MCB 3020 Exam ONE Study Guide (Partial List)
1. What is the role of microbes in maintain temperature on earth? (Role of microbes in CO2 and
CH4 recycling)
CO2 and methane gas are greenhouse gases, they control temp by
...
MCB 3020 Exam ONE Study Guide (Partial List)
1. What is the role of microbes in maintain temperature on earth? (Role of microbes in CO2 and
CH4 recycling)
CO2 and methane gas are greenhouse gases, they control temp by trapping infrared from the sun.
this is completed through manipulating carbon dioxide and methane level. Humans are
potentially causing a tilt where too much CO2 and especially CH4 are being trapped in the
atmosphere
2. List the top three cause of death in the US. How role of microbes has changed over the last
100 years
Heart disease, cancer, stroke. Dramatic decrease in the role of infectious diseases due to the
discovery of antibiotics, vaccines, and improved public health efforts like sewage treatment and
sanitation. (Clean Water Act)
3. List the major contributions to the science of microbiology discussed in slide 3
Germ theory of disease, microscope, antibiotics, Koch’s postulates, genetic transformation and
the discovery of the structure of DNA.
4. List and explain the impact of microbes on the environment (slide 4)
Can change organics into methane (CH4) into CO2 and vice versa
Can affect climate by production/use of CO2, N2, O2, CH4
Can take nitrogen gas and convert to ammonia, then into organics and vice versa
They convert organics to inorganics, like a tree being broken into small molecules for future
plants to use, recyclers.
Decomposition or biodegradation results in the breakdown of complex organic materials to
forms of carbon that can be used by other organisms. There is no naturally-occurring organic
compound that cannot be degraded by some microbe
Nitrogen fixation is a process found only in some bacteria which removes N2 from the
atmosphere and converts it to ammonia (NH3), for use by plants and animals.
Oxygenic photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae and cyanobacteria. It is the type of
photosynthesis that results in the production of O2 in the atmosphere. At least 50 percent of the
O2 on earth is produced by photosynthetic microorganisms
5. Define cell, microbe, and list hallmarks of cell. What is the status of Prions, virions, and
viruses?
Microbes are organisms too small to be seen clearly by the naked eye and lack differentiated
cells and distinct tissues. A cell is the smallest structural and functional unit of an organism,
typically microscopic and consisting of cytoplasm and a nucleus enclosed in a membrane.
Hallmarks of cells are having a cell membrane, genetic material, self replication, regulation,
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