Deck 17: Microbial Taxonomy and the Evolution of Diversity

Question 1

The binomial system of nomenclature assigns each organism a scientific name consisting of

A) species and strain.
B) kingdom and species.
C) genus and species.
D) kingdom and genus.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Microbial species are collections of strains that share many stable properties in common but differ significantly from other strains.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Which of the following is useful in biological systematics?

A) physiology
B) epidemiology
C) ecology
D) all of the choices

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A population descending from a single organism or pure culture isolate is called a

A) genus.
B) species.
C) subspecies.
D) strain.

Question 5

The scientific study of organisms with the ultimate goal of characterizing and arranging them in an orderly manner is

A) taxonomy.
B) classification.
C) systematics.
D) identification.

Question 6

The assignment of names to taxonomic groups is referred to as

A) taxonomy.
B) nomenclature.
C) systematics.
D) identification.

Question 7

A classification system based on evolutionary relationships is called a __________ system.

A) phylogenetic
B) phenetic
C) systematic
D) determinative

Question 8

The type strain is a well-characterized strain to which other strains are compared for inclusion in or exclusion from a particular species.

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of the use of the binomial system devised by Linnaeus?

A) Escherichia coli
B) Enterobacteriaceae
C) Enterobacteriales
D) O157:H7

Question 10

A general term used to describe groups based on mutual similarity or evolutionary relatedness is

A) class.
B) taxa.
C) system.
D) group.

Question 11

The type strain is the most representative strain of a particular species.

Question 12

The arrangement of organisms into groups is best described as

A) taxonomy.
B) classification.
C) systematics.
D) identification.

Question 13

Microorganisms do not generally reproduce sexually; therefore, species are usually defined by phenotypic and genotypic similarities.

Question 14

The determination of the taxon to which an organism belongs is called

A) taxonomy.
B) classification.
C) systematics.
D) identification.

Question 15

The organisms in which of the following are more closely related?

A) order
B) family
C) class
D) phylum

Question 16

A classification system based on mutual similarity that involves comparing as many characteristics as possible is called a __________ system.

A) phylogenetic
B) phyletic
C) phenetic
D) determinative systematic

Question 17

In an approach called __________ taxonomy, relatedness is determined by a wide range of phenotypic and genotypic information.

Question 18

Bacterial strains that are characterized by biochemical differences are called __________.

Question 19

Serovars are strains of a species that have distinctive antigenic properties.

Question 20

The science dealing with classification is called

A) taxonomy.
B) nomenclature.
C) systematics.
D) identification.

Question 21

Small, random genetic changes that occur over generations is known as

A) microgenesis
B) progenesis
C) degenesis
D) anagenesis

Question 22

Chromosomal gene exchange is not useful in classification studies because prokaryotes do not reproduce sexually.

Question 23

An unrooted tree containing four unrelated species can become rooted by adding

A) a descendant group related to two of the species
B) an unrelated outgroup
C) a distantly related outgroup
D) a descendant related to only one of the species

Question 24

The _____________ hypothesis proposes that mitochondria and chloroplasts developed from free-living prokaryotes that invaded a precursor to the eukaryotes and established a stable relationship.

Question 25

Mole percent (G+C) of DNA is useful for determining relatedness at the __________ level.

A) kingdom
B) class
C) genus
D) none of the choices

Question 26

Conserved indels are

A) a type of transposable sequence characteristic of particular genus and useful for taxonomic analysis
B) sequences in eukaryotic mRNAs that are removed by RNA splicing
C) a type of signature sequence particularly useful for phylogenetic analysis
D) sequences of protein coding genes that are found altered in related species due to their tendency to accumulate small deletions

Question 27

The G + C content of a DNA sample can be estimated from its T_M of a DNA.

Question 28

The general order of classification below the domain or kingdom level is

A) phyla, order, class, family, genus, species.
B) phyla, order, family, class, genus, species.
C) phyla, class, family, order, genus, species.
D) phyla, class, order, family, genus, species.

Question 29

Bacterial strains that have distinct antigenic properties are called __________.

Question 30

Extensive horizontal gene transfer between domains greatly simplifies the construction of phylogenetic trees.

Question 31

rRNA signature sequences can be used to place microorganisms in the correct domain.

Question 32

Conjugation is useful for determining relatedness between bacteria at the species level because it never occurs between organisms of different genera.

Question 33

Phylogenetic trees show inferred evolutionary relationships in the form of multiple branching lineages connected by nodes.

Question 34

The analysis of genetic relatedness by observing the DNA fragmentation patterns resulting from restriction endonuclease cleavage is referred to as

A) genetic fingerprinting.
B) genetic patterning.
C) genetic restriction.
D) none of the choices

Question 35

Stable annealing due to hydrogen bonding between DNAs of similar nucleotide sequence from different organisms is referred to as

A) hydrolysis.
B) restriction.
C) hybridization.
D) ligation.

Question 36

Which of the following is not true about the G + C content percentages in DNA of organisms?

A) Organisms with similar G + C percentages have similar base sequences.
B) Organisms with different G + C percentages have dissimilar base sequences.
C) Similar G + C percentages only suggests relatedness if the two organisms are also alike phenotypically.
D) All of these are true about the G + C percentages of organisms.

Question 37

Transformation is not useful in determining relatedness between two organisms because it frequently crosses genera.

Question 38

The temperature at which half of the strands of a double-stranded DNA molecule have separated from each other is called the __________ temperature.

A) separation
B) melting
C) destabilizing
D) mobilization

Question 39

Phylogenetic trees are usually constructed using either a distance-based (___________) approach, or a characteristic (_________) approach.

Question 40

Numerical taxonomy was made practical with the advent of

A) the compound microscope.
B) the electron microscope.
C) computers.
D) nucleotide sequencing.

Question 41

The ancestors of modern _______________ performed the oxygenic photosynthesis responsible for converting our anoxic planet to an oxygenated one.

A) Crenarchaeota
B) Proteobacteria
C) Firmicutes
D) Cyanobacteria

Question 42

The second edition of Bergey's Manual classifies bacteria

A) phylogenetically.
B) phonetically.
C) numerically.
D) none of the choices

Question 43

Although there are other classification schemes for prokaryotes, the one used in Bergey's Manual is currently considered by most microbiologists to be the most .

Question 44

According to genome analysis, a member of the genus ______________is most closely related to the mitochondrion.

A) Escherichia
B) Agrobacterium
C) Prochloron
D) Rickettsia

Question 45

The second edition of Bergey's manual groups pathogenic species together rather than in phylogenetic groups.

Question 46

The pace of evolution does not always occur at a constant rate but is periodically interrupted by rapid bursts of speciation; this is known as _________ ________.

Question 47

A theoretical concept that is used to understand how and why certain organisms can be sorted into discrete taxonomic groups is known as the

A) endosymbiotic theory.
B) species concept.
C) phylogenetic concept.
D) genotypic concept.

Question 48

Which of the following is true about Bergey's Manual?

A) The first edition is mostly phenetic while the second edition is more phylogenetic.
B) The first edition is largely phylogenetic while the second edition is more phenetic.
C) The first and second editions are both largely phenetic.
D) The first and second editions are both largely phylogenetic.

Question 49

According to the endosymbiosis hypothesis

A) the first endosymbiotic event involved an anaerobic bacterium.
B) the first endosymbiont was a fermentative organism.
C) the mitochondrion evolved from the same endosymbiont as the hydrogenosome.
D) all of the choices

Question 50

Numerical taxonomy is based primarily on the percent DNA sequence homology.