Term
|
Definition
| an organism or virus too small to be seen with the unaided human eye. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a non-cellular particle containing a genome that can replicated only inside a cell |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an organism whose cell or cells lack a nucleus: includes both bacteria and archaea. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an organism whose cells contain a nucleus and is a member of the domain Eukarya. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the complex genetic content of an organism. The sequence of all the nucleotides in a haploid set of chromosomes. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the sum of genomes of a community of organisms. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the theory, much debated in the 19th century, that under current Earth conditions life can arise spontaneously from nonliving matter. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the production of ATP via substrate-level phosphorylation, using organic compounds as both electron donors and electron acceptors. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| device that uses pressurized steam to sterilize material by raising the temperature above the boiling point of water at standard pressure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the theory that many diseases are caused by microbes. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the serial passage of a pathogenic organism from an infected individual to an uninfected individual, thus transmitting disease. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a culture containing only a single strain or species of microorganism. A large number of microorganisms all descended from a single individual. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a visible cluster of microbes on a plate, all derived from a single founding microbe. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a round dish with vertical walls covered by an inverted dish of slightly large diameter. The smaller dish can be filled with a substrate for growing microbes. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Four criteria that should be met for a microbe to designated the causative agent of an infectious disease. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a polymer of galactose that is used as a gelling agent. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| resistance to a specific disease. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| exposure of an individual to a weakened version of a microbe to provoke immunity and prevent development of disease upon reexposure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the stimulation of an immune response by deliberate inoculation with a weakened pathogen, in hopes of providing immunity to disease caused by the pathogen. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an organism’s cellular defense system against pathogens. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| chemical that kills microbes. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a molecule that can kill or inhibit the growth of selected microorganisms. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| having multiple evolutionary origins. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| diverging from a common ancestor. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a non-cellular particle containing a genome that can replicated only inside a cell. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the protein shell that surrounds a virion's nucleic acid. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a virus that infects bacteria. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a cell-free zone on a lawn of bacterial cells caused by viral lysis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the species that can be infected by a given pathogen. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a small genome that can carry specific genes for cloning. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an infectious naked nucleic acid |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the position in a nucleic acid sequences from which triplet codons encode amino acids. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an infectious agent that causes propagation of misfolded host proteins; usually consists of a defective version of the host protein. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an exploding star that has used up most of the nuclei available for fusion reactions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the region containing the sum total of all life on Earth. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the trapping of solar radiation heat in the atmosphere by CO2. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the first eon of Earth’s existence from 4.5 to 3.8 gigayears before the present. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the second eon of Earth's existence. from 3.8 to 2.5 gigayears before the present. The earliest geological evidence for life dates to this eon. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a microscopic fossil in which calcium carbonate deposits have filled in the form of ancient microbial cells. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the ratio of amounts of two different isotopes of an element. May serve as a biosignature if the ratio between certain isotopes of a given element is altered by biological activity. |
|
|
Term
| banded ion formation (BIFs) |
|
Definition
| a geological formation consisting of layers of oxidized iron, which indicates formation under oxygen-rich conditions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| produced without living organisms; occurring in the absence of life |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a model of early life in which RNA perfomed all the information and catalytic roles of today’s DNA and proteins. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a model for the origin of life based on the abiotic formation of fundamental biomolecules and cell structures such as membranes out of a “soup” of nutrients present on early Earth. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a model of early life in which the central components of intermediary metabolism arose from self-sustaining chemical reactions based on inorganic chemicals. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an RNA capable of enzymatic reactions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the hypothesis that life-forms originated elsewhere and “seeded” life on Earth. |
|
|
Term
| clades/monophyletic group |
|
Definition
| a group of organisms that includes an ancestral species and all of its descendents. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the loss of mutation of DNA encoding unselected traits. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the use of DNA or RNA sequence information to measure the time of divergence among different species. |
|
|
Term
| small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) |
|
Definition
| in bacteria, 16S rRNA. A ribosomal RNA found in the small subunit of the ribosome. Its gene is often sequenced for phylogenetic comparisons. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a diagram depicting estimates of the relative amounts of evolutionary divergence among different species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the earliest common ancestor of all members of a phylogenetic tree. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the passage of genes from one cell into another mature cell. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| gene transfer from parent to offspring through reproduction. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a region of DNA sequence whose properties indicate that it has been transferred from another genome. Usually comprises a set of genes with shared function, such as pathogenicity or symbiosis support. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| all the genes possessed by all individual members of species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a set of genes shared by a group of related bacterial strains, showing stable inheritance. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the description of distinct life-forms and their organization into different categories. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the recognition of different forms of life and their placement into different categories. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the naming of different taxonomic groups of organisms. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the recognition of the class of a microbe isolated in pure culture. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a single, specific type of organisms designated by a genus and species name. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the Latin name assigned to the taxonomic rank consisting of closely related species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the scientific name of a specific type of organism; presented following the genus names as in Escherichia (genus) coli (species). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a microbe that has been obtained from a specific location and grown in pure culture. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a newly described microbial isolate that may become accepted as an official species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the study of community genomes, or metagenomes. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a tool for identifying organisms, in which a series of yes/no decisions successively narrows down the possible categories of species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a means of quickly identifying microbes in the clinical setting, based on a battery of biochemical tests performed simultaneously on an isolated strain. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the intimate association of two unrelated species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a symbiotic relationship un which one member benefits and the other is harmed. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the evolution of two species in response to one another. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an intimate association between different species in which one partner population grows within the body of another organism. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an organism that lives as a symbiont inside another organism. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an evolutionary process by which two or more species become intimately associated. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a chemical indicator of life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the idea transforming the environment of another planted to make it suitable for life from Earth. |
|
|
