BIO Ch 1,2,16 Vocab

a laminated micrbial material, typically built from layers of filamentous bacteria and other microorganisms, which can be fossilized

a large polynucleotide that functions as a part of the small subunit of the ribosome of bacteria and archaea and from whose gene sequence evolutionary info can be obtained

a means of identifying microorganisms from analysis of DNA fragments generated from restriction enzyme digestion of the genes encoding their 16S rRNA

a large database of small subunit (SSU) rRNA sequences that can be retrived electronically and used in comparative rRNA sequence studies

an oligonucleotide, sometimes made flourescent by atachment of a dye, complementary in sequence to some sequence in rRNA

a taxonomic tool for classifying organisms from gene sequence variations in several housekeeping genes

in phylogeny, a group descended from another

a DNA sequence, such as the gene for rRNA, that can be used as a comparative temporal measure of evolutionary divergence

in DNA from an organism, the % of the total nucleic acid that consists of guanine and cytosine bases

Flourescent In Situ Hybridization

a staging technique for phylogenetic studies

Fatty Acid Methyl Ester

a technique for identifying microorganisms from their fatty acids

the idea that a chemoorganotrophic bactrieum and a cyanobacterium were stably incorporated inot another cell type to give rise, respectively, to mitochondria and chloroplast

a population of genetically identical cells sharing a particular resource within an ecological niche

Carl Linnaeus (swedish)

naming living organisms in whic an organism is given a genus name and species epithet

phylogenetic methods that group organisms by their evolutionary relationships, not by their phenotypic similarities

iron oxide-rich ancient sedimentary rocks containing zones of oxidized iron (Fe^3+) formed by oxidation of Fe^2+ by O_2 produced by cyanobacteria

-the theory that mitochondria and chloroplast originated from bacteria

-The engulfment of one cell type by another cell type and the subsequent and stable association of the two cells.

a genetic element that contains either a DNA or an RNA genome, has an extracellular form (the virion), and depends on a host cell for replication

algae and protozoa

a large phylum of bacteria that includes many gram-positive bacteria: Escherichia coli

an extrachromosomal genetic element nonessential for growth

the evolutionary relationships between organisms

a differential staining technique in which bacterial cells stain either pink (gram-neg.) or purple (gram-pos.) depending on their structural make-up

prokaryotic oxygenic phototrophs

an organism that obtains its energy from the oxidation of organic compounds

a culture containing a single kind of microorganism

a disease causing microorganism

a set of criteria for proving that a given microorganism casuses a given disease

in microbiology, an increase in cell number with time

an organism's full compliment of genes

a method for isolation specific microorganisms from nature using specific culture media and incubation conditions

modification of cellular components to form a new strucure, such as a spore

a form of metabolism in which energy in generated from inorganic compounds

A tree that shows the evolutionary position of representatives of all domains of living organisms.

The discipline that maps, sequences, analyzes, and compares genomes.

A large molecule (polymer) formed by the connection of a number of small molecules (monomers); proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and polysaccharides in a cell.

Two molecules that have the same molecular formula but that differ structurally.

A tumorlike structure produced by the roots of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing plants. Contains the nitrogen-fixing microbial component of the symbiosis.

Unicellular eukaryotic microorganisms that lack cell walls.

The experimental determination of genomic similarity by measuring the extent of hybridization of DNA from the genome of one organism with that of another.