| A | B |
|---|
| transmission electron microscope (TEM) | a microscope that can magnify 50 million times |
| scanning tunneling microscope | a microscope that can magnify 500 million times |
| methylene blue | example of a simple stain |
| Gram stain | example of a differential stain |
| the stain color that Gram-positive bacteria take | purple/blue |
| the stain color that Gram-negative bacteria take | red/pink |
| endospore | a tough structure that protects a dormant bacterium and allows it to become freely living once the external conditions become suitable for life |
| culturing | providing conditions that enable growth of microbes (or any type of cell, tissue, or organ) |
| broth culture | a liquid that contains the nutrients the microbe needs. |
| agar culture | a solid culture that contains the nutrients the microbe needs |
| inoculate | the term used to describe adding a sample of bacteria to a culture medium |
| incubator | a machine that maintains a constant temperature ideal for culturing samples of bacteria |
| extremophiles | organisms that live is especially harsh conditions, such as very high temperature water, very acidic solutions, high concentrations of salt, etc |
| peptidoglycan | a chemical present in the cell wall of bacteria but not in the cell wall of archaea |
| thermophiles | archaea that thrive in very high temperature environments |
| halophiles | archaea that thrive in very salty environments |
| acidophiles | archaea that thrive in very acidic environments |
| methanogens | archaea that live in low oxygen environements like swamps and lake bottoms that produce methane gas |
| binary fission | a process in which the mother cells divides into two daughter cells that are genetically alike |
| normal flora | the term given to the microbes that live on or inside a healthy human body |
| coccus | the name given to bacteria that are shaped liked spheres |
| bacillus | the name given to bacteria that are shaped like rods |
| spirillum | the name given to bacteria that are shaped like spirals |
| cyanobacteria | a type of photosynthetic bacteria |
| obligate aerobes | organisms that must have oxygen in order to survive |
| obligate anaerobes | organisms that cannot survive for long in the presence of oxygen |
| facultative anaerobes | organisms that can perform aerobic respiration but can switch to fermentation when little of no oxygen is present |
| serology | the study of blood serum and immune responses |
| strain | a subtype of organism within the species grouping, sometimes called a serotype |
| proteobacteria | a grouping of gram-negative bacteria that have a prostheca and are important in nitrogen fixation |
| nitrogen fixation | the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a nitrogen-containing molecules that organisms can use |
| Rhizobium | a genus of alphaproteobacteria associated with the roots of legumes that convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia |
| Nitrobacter | a genus of alphaproteobacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite |
| Nitrosomas | a genus of betaproteobacteria that convert nitrite into nitrate which plants can use |
| firmicutes | a group of gram-positive bacteria that have a low amount of cytosine and guanine in their DNA |
| actinobacteria | a group of gram-positive bacteria that have a high amount of cytosine and guanine in their DNA |
| virion | the name given to an individual virus particle (one virus) |
| capsid | the protein coat of a virus |
| envelope | a coating that covers the capsid of some viruses |
| bacteriphage | a virus that invades bacteria and take over their genetic material |
| lytic cycle | reproduction of viruses using the host cell's biomachinery, resulting in lysis of the host cell to release the virions |
| lysogenic cycle | viral nucleic acid is inserted into the host genome and replicates as the host replicates, sometimes called a temperate infection |
| viroid | an infectious agent made out of RNA alone (no protein coat) |
| prion | an infectious agent made only of protein |
