Week 1 Study Guide

You may be wondering what information you are responsible for from Lectures 1 & 2. Below, I've posted a Study Guide to help you identify key concepts and terms. In addition, our in-class activities are great summaries and resources.

Please note that you will learn and practice some of the content in the study guide during lecture and some of it will be introduced in the Pre-Class materials. Some students like to have the study guide as a basis for taking notes (proactive) while other students prefer to go through the study guide in preparation for the exam (retroactive). Either way is completely up to you, please use the resource as it best fits your needs.

Intro to Microbiology Study Guide

Terms you should know:
Microorganism	Bacteria	Archaea	Algae	Fungi	Protozoa
Virus	Eukaryote	Prokaryote	Microbiome	Pathogenic	Mutualism
Commensalism	Parasitism	Opportunistic infections	Exogenous Infections	----	-------------

You should be able to:

Describe which classes of microbes are prokaryotes, eukaryotes or neither
Describe how (in what ways) microorganisms are important for the environment
Describe how microorganisms contribute to human health
- What types of microbes makeup your microbiome? How many microbes are there compared to the number of your human cells?
- How does your microbiome prevent pathogenic and non-pathogenic microbes from colonizing your body?
- How can the microbiome affect your health?
Describe the difference between opportunistic and exogenous infections
Describe and identify the various forms of symbiosis

Biochemistry Study Guide

Please note that some macromolecules (proteins, DNA/RNA, lipids) are covered in Week 2's pre-lecture content.

Terms you should know:
Ionic bond	Hydrogen bond	Covalent bond	Molecule	Ion	Organic molecule
Inorganic molecule	Endothermic reaction	Exothermic reaction	------	------	Macromolecule
Lipids	Proteins	Nucleic acids	Carbohydrates	Triglyceride	Phospholipids
Monosaccharide	Disaccharide	Polysaccharide	Hydro- phobic	Hydrophilic	Saturated fat
Unsaturated fat	Amino acids	Peptide bond	Denaturation	Enzyme	DNA
RNA	nucleotides	----

From Chemistry class (or after the optional review), you should be able to:

ID the most common elements found in living organisms and describe their atomic symbols
Understand and describe atomic subparticles
Characterize the 3 types of bonds we studied & describe them by strength
Understand and describe how water breaks NaCl into individual ions

From lecture, you should be comfortable explaining the following in your own words, describe:

the function of the 4 biological macromolecules and identify their monomer units
the different structures and functions of lipids in cells
the four levels of protein structure and what types of bonds play a role in each level
the structure of nucleotides, the functions of DNA and RNA, and the cellular locations of DNA and RNA
the structure of DNA
When (under what circumstances) would cells want to build molecules?
- What is the name of the chemical reaction used when molecules are built? Is this process endergonic (endothermic) or exergonic (exothermic)?
When (under what circumstances) would cells want to break molecules?
- What is the name of the chemical reaction used when chemical bonds in molecules are broken? Is this process endergonic (endothermic) or exergonic (exothermic)?
What is the difference between structure and function of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides? Do monosaccharides or disaccharides contain more energy and why?
How do the chemical properties of amino acid side chains determine the 3D shape of a protein?
Why is the 3D shape of a protein so important?
Where are the nitrogenous bases of DNA located in its structure?
How does temperature affect lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins?
How does pH affect proteins?

Part 1: A terrifying hospital stay (Aaron’s case)

Q: On the surface of skin, Bacteria D feeds off dead skin cells and hairs. What type of symbiotic relationship is this (when not causing an infection)? Why?

→ Commensalism.

Because Bacteria D benefits (it gets food) but the human is not harmed or helped.

It just lives on the skin peacefully.

Q: Bacteria D is found on skin and hair. How would you categorize Aaron’s infection? Opportunistic or exogenous pathogen? Why?

→ Opportunistic pathogen.

Because Bacteria D is normally harmless on healthy skin,

but when Aaron became weak (premature, NICU, catheter), it caused infection.

Opportunistic pathogens cause disease only when the body’s defenses are low.

Q: Bacteria D is a gram-positive bacteria. How are gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria different? What type of antibiotic would you use?

(And sub-questions)

Main Question Answer:

Gram-positive bacteria have a thick peptidoglycan wall.
Gram-negative bacteria have a thin peptidoglycan wall plus an extra outer membrane.
Antibiotic should target: the peptidoglycan cell wall (because humans don’t have cell walls, so it’s a safe target).

Sub-questions:

What cell structure are we comparing?
→ We are comparing the cell wall (peptidoglycan layer).
How is this structure different in prokaryotes vs eukaryotes?
→ Prokaryotes (bacteria) have cell walls with peptidoglycan.
→ Eukaryotes (human cells) have no cell wall (only a cell membrane).
Name and describe 3 differences between bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes:

Nucleus:

Bacteria and Archaea = no nucleus (prokaryotes)
Eukaryotes = have a nucleus

Cell Wall Composition:

Bacteria = peptidoglycan
Archaea = pseudopeptidoglycan or other materials
Eukaryotes = no peptidoglycan (some like plants have cellulose walls)

Size:

Bacteria/Archaea = small (1-10 micrometers)
Eukaryotes = larger (10-100 micrometers)

Would you also like me to help you organize all these answers into a very short paragraph format if you need to turn it in?

Microbiology

Friday, May 2, 2025