Deck 1: Understanding Microbes and Their Interactions: From Molecular Evidence to Emerging Diseases

Question 1

Molecular evidence suggests that:

A) Archaea and Eukarya are more closely related to each other than either group is to Bacteria
B) Bacteria and Archaea are more closely related to each other than either group is to Eukarya
C) All three domains of life are closely related to each other
D) it has not been possible to deduce the relative relatedness of these three domains

Answer 1

Archaea and Eukarya are more closely related to each other than either group is to Bacteria

Question 2

The term "primitive", when applied to an organism means:

A) The primitive organism is especially simple, compared to other members of its taxonomic group
B) The primitive organism is poorly adapted to its environment, compared to other members of its taxonomic group
C) The primitive organism has gone extinct
D) the primitive organism is the closest evolutionarily to the original organism that gave rise to a particular taxonomic group.

Answer 2

the primitive organism is the closest evolutionarily to the original organism that gave rise to a particular taxonomic group.

Question 3

Which of the following statements about microbes and their cell type is FALSE?

A) Archaea have prokaryotic cells
B) Fungi have eukaryotic cells
C) Gram-positive bacteria have prokaryotic cells
D) Protozoa have prokaryotic cells
E) Flagellates have eukaryotic cells

Answer 3

Protozoa have prokaryotic cells

Question 4

In what way are viruses distinct from other microbes?

A) They are composed of protein only
B) They are composed of nucleic acid only
C) All viruses use RNA as their genetic material, whereas other microorganisms all use DNA
D) They evolved much earlier than other life forms
E) They are acellular

Question 5

The host range of a particular virus:

A) The taxonomic position of the virus
B) The spectrum of hosts the virus is able to infect
C) The cell-types that the virus is able to infect
D) Is determined by the shape of the virus
E) Is determined by whether or not the virus is enveloped

Question 6

In enveloped viruses, viral specificity is often a consequence of:

A) How it acquired its envelope
B) Its nucleocapsid
C) Its capsid
D) Its capsomeres
E) Its envelope glycoproteins

Question 7

The eclipse phase of a replicating virus begins immediately following:

A) Uncoating
B) Assembly
C) Synthesis
D) Release
E) Either "c" or "d" above, depending on whether the virus is enveloped or not

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true about the way that newly-assembled enveloped and non-enveloped are released from a host cell?

A) Enveloped viruses are released when the cell undergoes lysis
B) Non-enveloped viruses are released by budding
C) Either enveloped or non-enveloped viruses may be released by budding
D) Enveloped viruses are released by budding
E) All viruses, regardless of whether or not they have an envelope, are released only when the cell lyses.

Question 9

If a bacteriophage is lysogenic, it means that:

A) The bacteriophage is incapable of infecting a particular type of bacteria
B) The bacteriophage is replicating within its host bacterial cell
C) The virus has infected the host cell but is not replicating within it. The virus may begin replicating at a later time.
D) The virus has infected the host cell and is in a permanent state of non-replication.
E) Infecting The bacteriophage has degraded the DNA of the host cell

Question 10

Which of the following is a difference between plant and animal viruses?

A) Animal viruses all use DNA as their genetic material, whereas plant viruses all use RNA
B) All plant viruses are enveloped. All animal viruses are non-enveloped.
C) All plant viruses are helical. All animal viruses are icosahedral
D) Newly assembled plant viruses often do not have to actually exit the host cell to infect new cells, whereas animal viruses almost always do.
E) Plant viruses are much larger, approaching the size of small bacteria

Question 11

What is the difference between an acute and a chronic viral infection?

Question 12

Describe the process of reverse transcription as it occurs in retroviruses.

Question 13

What is different about the way prions reproduce, compared to any other infectious agent?

Question 14

How does our normal microbiota protect us from some infections by pathogens?

Question 15

Into which category of emergent diseases would Zika virus be placed?

A) Category 1: invasion of a new host population by a known pathogen
B) Category 2: appearance of a completely new, previously unknown pathogen
C) Category 3: association of a well-known disease with a new pathogen
D) Category 4: increased virulence, or a renewed problem, with a well-known but previously less virulent or well-controlled pathogen

Question 16

Which of the following statements regarding the use of CRISPR/Cas in gene editing is FALSE?

A) The guide RNA is complementary to the DNA sequence to be edited
B) The guide RNA associates with the introduced foreign DNA, "guiding" it to the spot where it will be inserted into the host DNA
C) The host DNA to be edited is cleaved at a precise spot by Cas
D) Host DNA repair mechanisms are used to fill in breaks between the host DNA and the introduced DNA

Question 17

What exactly is metagenomics and how does it differ from traditional genomics? What has metagenomics shown us about microbial diversity in the environment?