In preparation for the first exam, you should answer the following objectives.  This is not meant to be a complete list of material required for the first exam.

Discuss the contributions of scientists in the early days of microbiology.

Describe the contributions (observation) made in disproving spontaneous generation and how the theory of spontaneous generation was finally disproved.

Describe the contributions (observation) made in proving the germ theory of disease.

Compare biogenesis and spontaneous generation.

List Koch's Postulates and discuss the problems that may be encountered when using them to determine the cause of a disease.

Discuss the factors involved in the decreased mortality associated with infectious diseases in developed countries.

Define the following terms, refraction, reflection, fluorescence, resolution, focal point, and focal length.

Explain why immersion oil is needed in light microscopy.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various microscopes.

Explain why electron microscopes have greater magnification than light microscopes.

Describe methods used to fix specimens for staining for bacteria.

Define chromophore.

Compare basic dyes to acid dyes.

Define simple, differential, and structural stains.

Describe the uses, principles, procedures, and results of the following stains: Gram stain, acid fast stain, capsule stain, spore stain, and flagella stain.

Compare and contrast the structures of procaryote and eucaryote cells (cell membranes, cell walls, plasmids, organelles, etc.).

Discuss how the Gram stain is able to differentiate bacteria.

Describe the various morphologies of bacterial cells.

Describe the various orientations flagella have on bacterial cells (monotrichous, amphitrichous, etc.).

Define chemotaxis.

Define the terms used to describe the nutritional requirements of microorganisms (e.g., autotrophs, heterotrophs, etc.).

Explain how bacteria acquire iron from their environment.

Compare and contrast passive diffusion, facilitated diffusion, active transport, and  group translocation.

Define permease.

Define colony forming unit.

Discuss the movement of water and solutes across a semi-permeable membrane in hypo- and hypertonic solutions.

Describe the nutritional types of microorganisms based on carbon source, energy source, and electron source.

Compare the uses of broth and agar media.

Name the ingredient often used to solidify culture media.

Define the different types of media (e.g., complex, selective, etc,),

Define the four stages of a bacterial growth curve.

Define mean growth rate constant and generation time.

Explain the relationship between mean growth rate constant and generation time.

Describe the methods available for determining cell numbers and mass, and be able to identify those methods that count all cells and those that count only live cells.

Given data from a bacterial plating assay, calculate the number of colony forming units in the original sample.

Discuss how chemostats and turbidostats maintain bacterial populations in the log phase of growth.

Define the terms relating to environmental factors and  growth (e.g., water activity, osmotic pressure, extremophiles, halophiles, acidophiles, mesophiles, facultative anaerobes, etc.).

Explain the relationship between water activity and osmotic pressure.

Define what can happen when living cells are placed in hypertonic or hypotonic solutions.

Define plasmalysis.

Explain how bacteria change their plasma membrane to compensate for changes in temperature.

Describe how DNA sequences are different in bacteria with different optimal temperatures.

Explain why the enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) are important for bacterial survival.

Explain how anaerobic bacteria can be grown in the laboratory.

Define viable but nonculturable bacteria, and describe how they can be detected.

Explain the relationship between free energy, equilibration constants (Keq), exergonic reactions, and endergonic reactions.

Discuss what happens to the reactants and products during oxidation-reduction reactions (i.e. oxidant and reductant).

Identify reductants and oxidants in oxidation-reduction reactions.

Given the reduction potential of redox couples, indicate the order electrons will move.

Describe the important characteristics of enzymes, including what determines their specificity.

Define metabolism, catabolism, and anabolism.

In the metabolic pathways presented in class, describe the starting molecule, the number of ATP and NADH molecules generated, and the end-product.

Describe the chemiosmosis theory that explains how oxidation and phosphorylation occur during the electron transport system.

Compare aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration.

Describe fermentation.

Define photosynthesis and explain the role of CO2, water, and oxygen.

Explainthe role of antenna structures in photosynthesis.

In photosynthesis, compare photosystem I to photosystem II.

Explain the movements of electrons from water to NADPH during photosynthesis.

Compare photosynthesis in cyanobacteria to green and purple bacteria.

Discuss the difference between green and purple bacteria and cyanobacteria that makes green and purple bacteria anoxogenic.

Describe the Calvin cycle and anapleurotic reactions.

List the subunits of proteins, polysaccharides, nucleotides, and simple lipids.

Discuss methods bacteria use to store nutrients.

Describe the experiments that helped to prove that DNA was the genetic material.

Describe the structure of nucleic acids.

Compare the genomes of procaryotes and eucaryotes.

Explain the following types of DNA replication: bidirectional and rolling circle.

Describe the mechanism of DNA replication (synthesis) including the enzymes that are involved.

Discuss the function of DNA polymerase.

Compare continuous and discontinuous DNA replication.

Explain why DNA replication is semi-conserved.

Discuss codons.

Describe the structure of genes and mRNA (e.g., promoter, leader, sense strand, etc.).

Define the following terms: open reading frame, genome, genotype, phenotype, haploid, diploid and clone.

Discuss the "Central Dogma."

Define operons and discuss their advantages in bacteria.

Define Genomics and protoemics

Compare spontaneous mutations to induced mutations.

Compare constitutive mutations to hypermutations.

Explain how hypermutations can favor bacterial survival.

Discuss the following types of mutations: forward, reversion, back, suppressor, point, silent, missense, neutral, nonsense, and frame shift.

Describe the methods used to detect bacterial mutations.

Describe the methods to select for bacterial mutants.

Describe the Ames test for determining mutagenicity.

Define mutagen and carcinogen.

Describe the following DNA repair mechanisms: excision, photoreactivation, mismatch repair system, and recombination repair.

Describe transcription, including initiation, elongation, termination, regulation, and the proteins involved.

Compare negative to positive control of transcription regulation

Compare transcription in procaryotes to eucaryotes.

Describe what occurs during posttranscriptional modification of hnRNA.

Describe translation including role of tRNA and ribosomes, elongation, and termination.

Discuss post-translational modification.

Compare and contrast general and site-specific recombination.

Identify three methods of gene transfer in bacteria.

Describe plasmids and their role in increasing drug resistance of bacteria.

Describe transposable elements.

Define composite transposons.

Describe bacterial conjugation.

Discuss the experiments that helped to characterize bacterial conjugation.

Describe the following; F factor, Hfr, and F', and describe the results of F+ x F-, Hfr x F-, and F' x F- crosses.

Define bacterial transformation.

Compare and contrast generalized and specialized transduction.

Discuss the applications of recombinant DNA technology.

Define transgenic animals.