Deck 1: A Brief History of Microbiology

Question 1

Pasteurʹs experiments on fermentation laid the foundation for

A) immunology.
B) abiogenesis.
C) antisepsis.
D) industrial microbiology.
E) epidemiology.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The microbes commonly known as are single-celled eukaryotes that are generally motile.

A) protozoa
B) bacteria
C) viruses
D) archaea
E) fungi

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements about fungi is INCORRECT?

A) Molds are multicellular.
B) Fungi have a cell wall.
C) Fungi are photosynthetic.
D) Yeasts are unicellular.
E) Fungi are eukaryotes.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of protozoa?

A) They are all photosynthetic.
B) Most exhibit asexual reproduction.
C) They frequently possess cilia or flagella.
D) They are single-celled organisms.
E) They are eukaryotic organisms.

Question 5

Which of the following microbes are likely to be the swiftly moving ʺanimalculesʺ observed by Leeuwenhoek in pond water?

A) fungi
B) protozoa
C) viruses
D) fungi and algae
E) algae

Question 6

Microorganisms characterized by the absence of a nucleus are called

A) eukaryotes.
B) viruses.
C) pathogens.
D) fungi.
E) prokaryotes.

Question 7

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was the first person in history to

A) use a magnifying glass.
B) use the germ theory of disease.
C) disprove spontaneous generation.
D) develop a taxonomic system.
E) view microorganisms and record these observations.

Question 8

Which of the following questions largely stimulated the research of microbes during what is known as the Golden Age of Microbiology?

A) How should living organisms be classified?
B) How do genes work?
C) How are microbes related?
D) What causes disease, and is spontaneous generation of microbes possible?
E) How can microorganisms be seen?

Question 9

A tiny (less than 2 micrometers) new organism is discovered living in a boiling hot ʺmud potʺ (a type of mud spring). It is most likely a member of the

A) protozoa.
B) algae.
C) viruses.
D) archaea.
E) fungi.

Question 10

Parasitic worms, even meters-long tapeworms, are studied in microbiology because

A) the Gram stain can be used to identify them.
B) they are parasites.
C) no one else wants to study them.
D) diagnosis usually involves microscopic examination of patient samples.
E) Leeuwenhoek first discovered them.

Question 11

Aristotle was an early natural philosopher who formulated the

A) theory of spontaneous generation (abiogenesis).
B) scientific method.
C) germ theory of disease.
D) theory of ʺmagic bullets.ʺ
E) theory of natural selection.

Question 12

What is the correct order for the steps in the scientific method?

A) I, II, III, IV
B) I, III, II, IV
C) IV, III, II, I
D) II, I, III, IV
E) There is no specific order required.

Question 13

Louis Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation to produce alcohol is caused by

A) facultative anaerobes.
B) archaea.
C) prokaryotes.
D) aerobes.
E) obligate parasites.

Question 14

Which of the following is an INCORRECT pairing?

A) viruses; acellular parasites
B) fungi; cell walls
C) prokaryotes; no nuclei
D) protozoa; multicellular
E) algae; aquatic and marine habitats

Question 15

What must one have before designing and conducting experiments?

A) a theory
B) popular opinion
C) a hypothesis
D) a complete set of data
E) scientific law

Question 16

Which of the following was NOT an aspect of Pasteurʹs experiments to disprove spontaneous generation?

A) He boiled the infusions to kill any microbes present.
B) The necks of the flasks he used were bent into an S-shape.
C) The flasks he used were sealed with corks.
D) The flasks were free of microbes until they were opened.
E) The flasks were incubated for very long periods of time.

Question 17

Who among the following may be considered the Father of Microbiology in part because of his careful application of the scientific method to many problems in microbiology?

A) Edward Jenner
B) Robert Koch
C) Eduard Buchner
D) Louis Pasteur
E) Lazzaro Spallanzani

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT an observation Pasteur made concerning the fermentation of grape juice?

A) Yeast can grow in sealed or open flasks of grape juice.
B) Yeast can grow with or without oxygen.
C) Pasteurization kills yeast to prevent spoilage of grape juice.
D) Yeast cells can grow and reproduce in grape juice.
E) Some bacteria may produce acid in grape juice.

Question 19

Which of the following scientists provided evidence in favor of the concept of spontaneous generation?

A) Needham
B) Pasteur
C) Redi
D) Buchner
E) Spallanzani

Question 20

Which of the following is an accurate description of viruses?

A) They are visible with a light microscope.
B) They are acellular obligatory parasites.
C) They are typically about the size of prokaryotic cells.
D) They are the smallest known cells.
E) They are composed of protein only.

Question 21

Whose search for chemicals that would kill microbes without harming humans was the foundation for chemotherapy?

A) Gram
B) Pasteur
C) Lister
D) Koch
E) Ehrlich

Question 22

Which of the following statements concerning Kochʹs postulates is FALSE?

A) The suspected pathogen may not be present in all cases of the disease being studied.
B) Kochʹs postulates cannot be used to demonstrate the cause of all diseases.
C) Kochʹs postulates involve the experimental infection of susceptible hosts.
D) All of Kochʹs postulates must be satisfied before an organism can be shown to cause a particular disease.
E) A suspected pathogen must be able to be grown in the laboratory.

Question 23

Paul Ehrlich used chemotherapy to treat

A) cholera.
B) syphilis.
C) cancer.
D) anthrax.
E) smallpox.

Question 24

What is the correct order for the application of Kochʹs postulates?

A) III, II, I, IV
B) IV, I, III, II
C) III, I, IV, II
D) I, II, III, IV
E) IV, I, II, III

Question 25

Edward Jennerʹs efforts to prevent smallpox provided the foundation for the field of

A) chemotherapy.
B) etiology.
C) epidemiology.
D) molecular biology.
E) immunology.

Question 26

What was the first disease shown to be bacterial in origin?

A) malaria
B) yellow fever
C) cholera
D) anthrax
E) tuberculosis

Question 27

Who discovered penicillin?

A) Pasteur
B) Ehrlich
C) Fleming
D) Domagk
E) Kitasato

Question 28

According to Kluyver and van Niel, which of the following are TRUE of basic biochemical reactions?

A) They primarily involve the transfer of electrons and ions.
B) Basic biochemical reactions shared by all living things primarily involve transfer of electrons and hydrogen ions.
C) There are an unlimited number of them.
D) They primarily involve transfers of chemical groups.
E) They are shared by all living things.

Question 29

Identification of bacteria in the laboratory usually begins with the for placement in one of two large groups of bacteria.

A) Ehrlich magic test
B) Kochʹs stain
C) Petri stain
D) Gram stain
E) Pasteur fermentation test

Question 30

Semmelweis advocated hand washing as a method of preventing which of the following diseases?

A) smallpox
B) cholera
C) anthrax
D) syphilis
E) puerperal fever

Question 31

All of the following were involved in developing the germ theory of disease EXCEPT

A) Pasteur.
B) Pauling.
C) Koch.
D) Snow.
E) Fracastoro.

Question 32

What scientist first hypothesized that gene sequences could provide new insights into evolutionary relationships among all organisms (including microbes)?

A) Avery
B) Kluyver
C) Ehrlich
D) Woese
E) Pauling

Question 33

The study of the occurrence, distribution, and spread of disease is known as

A) biotechnology.
B) epidemiology.
C) biochemistry.
D) immunology.
E) serology.

Question 34

The first true vaccine protected against disease caused by a(n) pathogen.

A) bacterial
B) archaeal
C) fungal
D) viral
E) protozoal

Question 35

John Snowʹs research during a cholera outbreak in London laid the foundation for which of the following branches of microbiology?

A) infection control, epidemiology, and immunology
B) both infection control and epidemiology
C) epidemiology only
D) immunology only
E) infection control only

Question 36

The work of Lister, Nightingale, and Semmelweis all contributed to controlling infectious disease by

A) determining the taxonomic relationships among microbes.
B) developing techniques for isolating pathogens.
C) developing methods for reducing health care associated infections (HAI).
D) identifying the sources of infectious agents.
E) developing vaccines.

Question 37

Who demonstrated that fermentation could occur in the absence of intact cells?

A) Woese
B) Koch
C) Pasteur
D) Buchner
E) Lister

Question 38

Which of the following individuals pioneered the use of chemicals to reduce the incidence of infections during surgery?

A) Semmelweis
B) Nightingale
C) Ehrlich
D) Snow
E) Lister

Question 39

The term that literally means ʺagainst putrefactionʺ is

A) prokaryote.
B) abiogenesis.
C) chemotherapy.
D) recombinant technology.
E) antisepsis.

Question 40

Robert Kochʹs contributions to the foundations of modern microbiology include

A) demonstrating that hand washing can reduce the spread of disease.
B) developing methods for isolation and identification of bacteria.
C) demonstrating the role of microbes in fermentation.
D) demonstrating certain chemicals are toxic to bacteria but not humans.
E) providing evidence for rejecting the theory of spontaneous generation.

Question 41

A cell that contains a nucleus is called a(n) (prokaryotic/archaeal/eukaryotic) cell.

Question 42

The amateur scientist (Koch/Leeuwenhoek/Pasteur) made his own microscopes and first reported the existence of microbes.

Question 43

The term for the use of microorganisms to restore damaged environments is

A) bioremediation.
B) ecology.
C) serology.
D) epidemiology.
E) chemotherapy.

Question 44

Fermentation requires the presence of living cells.

Question 45

The (alga/fungi/protozoa) are non -motile eukaryotes with cell walls that are not photosynthetic and may be multicellular.

Question 46

The production of wine from grape juice is the result of (metabolism/fermentation/abiogenesis).

Question 47

Recent estimates of the number of microbes on the planet have expanded almost exponentially, but the number of microorganisms isolated in the lab has not increased at the same rate. How can microbiologists justify the higher estimates if they cannot isolate and grow the microbes in the lab?

A) The huge numbers of diseases without apparent causative agents indicate there are large numbers of unidentified pathogens.
B) Detection of novel enzymes indicates the existence of unidentified microbes.
C) Previous estimates of the abundance of microbes cannot account for the detectable biomass in most environments.
D) New technologies make it possible to detect the nucleic acid sequences of previously unknown organisms.
E) Much more powerful microscopes have made it possible to observe and identify huge numbers of microbes that cannot be isolated.

Question 48

Inserting a gene from the hepatitis B virus into yeast so that the yeast produces a viral protein is an example of

A) microbial genetics.
B) etiology.
C) immunology.
D) gene therapy.
E) genetic engineering.

Question 49

The control of infectious disease remains challenging a century after the understanding of infectious disease began. What contributes to the continuing challenge?

A) emerging diseases
B) rapidly growing estimates of the diversity of microbes
C) creating microbes using recombinant DNA technology
D) both drug-resistant pathogens and emerging diseases
E) developing resistance to antimicrobial agents

Question 50

Christian Gram devised a staining technique that divides all bacteria into two groups.

Question 51

Work by laid the foundations of the field of environmental microbiology.

A) Lister and Semmelweis
B) Beijerinck and Winogradsky
C) Koch and Pasteur
D) Redi and Spallanzani
E) Pauling and Woese

Question 52

Gene therapy is a modern approach to preventing infectious disease.

Question 53

Microbiologists study only single-celled organisms.

Question 54

Kochʹs postulates can be used only to determine the causes of infectious diseases.

Question 55

The term involves the study of the blood components that fight infection.

A) bioremediation
B) antisepsis
C) chemotherapy
D) serology
E) etiology

Question 56

A microbe with a cell wall and no internal membrane enclosing the DNA is a prokaryote.)

Question 57

Louis Pasteur is considered the Father of Microbiology because of the many carefully conducted experiments and observations he made with microbes.

Question 58

Lazzaro Spallanzani was the first scientist to provide evidence disproving the spontaneous generation of microorganisms.

Question 59

Joseph Lister reduced the incidence of wound infections in health care settings by using chlorinated lime water.

Question 60

Chemotherapy is the application of weakened pathogens to prevent disease.

Question 61

The development of molecular biology has made possible the application of (genome sequencing/gene sequences/gene sequencing) to provide a better understanding of the relationships between organisms.

Question 62

You are a young scientist who has just learned about one of the hot topics in microbiology, biofilms. One aspect of the interest in biofilms is that the microbes living within biofilms appear to behave and function differently from their counterparts not living in a biofilm. Devise a way to explore the idea. (Do not focus on the technical details of how this might be accomplished.)

Question 63

Microbes that cause infectious disease are called (pathogens/germs/viruses).

Question 64

Research done in Robert Kochʹs laboratory laid the foundation for (epidemiology/immunology/etiology), the study of the bodyʹs defenses against disease.

Question 65

Explain how the discipline of biochemistry grew out of the science of microbiology.

Question 66

A (colony/habitat/biofilm) is a community of microbes growing on surfaces.

Question 67

Use the basic steps of the scientific method to describe Pasteurʹs experiments to investigate spontaneous generation.

Question 68

The work of (Buchner/Ehrlich/Pasteur/Winogradsky) is considered the foundation of the field of biochemistry.

Question 69

The use of chemicals to treat diseases such as bacterial infections is called (gene therapy/chemotherapy/serology).

Question 70

Biotechnology can be said to have ancient roots. Explain.

Question 71

A scientist conducts experiments to test a(n) (observation/hypothesis/theory).

Question 72

Organisms such as bacteria that can convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrate are often studied in (environmental/bioremediation/ecologic) microbiology.

Question 73

Ignaz Semmelweis demonstrated the importance of (antisepsis/vaccination/washing) as a means of preventing disease transmission.

Question 74

Spallanzaniʹs experiments contradicted the experiments of (Needham/Redi/Pasteur) on spontaneous generation.

Question 75

Recent news stories have reported on the ʺmicrobiomeʺ of the human body. The reports include statements about the abundance of the microbes in and on the human body (ʺThey outnumber our cells 10 to 1ʺ) and that most of these microbes are unknown to science. Discuss how microbiologists can have confidence in these apparently conflicting statements.