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Microbiology Vocab
Vocabulary for Microbiology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Essential Nutrient | any vitamin, amino acid, nutrient or mineral that cannot be formed by the body and is therefore supplied by the diet |
| Psychrophile | microorganism that thrives at low temperature (0-20 *C) |
| Mesophile | microorganism that grows at intermediate temperatures |
| Thermophile | microorganism that thrives at a temperature of 50*C or higher |
| Hyperthermophile | microorganism that thrives at very high temperatures |
| Photoautotroph | organism that uses light for its energy and CO2 for its carbon needs |
| Chemoautotroph (lithoautotroph) | organism that relies upon inorganic chemicals for its energy and CO2 for its carbon |
| Chemoheterotroph | microorganism that get their nutritional needs from organic compounds |
| Aerobe | microorganism that lives and grows in the presence of free gaseous oxygen |
| Anaerobe | microorganism that grows best in the absence of oxygen |
| Obligate | without alternative; restricted to a particular characteristic |
| Facultative | capacity of microbes to adapt or adjust to variations, not obligate |
| Microaerophile | aerobic bacterium that requires oxygen at a concentration less than that of the atmosphere |
| Capnophile | microorganism that thrives in high concentrations of CO2 |
| Mutualism | organisms living in an obligatory, but mutually beneficial relationship |
| Commensalism | unequal relationship where one organism is benefitted without harming the other |
| Parasitism | a relationship between two organisms where one is harmed and one is benefitted |
| Synergism | correlated action by two or more microbes or drugs that result in a heightened response or greater activity |
| Antagonism | relationship in which organisms compete for survival in a common environment by inhibiting or destroying one another |
| Saprobe | a microbe that decomposes organic remains from dead organisms |
| Biofilm | a complex association that arises from a mixture of microorganisms growing together on the surface of a habitat |
| Generation time | time required for a complete fission cycle- from parent cell to two new daughter cells |
| Lag | early phase of population growth during which no signs of growth occur |
| Exponential | maximum growth rate in the growth curve |
| Stationary | survival mode where cells stop growing |
| Death | end of cell growth due to nutrition lack, depletion of environment, and accumulation of wastes |
| Turbidity | cloudy appearance of nutrient solution in a test tube due to microbial growth |
| Osmosis | diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane in the direction of lower water concentration |
| Isotonic | two solutions that have the same osmotic pressure, no net movement |
| Hypotonic | having a lower osmotic pressure than a reference solution |
| Hypertonic | having a greater osmotic pressure than a reference solution |
| Binary fission | formation of two new cells of equal size due to parent cell division |
| Sterilization | any process that completely removes or destroys all viable microorganisms including viruses |
| Disinfection | destruction of pathogenic, nonsporulating microbes or their toxins, usually on inanimate surfaces |
| Antisepsis | chemical treatment to kill or inhibit the growth of all vegetative microorganisms on body surfaces |
| Decontamination | removal or neutralization of an infectious, poisonous, or injurious agent from a site |
| Sanitization | clean inanimate objects using soap so that they are free of high levels of microorganisms |
| Sepsis | the state of putrefaction, the presence of pathogenic organisms or their toxins in tissue or blood |
| Asepsis | a condition free of viable pathogenic microorganisms |
| Degermination | to physically remove surface oils, debris, and soil from skin to reduce the microbial load |
| Microbial death | death of microbe |
| Thermal Death Time (TDT) | the least amount of time to kill all cells of a culture at a specified temperature |
| Thermal Death Point (TDP) | the lowest temperature that achieves sterilization in a given quantity of broth culture upon a ten minute exposure |
| Denature | molecular alteration resulting in the loss of normal characteristics |
| Aqueous | water solvent |
| Tinctures | a medicinal substance dissolved in an alcoholic solvent |
| Oligodynamic | chemical having antimicrobial activity in minuscule amounts |
| antibiotic | a chemical substance from one microorganism that can inhibit or kill another microbe even in minute amounts |
| Resistant R factors | plasmids, typically typically shared among bacteria by conjugation that provide resistance to the effects of antibiotics |
| Beta-lactamases | enzyme secreted by certain type of bacteria that cleaves the beta-lactam ring of penecillin and cephalosporin and thus provides for resistance against the antibiotic |
| Probiotics | preparations of live microbes used as a preventative or therapeutic measure to displace or compete with potential pathogens |
| Prebiotics | nutrients used to stimulate the growth of favorable biota in the intestine |
| Biota | beneficial or harmless, resident bacteria commonly found on or in the human body |
| Superinfection | an infection occurring during antimicrobial therapy that is caused by an overgrowth of drug resistant microorganisms |
| Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) | the smallest concentration of drug needed to visibly control microbial growth |
| Therapeutic index (TI) | the ratio of the toxic dose to the effective therapeutic dose that is used to access the safety and reliability of the drug |
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rdnckgal
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