Microbial Biology Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Microbial Biology explores the structure, function, diversity, and ecology of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists. The course covers microbial genetics, metabolism, and physiology, highlighting the ways microbes interact with each other, with host organisms, and with their environments. Students learn about the roles of microbes in health, biotechnology, agriculture, and global nutrient cycles, as well as contemporary topics such as antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases. Laboratory methods for culturing, identifying, and analyzing microorganisms are introduced to provide hands-on experience in microbial research and applications.
Recommended Textbook Microbiology 2nd Edition by Dave Wessner
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Chapter 1: The Microbial World
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Sample Questions
Q1) During nitrogen fixation,microorganisms convert:
A)nitrate to dinitrogen gas.
B)dinitrogen gas to ammonia.
C)ammonia to dinitrogen gas.
D)dinitrogen gas to nitrate.
E)ammonia to nitrate.
Answer: B
Q2) Louis Pasteur's classic swan-necked flask experiment might not have disproved spontaneous generation if this microbial type was present:
A)aerobic microbes
B)anaerobic microbes
C)endospore forming microbes
D)viruses
E)none of these would have impated the results
Answer: C
Q3) Macromolecules that catalyze chemical reactions in the cell are called
Answer: enzymes
Q4) The three domains of life are ________,________,and ________.
Answer: Bacteria,Archaea,Eukarya.
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Bacteria
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which bacterial species would you expect to display pleomorphism?
A)Actinomycetes
B)Mycoplasma
C)Cyanobacteria
D)Streptococcus
E)Staphylococcus
Answer: B
Q2) What is the typical length of a bacterium?
A)5 - 10 nm
B)0.5 - 5 µm
C)20 - 40 µm
D)5 - 10 mm
E)20 - 40 mm
Answer: B
Q3) The ABC transporter system uses phosphoenolpyruvate as the energy source to drive transport.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Eukaryal Microbes
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Sample Questions
Q1) A protein is seen to possess a regions highly enriched in lysine,arginine and histidine.Which statement(s)is(are)correct regarding its identity? (Select all that apply)
A)transported to the mitochondrion through the secretory pathway
B)Encoded by a nuclear gene
C)Encoded by a mitochondrial gene
D)Transferred to mitochondria from cytosolic free ribosomes
E)Encoded by chloroplast genes
Answer: B,D
Q2) The slime-mold Dictyostelium discoideum is classified as a fungus.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) What is the slime-mold Dictyostelium discoideum commonly used to study?
A)the fungal life cycle
B)evolution of multi-cellularity
C)flagella movement
D)cell wall synthesis
E)cyst formation
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Archaea
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Sample Questions
Q1) All known hyperthermophiles possess this enzyme to increase the supercoiling of the DNA and help stabilize it at high temperatures.
A)ligase
B)Taq polymerase
C)thermosome
D)reverse DNA gyrase
E)histone
Q2) Which of these is correct regarding subunit rRNA?
A)It serves the same biological function in all organisms.
B)Its sequence changes very slowly over time.
C)It is very stable and easy to work with.
D)It serves the same biological function in all organisms and its sequence changes very slowly over time.
E)These choices are all true.
Q3) All members of the Archaea domain contain a cell wall.
A)True
B)False
Q4) All known methanogens are found in the domain ___.
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Chapter 5: Viruses
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these findings supports the progressive hypothesis of viral origin?
A)The presence of mitochondria and chloroplast in cells.
B)The existence of obligate intracellular pathogens like Chlamydia.
C)The discovery of nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses.
D)The existence of eukaryal transposons or retrotransposon genetic elements.
E)The presence of a nucleus in eukaryotic cells.
Q2) The capsid of the influenza viris differs from that of the Tobacco mosaic virus because: (Select all that apply)
A)there are distinct capsids for multiple chromosomal fragments
B)the chromosome is enclosed by the capsid
C)capsomeres cover each chromosomal segment
D)there is no surrounding envelope
E)the DNA is circular
Q3) Which characteristics are found in viroids? (Select all that apply)
A)RNA-containing particles
B)Possess a capsid but no envelope
C)Possess capsid and envelope
D)Contain little nucleic acid
E)Possess a large genome
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Chapter 6: Cultivating Microorganisms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Bacteria grow for 12 generations in 4 hours.What is the growth rate?
A)3 generations per hour
B)48 generations per hour
C)0.33 generations per hour
D)33 generations per hour
E)None is correct
Q2) Which of these methods will ensure sterility?
A)Refrigeration
B)Freezing
C)Pasteurization
D)Dessication
E)Autoclaving
Q3) Which method will distinguish live bacteria from total cells present
A)use of hemocytometer on culture media
B)spectrophotometry
C)plate dilution counts
D)use of a chemostat
E)none is suitable
Q4) Nucleic acids strongly absorb _____________ radiation of 260 nm.
Q5) A device used for the continuous culturing of bacteria is called a _________.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: DNA Replication and Gene Expression
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the main enzymes responsible for replication of DNA in eukaryal cells?
A)DNA pol III and DNA pol I
B)DNA pol III and DNA pol
C)DNA pol I and DNA pol
D)DNA pol and DNA pol
E)DNA pol and DNA pol
Q2) Term for a special sequence at the end of the chromosome in eukaryal cells.
A)a terminator
B)a centromere
C)a telomere
D)an antiorigin.
E)an enhancer
Q3) What,in bacteria,is analogous to the autonomously replicating sequence (ARS)in yeast?
A)the promoter
B)a plasmid
C)a transposon
D)the oriC
E)a prophage
Q4) Describe the structure of DNA according to the Watson - Crick Model.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Viral Replication Strategies
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Sample Questions
Q1) Exposing viral genetic material to host replicative enzymes is the least challenging for:
A)Bacteriophages
B)Non-enveloped plant viruses
C)Enveloped plant viruses
D)Non-enveloped animal viruses
E)Enveloped animal viruses
Q2) Bacteriophage T4 lyses the bacterial host cell for release of newly formed virions.The cell wall of the bacterium is broken down by this virally encoded enzyme
A)lysozyme.
B)protease.
C) -lactamase.
D)nuclease.
E)peptidase.
Q3) The information presented in section 8.4 suuports the theory that retroviruses produce RNA-dependent DNA polymerase after infection of a host cell.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Most enveloped viruses exit their host cell through a process called __________.
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Chapter 9: Bacterial Genetic Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) You are searching for a mutant strain of E.coli with no heat shock proteins.What approach is most likely to be successful?
A)positive phenotypic selection
B)DNA sequencing of cells within a population
C)Environmental searching for a new population
D)Toothpick pick-and-patching
E)None is likely to succeed
Q2) Term for the direct transfer of DNA from a living donor bacterium to a recipient bacterium.
A)transduction
B)transformation
C)transfection
D)conjugation
E)electroporation
Q3) The first DNA cloning experiment required ALL of the following EXCEPT:
A)DNA ligase.
B)DNA polymerase.
C)restriction enzymes.
D)plasmid vector with antibiotic resistance gene.
E)competent cells.
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Chapter 10: Microbial Genomics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Sanger method of DNA sequencing has been automated and uses a(n):
A)thermal-stable DNA polymerase to allow for multiple rounds of DNA synthesis.
B)trideoxynucleotides in the synthesis reactions.
C)none is a correct choice
D)agarose gel electrophoresis for fragment separation.
E)chemical digestion method for fragment generation.
Q2) What is metaproteomics?
A)A culture-dependent method that may be used to determine protein sequences.
B)A culture-dependent method that may be used to find new enzymes.
C)A culture-dependent method that may be used to study groups of microbes in an ecosystem.
D)A culture-independent method that may be used to document microbial community enzyme pools
E)A culture -independent method that may be used for the isolation of different organisms.
Q3) Paralogs are genes that arose from a duplication event in the cell.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Sanger method of sequencing used special nucleotides that are called ________ nucleotides.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Regulation of Gene Expression
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Sample Questions
Q1) The term for a large group of genes whose expression is under the control of a single regulatory system.
A)operon
B)super operon
C)regulon
D)transcriptome
E)biome
Q2) One pair of terms does not fit the pattern seen with the others.Identify the mismatch:
A)activator,repressor
B)activator binding site,operator
C)inducer,corepressor
D)promoter,inducer
E)all are correctly paired
Q3) When does repression of the lac operon occur?
A)When allolactose binds to the operator region.
B)When allolactose binds to the repressor protein.
C)When the repressor protein binds to the operator region.
D)When allolactose binds to -galactosidase.
E)When the repressor protein binds to the promoter.
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Chapter 12: Microbial Biotechnology
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Sample Questions
Q1) What does the term "fermentation" refer to in an industrial microbiology setting?
A)The anaerobic growth of microbes.
B)The production of acids and alcohols.
C)The production of all fermentation-based products.
D)The mass culturing of microbes for the production of a valuable product.
E)A low energy yielding catabolic process.
Q2) Which primary fraction of plant biomass is used as feedstock for biofuels production?
A)disaccharides
B)cellulose
C)pectin
D)chitin
E)protein
Q3) What purposes may secondary metabolites serve? (Select all that apply)
A)Active ingredient in alcoholic beverages
B)Antibacterial agents
C)Antiviral agents
D)Cholesterol synthesis enhancing agents
E)Protein therapy for diabetics
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Chapter 13: Metabolism
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Sample Questions
Q1) ATP donates energy through: (Select all that apply)
A)Phosphate ester bond hydrolysis
B)Coupling with an endergonic reaction
C)Anhydride bond hydrolysis
D)Enzyme-mediated reactions
E)none is a correct choice
Q2) When does feedback inhibition of an enzyme occur?
A)If an end product of the pathway binds to the allosteric site of the enzyme.
B)If a competitive inhibitor binds to the active site of the enzyme.
C)If the coenzyme fails to bind to the active site of the enzyme.
D)If an end product of the pathway binds to the active site of the enzyme.
E)If a noncompetitive inhibitor binds to the active site of the enzyme.
Q3) (Glutamic acid + NH )is converted to glutamine G ' = +14.2 kJ/mole.Coupling this reaction with ATP hydrolysis yields an overall free energy value of:
A)16.3 kJ/mole
B)-16.3 kJ/mole
C)44.7 kJ/mole
D)-44.7 kJ/mole
E)-314 kJ/mole
Q4) The photosynthetic membranes in cyanobacteria are called __________ membranes.
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Chapter 14: Biogeochemical Cycles
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Q1) Which carbon reservoir is most actively cycled?
A)the atmosphere
B)ocean waters
C)underground limestone
D)forest mulch
E)ocean sediments
Q2) The anaerobic oxidation of methane by some archaeons may occur syntrophically with these organisms.
A)nitrogen fixing bacteria
B)nitrifying bacteria
C)denitrifying bacteria
D)iron-oxidizing bacteria
E)sulfate-reducing bacteria
Q3) Which of these would occur in an "ideal" food web?
A)Organic carbon production > carbon dioxide production.
B)Organic carbon production < carbon dioxide production.
C)Organic carbon production = carbon dioxide consumption.
D)Carbon dioxide consumption < than organic carbon production.
E)Carbon dioxide consumption > organic carbon production.
Q4) An interacting community of interdependent organisms is called a/an _________.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Microbial Ecosystems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these represents MOST of the ocean's biomass?
A)fish
B)sea mammals
C)fish and sea mammals
D)marine plants
E)microbes
Q2) Microbes are able to generate energy through the:
A)oxidation of organic compounds only.
B)reduction of organic compounds only.
C)oxidation of inorganic and organic compounds.
D)reduction of inorganic and organic compounds.
E)synthesis of ATP.
Q3) Which of these technologies gives direct sequence information?
A)RNA-SIP
B)Metagenomics
C)DDGE
D)FISH
E)T-RFLP scanning
Q4) The use of living organisms to clean up chemically contaminated soils is called
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Chapter 16: The Microbiology of Food and Water
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Q1) All of the following are processes that may be used in the treatment of drinking water except
A)filtration.
B)activated sludge digestion.
C)flocculation.
D)chlorination.
E)sedimentation.
Q2) Lyophilization is
A)the acidification of food for long term storage.
B)a type of canning technique.
C)sun-dried food.
D)freeze-drying of food.
E)salting of food for storage.
Q3) A person eats some leftover potato salad from a picnic and becomes ill within three hours.This type of food poisoning is referred to as a "food-infection".
A)True
B)False
Q4) The bacterium that gives Swiss cheese its characteristic flavor and holes is in the genus ____________.
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Chapter 17: Microbial Symbionts
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Q1) In which of the following animals would you expect to find the longest ratio of small intestine to large intestine?
A)Antelope
B)Hawk
C)Finch
D)Buffalo
E)All would be of equal relative length
Q2) An example of a rumen fermenter is the:
A)horse
B)koala
C)sheep
D)rabbit
E)human
Q3) Which of these is characteristic of the nitrogenase enzyme?
A)It is found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
B)It converts dinitrogen to nitrate.
C)It requires hydrogen gas for activity.
D)It is irreversibly inactivated by oxygen.
E)It is found in all plant symbionts.
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Chapter 18: Introduction to Infectious Diseases
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Q1) Examine Table 18.1 in the text.Which symptom or sign would be LEAST definitive in diagnosing one of the diseases listed?
A)anemia
B)Fever
C)Decreased CD4<sup>+</sup> cell count
D)diarrhea
E)All are equally diagnostically significant
Q2) Which of these is an example of a common-source epidemic?
A)A single case of H1N1 influenza is reported in a small town.
B)A prison has a higher rate of tuberculosis than is typical.
C)A number of children show up at school with measles.
D)Several cases of food poisoning from a wedding.
E)A local hospital sees cases of several different "staph" infections in a week
Q3) Pathogens that have the ability to change their surface antigens are better able to do which of the following?
A)acquire nutrients
B)evade host defenses
C)attach to host cells
D)exit the host successfully
E)enter host cells
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Chapter 19: Innate Host Defenses Against Microbial Invasion
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Q1) Which of these complement proteins possesses polymerization initiation function?
A)C1
B)C5
C)C6
D)C8
E)C9
Q2) What is the term for small proinflammatory protein molecules that are secreted by various cells to signal other cells of the immune system?
A)lactoferrins
B)cytokines
C)immunogens
D)antigens
E)defensins.
Q3) A component often added to vaccines to stimulate the immune response to pathogen components in the vaccine is called a/an _____________
Q4) Insects are able to produce antimicrobial peptides to protect themselves from some pathogens.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Adaptive Immunity
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Q1) Which of these cytokines assist in differentiation of TS1U1B1HS1U1B01 cells? (Select all that apply)
A)IL-4
B)Il-12
C)IL-10
D)IL-18
E)TNFS1U1B1?S1U1B0
Q2) CD4 T cells can be activated by binding soluble antigen.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Immunoglobulin G (IgG)is able to bind __________ antigen(s).
A)one
B)two
C)three
D)four
E)six
Q4) The cytokine _________________ functions as a growth factor for T cells by promoting cell division.
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Chapter 21: Virulence Factors and Pathogenic Mechanisms of
Bacterial Infections
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Q1) Lipoteichoic acids are associated with which of these bacteria?
A)Staphylococcus aureus
B)Escherichia coli
C)Shigella sonnei
D)Klebsiella pneumoniae
E)Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Q2) Corynebacterium phage promotes its host's (and own)survival:
A)Increasing transcription of human genes
B)Increasing available iron for bacterial use by killing human cells
C)Increasing available iron for human use by killing bacterial cells
D)Inhibiting transcription of bacterial genes
E)Possessing genes encoding siderophores
Q3) What directly causes the damage during an active Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection?
A)A potent cytolysin that targets alveolar macrophages.
B)A cell-mediated inflammatory response.
C)A cytolysin that destroys lung tissue.
D)Growth of the bacterium in macrophages.
E)An exotoxin that enters into the bloodstream and targets heart muscle.
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Q4) Exotoxins that act specifically on the intestine are called __________________.
Chapter 22: Viral Pathogenesis
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Q1) Which of these causes the common "cold sore"?
A)HSV-1
B)varicella zoster virus
C)roseola virus
D)HHV-8
E)HSV-2
Q2) Which of the following processes does NOT contribute to virus evolution?
A)point mutations
B)recombination
C)transformation
D)reassortment
E)spontaneous mutations
Q3) The transmission of a virus from mother to fetus is referred to as ___________ transmission.
Q4) Evolution of viruses by reassortment causes dramatic changes to the virus.This is referred to as __________ __________.
Q5) Viral infections are always acute and cause extensive damage to host cells.
A)True
B)False
Q6) A viral infection of short duration is referred to as a(n)________ infection.
Page 24
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Chapter 23: Eukaryal Microbe Pathogenesis
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Q1) Which of these is used in the most reliable test for the diagnosis of malaria in an individual?
A)An ELISA-based test of a serum sample.
B)Microscopic examination of a stained blood smear.
C)A biopsy of liver tissue.
D)Antibody-coated latex beads to test a blood sample.
E)Tissue culture techniques for growth of the pathogen from a blood sample.
Q2) A species which uses HC toxin as a virulence factor is:
A)Alexandrium minutum
B)Acartia tonsa
C)Amanita phalloides
D)Cochliobolus carbonum
E)Trypanosoma brucei
Q3) The parasite which is less likely to infect -amanitin-resistant fruit fly species is:
A)D)falleni
B)D)recens
C)H)aoronymphium
D)B)dendrobatidis
E)X)laevis
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Chapter 24: Control of Infectious Diseases
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Q1) The reason for the severe side effects seen with the first pertussis vaccine was:
A)incorrect strains of B.pertussis were used
B)too much adjuvant was added
C)incorrect types of adjuvant were added
D)the virus was a live attenuated vaccine,and it replicated within the host
E)the microbial preparation was poorly prepared
Q2) Many aminoglycosides are toxic to humans because they:
A)interfere with lipid synthesis in human cells.
B)disrupt kidney function.
C)interfere with protein synthesis in human cells.
D)cause the heart to beat abnormally.
E)block DNA replication in human cells.
Q3) Which vaccines are CDC-recommended for adults over 65 years of age? (Select all that apply)
A)Influenza
B)Polio
C)MMR
D)Varicella
E)Pneumococcal
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