diseases?
Q4) What is the danger associated with agricultural monocultures?
Q5) What are Koch's Postulates? Explain how they are used to determine the cause of a particular disease.
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Chapter 6: Microbial Genetics
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the lac-operon, under which of the following conditions will the repressor protein be bound to its binding site?
A) when the environment contains abundant lactose
B) when the environment is very low in lactose
C) when the inducer is bound to the repressor
D) when RNA polymerase is most able to bind to the promoter
E) when the structural genes of the operon are being transcribed at a maximum rate
Q2) Which of the following components is not normally found as part of a DNA nucleotide?
A) a nitrogenous base
B) a phosphate group
C) uracil
D) a deoxyribose sugar
Q3) The uptake of naked DNA by some bacterial cells is called ________.
A) transduction
B) conjugation
C) an insertion
D) transformation
E) a point mutation
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Metabolism and Growth
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Sample Questions
Q1) A bacterial species never uses oxygen as a final electron acceptor. However, it has the enzymes necessary to degrade toxic forms of oxygen. Such a bacterial species is an example of:
A) an obligate aerobe.
B) an obligate anaerobe.
C) a facultative anaerobe.
D) an aerotolerant anaerobe.
E) a microaerophile.
Q2) Describe differences that would be seen in the growth curve of a facultative anaerobe that is grown in the presence of oxygen, and the same facultative anaerobe grown in the absence of oxygen.
Q3) In a particular redox reaction, when an electron pair is transferred from molecule X to molecule Y:
A) the transferred electrons were at greater energy and reduced stability with molecule X.
B) the electrons have greater energy and reduced stability with molecule Y.
C) the electrons had greater energy and stability with molecule X.
D) the electrons have greater energy and stability with molecule Y.
E) molecule X is reduced.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Microbial Evolution: the Origin and Diversity of Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the rationale for the "RNA world" hypothesis.
Q2) Which of the sequences below is believed to be correct for the order in which the following evolved?
A) liposomes » first heterotrophic prokaryotes » first oxygen-yielding photosynthetic prokaryotes » first eukaryotes
B) first heterotrophic prokaryotes » first oxygen-yielding photosynthetic prokaryotes » liposomes » first eukaryotes
C) first oxygen-yielding photosynthetic prokaryotes » first heterotrophic prokaryotes » first eukaryotes » liposomes
D) eukaryotes » first heterotrophic prokaryotes » first oxygen-yielding photosynthetic prokaryotes » liposomes
E) liposomes » first oxygen-yielding photosynthetic prokaryotes » first heterotrophic prokaryotes » eukaryotes
Q3) It is believed that mitochondria were acquired by primitive eukaryotic cells before chloroplasts were. What is the evidence for this?
Q4) Why is it that natural selection can never result in organisms that are perfectly adapted to their environment?
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Chapter 9: An Ecologists Guide to Microbiology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which process in the nitrogen cycle, carried out by certain microorganisms, converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, which can then be utilized by plants?
A) nitrogen fixation
B) ammonification
C) nitrification
D) denitrification
Q2) Consider two organisms, X and Y, which are involved in a type of ecological interaction. Which of the following statements is false?
A) If X and Y are mutualists, both organisms have a positive effect on the growth of the other.
B) If X is a commensal organism on Y, X has a positive effect on Y, but Y has no effect on X.
C) If Y is a commensal organism on X, X has a positive effect on Y, but Y has no effect on X.
D) If X and Y are competitors, both organisms have negative effects on each other's growth.
E) If X is a predator and Y is prey, X has a negative effect on Y, but Y has a positive effect on X.
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11
Chapter 10: The Nature of Disease: a Pathogens Perspective
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does our normal flora protect us from some infections by pathogens?
Q2) Eradication of any pathogen is very unlikely unless that pathogen uses:
A) human reservoirs only.
B) animal reservoirs only.
C) environmental reservoirs only.
D) human or animal reservoirs.
E) animal or environmental reservoirs.
Q3) In terms of how a pathogen might affect a host, which of the following is the correct sequence of events?
A) contamination » disease » infection
B) disease » contamination » infection
C) infection » contamination » disease
D) infection » disease » contamination
E) contamination » infection » disease
Q4) Why are symptoms in a host, such as diarrhea in the case of intestinal disease, or sneezing and coughing in the case of respiratory disease, beneficial from the perspective of some pathogens that cause these diseases?
Q5) What is the difference between biological vector transmission and mechanical vector transmission?
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Chapter 11: Host Defense
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not a correct and necessary step in the generation of a cell-mediated response?
A) Antigen presenting cells are activated by pattern recognition.
B) Antigen presenting cells present antigen to helper T cells.
C) Antigen presenting cells activate cytotoxic T cells.
D) Helper T cells release cytokines that stimulate activate cytotoxic T cells.
E) Cytotoxic T cells recognize their specific antigen on the surface of infected cells.
Q2) Which of the following vaccine types best mimics a genuine infection?
A) a vaccine made with an attenuated pathogen
B) a vaccine made with an inactivated pathogen
C) a subunit vaccine
D) Both "a" and "c" closely mimic a genuine infection.
E) Both "b" and "c" closely mimic a genuine infection.
Q3) Describe how cells of the innate immune system activate the adaptive immune system under certain circumstances.
Q4) How does HIV reduce immune function?
Q5) In what way can the fever response be used to illustrate the point that response to pathogens can both be protective and harmful?
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Chapter 12: Control of Microbial Growth
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pasteurization:
A) is a technique used to sterilize liquids.
B) relies on high temperature and high pressure to kill microorganisms.
C) can be considered to be a bacteriotatic control measure.
D) selectively kills thermophiles in liquids.
E) selectively kills mesophiles in liquids.
Q2) In which of the following situations might a broad spectrum drug be preferable to a narrow spectrum drug?
A) when the patient is infected with an unknown pathogen
B) when the patient is immunocompromised
C) when Gram-negative bacteria have infected an ordinarily sterile region of the body
D) in a well-oxygenated region of the body
E) when the patient is in danger of going into shock from endotoxin poisoning
Q3) In what situations would UV radiation be an appropriate method for microbial control?
Q4) What are some of the problems associated with the development of antiviral drugs?
Q5) How does stopping an antibiotic prescription prematurely contribute to the development of drug resistance?
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Epidemiology: Who,
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Sample Questions
Q1) The likelihood of a host-to-host epidemic is highest when:
A) the proportion of immune individuals in a population is below the epidemic threshold.
B) the proportion of immune individuals in a population is above the epidemic threshold.
C) the proportion of immune individuals in a population is at the epidemic threshold.
D) anytime the proportion of immune individuals in a population rises above 50%.
E) the second time a pathogen is introduced into a particular population.
Q2) Which of the following pathogens would most likely be used as a bioterrorism agent?
A) Pathogen A: an obligate anaerobe
B) Pathogen B: an obligate aerobe
C) Pathogen C: a Gram-positive bacterial species
D) Pathogen D: a RNA virus
E) Pathogen E: a spore-former
Q3) How can a vaccine program prevent epidemics?
Q4) Describe the design of a case-control study and how it is used to identify the cause of an epidemic.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Future Is Here: Microorganisms and Biotechnology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an important obstacle to the routine use of gene therapy?
A) It has proven difficult to produce recombinant viruses carrying normal copies of a particular human gene.
B) It has proven difficult to get human host cells to express foreign genes in adequate amounts.
C) It has proven difficult to identify the human genes involved in genetic disorders.
D) None of the above is currently an obstacle. Gene therapy is now routine.
E) All of the above are important obstacles.
Q2) What exactly is a DNA library? What is a genomic library?
Q3) A restriction enzyme that recognizes relatively rare base sequences in the DNA will:
A) cleave DNA into a relatively large number of small fragments.
B) cleave DNA into a relatively small number of small fragments.
C) cleave DNA into a relatively large number of large fragments.
D) cleave DNA into a relatively small number of large fragments.
Q4) What is the polymerase chain reaction? Briefly state how it works.
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16
Chapter 15: Guess Whos Coming to Dinner: Microorganisms and Food
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Sample Questions
Q1) Probiotics are:
A) any microbially fermented food.
B) food items that are produced by aerobic bacteria.
C) hormones that are produced by bacteria.
D) products that contain living microorganisms, thought to be beneficial.
E) antibiotics added to animal feed to encourage more rapid growth.
Q2) The fermentation of most bread and alcoholic beverages relies on:
A) fermentation by Gram-positive bacteria.
B) fermentation by Gram-negative bacteria.
C) fermentation by single-celled fungi.
D) fermentation by filamentous fungi.
Q3) Microbial fermentation only occurs under certain environmental conditions. Why, in terms of metabolism, do these organisms ferment under such conditions?
Q4) In which of the following products does fermentation of the must occur?
A) cheese
B) bread
C) beer
D) wine
E) sauerkraut
Q5) Provide a biochemical explanation for why bread rises during its production.
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Chapter 16: Better Living With Microorganisms: Industrial and Applied Microbiology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Metabolites are:
A) the substrate that is converted into a useful product by microorganisms.
B) an intermediate compound in a biochemical pathway, the final product of which is a useful product.
C) the final product in a biochemical pathway.
D) either "a" or "c" above
E) either "b" or "c" above
Q2) Why does compost tend to heat up over time? Why is it beneficial to periodically turn the compost?
Q3) Some bacteria release electrons, which can then be bound to an electrode, generating electricity. This process may be used:
A) to produce cellulosic ethanol.
B) to produce biodegradable plastics.
C) to create microbial fuel cells.
D) to separate valuable minerals from rock deposits.
E) as a biologically produced hydrocarbon.
Q4) In what way does metabolite production by a microorganism often depend on other microorganisms that may be found in the same environment?
Page 18
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