Micro Chapter 1 Vocabulary

An organism that obtains its energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds.

A particular strain or kind of organism growing in a laboratory medium.

A semipermeable barrier that separates the cell interior (cytoplasm) from the environment,

The modification of a cell in terms of structure and/or function occurring during the course of development.

Use of selective culture media and incubation condition to isolate specific microorganisms from natural samples.

A catalyst, usually composed of protein, that promotes specific reactions or groups of reactions.

Descent with modifications; DNA sequence variation and the inheritance of that variation.

The total complement of genetic information of a cell or a lyzing genomes.

In microbiology, an increase in cell number.

A differentiated cyanobacterial cell that carries out nitrogen fixation.

A set of criteria for proving that a given microorganism causes a given disease.

All biochemical reactions in a cell, both anabolic and bolic intermediates of a cell or organism.

A microscopic organism consisting of a single cell or cell cluster, also including the viruses, which are not cellular.

The property of movement of a cell under its own power.

A tumorlike structure produced by the roots of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing plants. Contains the nitrogen-fixing microbial component of the symbiosis.

A disease-causing microorganism.

A culture containing a single kind of microorganism.

The hypothesis that living organisms can originate from nonliving matter.

Free of all living organisms and viruses.

A taxonomic group of related species.

• Defined in microbiology as a collection of strains that all share the
• same major properties and differ in one or more significant properties
• from other collections of strains; defined phylogenetically as
• monophyletic, exclusive groups based on DNA sequence.