| A | B |
|---|
| virus | infectious particle made only of a strand of either DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat |
| pathogen | agent that causes disease |
| viroid | infectious particle made of single-stranded RNA without a protein coat, that almost always use plants as their host |
| prion | infectious agent that consists of a protein fragment that can cause other proteins to fold incorrectly |
| capsid | protein shell that surrounds a virus |
| bacteriophage | virus that infects bacteria |
| lytic infection | infectious pathway of a virus in which host cells are destroyed |
| lysogenic infection | infectious pathway of a virus in which host cells are not immediately destroyed |
| prophage | DNA of a bacteriophage inserted into a host cell's DNA |
| epidemic | rapid outbreak of a disease that affects many people |
| vaccine | substance that stimulates an immune response, producing acquired immunity without illness or infection |
| retrovirus | virus that contains RNA and uses the enzyme called reverse transcriptase to make a DNA copy |
| obligate anaerobe | prokaryote that cannot survive in the presence of oxygen |
| obligate aerobe | prokaryote that cannot survive without the presence of oxygen |
| facultative aerobe | organism that can live with or without oxygen |
| plasmid | circular piece or genetic material found in bacteria that can replicate separately from the DNA of the main chromosome |
| flagellum | whiplike structure outside of a cell that is used for movement (plural: flagella) |
| conjugation | process by which a prokaryote transfers part of its chromosome to another prokaryote |
| endospore | prokaryotic cell with a thick, protective wall surrounding its DNA |
| bioremediation | process by which humans use living things to break down pollutants |
| nitrogen fixation | process by which certain types of bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into nitrogen compounds |
| toxin | poison released by an organism |
| antibiotic | chemical that kills or slows the growth of bacteria |
| antibiotic resistance | process by which bacteria mutate so that they are no longer affected by an antibiotic |
