Ch 1 - Cowan, Microbiology Fundamentals: A Clinical Approach

3 Major types of RNA - Messenger RNA (mRNA) Transfer RNA (tRNA) Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) Abiogenesis - The belief in spontaneous generation as a source of life. Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) - a nucleotide that is the primary source of energy to cells Agar - a polysaccharide found in seaweed and commonly used to prepare solid culture media Algae - Photosynthetic, plantlike organisms that generally lack the complex structure of plants; they may be single-celled or multicellular and inhabit diverse habitats such as marine and freshwater environments, glaciers, and hot springs. Do not directly infect humans. Amino acids - building blocks of protein. exist in 20 naturally occurring forms that impart different characteristics to the various proteins they compose. Antibiotics - drugs designed to harm microbes but not harm the human host antibodies - A large protein molecule/glycoprotein evoked in response to an antigen that interacts specifically with that antigen. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) - -Dutch linen merchant. -First to observe living microbes. -Single-lens magnified up to 300X. archaea (lowercase) - prokaryotic single-celled organisms of primitive origin that have unusual anatomy, physiology, and genetics and live in harsh habitats Archaea (uppercase) - When capitalized, refers to one of 3 domains of living organisms proposed by Woese Aseptic technique - method of handling microbial cultures, patient specimens, and other sources of microbes in a way that prevents infection of the handler and others who may be exposed Bacteria - When capitalized, can refer to one of the 3 domains of living organisms proposed by Woese containing all non-archaea prokaryotes