Read the summary and the most important questions on Brock Biology of Microorganisms, Global Edition | 9781292235103 | Michael T. Madigan; Kelly S. Bender; Daniel H. Buckley; W. Matthew Sattley; David A. Stahl

• 1 The Microbial World

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• What is a microorganism?

  A microorganism is a microscopic organism consisting of a single cell, a cell cluster, or a virus.

• What are the two general themes in microbiology, and what is their study?

  There are two general themes in microbiology:
  

  • A fundamental biological science; yields models for understanding the nature of life
    
  • An applied biological science; deals with problems in medicine, agriculture and industry
    

• What is the distance range in microbiology?

  In Microbiology distances range from (macro)molecules (10^-9 m) to cells (10^-5 m).

• What is the aseptic technique?

  The aseptic technique is a collection of practices that allow for the preparation and maintenance of sterile nutrient media and solutions. This is needed for the isolation and maintenance of pure cultures of bacteria. 

• What are pure cultures?

  Pure cultures are those that contain cells form only a single type of microorganism and are a great value for the study of microorganisms.

• What are enrichment culture techniques?

  Enrichment culture techniques allow for the isolation from nature of microbes having particular metabolic characteristics.

• 1.1 Microorganisms, Tiny Titans of the Earth

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• In what ways are microorganisms important to humans?

  Microorganisms represent a major fraction of Earth's biomass, and their activities are essential to sustaining life. Microorganisms are woven into the fabric of human life as well, from infectious diseases, to the food we eat, the water we drink, the fertility of our soils, the health of our animals and even the fuel we put in automobile.

• Why are microbial cells useful for understanding the basis of life?

  Most discoveries relating to the molecular and biochemical basis of life have been made using microorganisms. The study of molecules and their interactions is essential to defining the workings of microbial cells, and the tools of molecular biology and biochemistry are foundational to microbiology.

• What is a microbial colony and how is one formed?

  A single microbial cell placed on a solid nutrient medium can grow and divide into millions of cells that form a visible colony.

• 1.2 Structure and Activities of Microbial Cells

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• What structures are universal to all type of cells?

  All cells have much in common and contain many of the same components:
  

  • Cytoplasmic cell membrane; Barrier that separates the inside of the cell from the outside environment
  • Cytoplasm; Aqueous mixture of macromolecules, ions, and ribosomes
  • Ribosomes; Protein-synthesizing structures
  • Cell wall; Present in most microbes; confers structural strength