Flashcards: Microbiology

Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site.

Methanogens are microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in anoxic conditions.

Nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrite followed by the oxidation of the nitrite to nitrate.

A Petri dish (sometimes spelled "Petrie dish" and alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish), named after the German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, is a shallow cylindrical glass or plastic lidded dish that biologists use to culture cells – such as bacteria – or small mosses.

A biofilm is any group of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often these cells adhere to a surface.

Gram staining, also called Gram's method, is a method of staining used to differentiate bacterial species into two large groups (gram-positive and gram-negative).

The human microbiota is the aggregate of microorganisms, a microbiome that resides on or within a number of tissues and biofluids, including the skin, mammary glands, placenta, seminal fluid, uterus, ovarian follicles, lung, saliva, oral mucosa, conjunctiva, and gastrointestinal tracts.

Penicillin (PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics which include penicillin G (intravenous use), penicillin V (oral use), procaine penicillin, and benzathine penicillin (intramuscular use).

A superinfection is generally defined as a second infection superimposed on an earlier one, especially by a different microbial agent of exogenous or endogenous origin, that is resistant to the treatment being used against the first infection.

Nitrogen fixation is a process in which nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH3).

Putrefaction is the fifth stage of death, following pallor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis, and livor mortis.

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth.

Sterilization (or sterilisation) referring to any process that eliminates (removes) or kills (deactivates) all forms of life and other biological agents (such as prions, as well as viruses which some do not consider to be alive but are biological pathogens nonetheless), including transmissible agents (such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, prions, spore forms, unicellular eukaryotic organisms such as Plasmodium, etc.) present in a specified region, such as a surface, a volume of fluid, medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media.

Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms.

Basophilia is a condition where the basophil quantity is abnormally elevated (more than 1010 basophils per liter of blood).

A neutrophile is an organism that thrives in neutral pH environments.

A nanobe is a tiny filamental structure first found in some rocks and sediments.

Food microbiology is the study of the microorganisms that inhabit, create, or contaminate food, including the study of microorganisms causing food spoilage.

Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) is an international European scientific organization, formed by the union of a number of national organizations; there are now 53 members from 36 European countries, regular and provisional.

In molecular biology, pertactin (PRN) is a highly immunogenic virulence factor of Bordetella pertussis, the bacterium that causes pertussis.

In microbiology, pleomorphism (from greek πλέω- more, and -μορφή form) is the ability of some bacteria to alter their shape or size in response to environmental conditions.

'The All-Species Living Tree' Project is a collaboration between various academic groups/institutes, such as ARB, SILVA rRNA database project, and LPSN, with the aim of assembling a database of 16S rRNA sequences of all validly published species of Bacteria and Archaea.

Medical microbiology is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.