Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014

(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

EXAM INSTRUCTIONS: Put your name (as it appears in the gradebook) and 810 number on BOTH the Scantron
sheet AND the short answer sheets. On the Scantron, bubble in BOTH your name AND 810 number or it will not
be graded! On the Scantron, also print the COLOR of your exam above your name.

Multiple Choice Section: Bubble your answers in on the Scantron sheet. (25 pts total for the section)

1. If an organism is an auxotroph, which of the following is irrevocably true?

a. The organism will require a light source in order to grow.
b. The organism requires some essential complex nutrient (e.g. vitamin) to be supplied in the growth
medium or the environment in order for growth to occur.
c. The organism converts an inorganic carbon source into an organic carbon source, which it can
later utilize for respiration.
d. The organism will require an inorganic compound as an electron source for chemiosmosis.

2. Which of the following pathways is employed in the catabolism of lipids?

a. Beta oxidation
b. Pentose-phosphate shunt
c. Transition step
d. Deamination
e. Gluconeogenesis

3. While working as a technician, you’ve been asked to sterilize an electronic insulin pump that will be
implanted into a diabetic patient. Sterilization must be achieved on the device’s exterior surface as well as
internally. Which of the following treatments would be sufficient to completely sterilize the implant
without affecting its performance?
a. Placing the implant in boiling water at 100°C for 15 min
b. Exposing the implant to UV light for 2 minutes
c. Autoclaving the implant at 121°C and 15 psi for 15 min
d. Placing the implant in a chamber filled with ozone (oxidizing gas) for 30 minutes
e. More than one of the above (choices a- c), but not all, are correct

4. Which of the following structures serve to aid bacteria in creating a biofilm community structure?
a. Fimbrae
b. Carboxysomes
c. Teichoic acids
d. Porins
e. Polyhydroxybutyrate molecules

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

5. Carboxysomes would most likely be found in which of the following groups of microbes?
a. Saprophytic bacteria
b. Heterotrophic bacteria
c. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria
d. Members of Archaea
e. All prokaryotes

6. In addition to driving chemiosmosis, proton motive force (PMF) also _______.

a. Initiates the peptidoglycan biosynthesis
b. Provides ATP synthase with energy for an phosphorylated organic compound to donate a
phosphate group to ADP
c. Allows transport of nutrients from low external concentrations outside the cell across the plasma
membrane
d. Powers bacterial flagellar rotation
e. Drives the creation of ATP in bacteria undergoing fermentation

7. Which of the following techniques would allow you to enumerate all bacteria and discriminate them
debris in the sample/media?
a. Pour plate technique
b. Direct microscopic count
c. Streak plate technique
d. Turbidity measurement
e. All of the above choices are suitable

8. Which of the following scientists was responsible for establishing the Germ Theory?
a. Robert Hooke
b. Francisco Redi
c. Louis Pasteur
d. Robert Koch
e. Joseph Lister

9. Which of the following statements is correct regarding substrate-level phosphorylation (SLP) of ATP?
a. Fermentative organisms use SLP and the electron transport chain to produce the ATP they need.
b. Organisms that use the Entner-Douderoff pathway instead of the Embden-Meyerhoff pathway
create twice as much ATP via SLP as those that use the Embden-Meyerhoff pathway.
c. Obligate aerobes produce ATP via SLP as they catabolize pyruvate to CO2.
d. An inorganic phosphate group is added to ADP as this phosphate group passes though the cell’s
cytoplasmic membrane.
e. SLP is the primary process used by phototrophs to genetrate ATP for carbon fixation.

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

10. Under 1000x magnification by a light microscope, you observe the following characteristics in a cell: a) the
presence of several flagella at one pole of the cell, b) the presence of a cell wall structure, c) DNA in a
centralized area of the cytoplasm but not enclosed by a phospholipid bilayer, and d) the presence of an S-
layer external to the cell wall layer. Which of the following statements is accurate, based on these
observations and your knowledge of microorganism cell structure?
a. The organism belongs to Domain Bacteria.
b. The organism belongs to Domain Archaea.
c. The organism is a eukaryote.
d. The organism is a prokaryote.
e. There is not enough information to be able to determine whether the microbe is a prokaryote or
a eukaryote.

11. Which of the following proteins serve to help distribute plasmids to the poles of a replicating bacterial cell
prior to cytokinesis?
a. ParM and ParR proteins
b. MreB proteins
c. FtsZ proteins
d. MamK proteins
e. Tubulin proteins

12. When carrying out the Gram stain procedure, forgetting to perform the iodine step in the process is a
common mistake. Suppose a student completely omitted the iodine step in his Gram stain procedure.
What would you expect to observe if the organism was known to lack lipopolysaccharides in its cell wall?
a. The cells would be purple, resulting in a false Gram positive interpretation.
b. The cells would be reddish/pink, resulting in a false Gram negative interpretation.
c. The cells would be purple, resulting in a false Gram negative interpretation.
d. The cells would be reddish/pink, resulting in a false Gram positive interpretation.
e. The cells would be reddish pink, resulting in an accurate Gram negative interpretation.

13. Which of the following organisms would be most likely to suffer osmotic lysis if they were treated with
lysozyme and then put in a high salt environment?
a. Some Gram positive bacteria, but not all.
b. Some Gram negative bacteria, but not all.
c. All Bacteria would be equally affected.
d. All Gram positive bacteria.
e. All Gram negative bacteria.

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

14. Chemical XB4326 is an antibiotic that inhibits the biosynthesis of bactoprenol which is found in bacterial
cell membranes. You have prepared some bacteriological agar containing this antibiotic and have
streaked a strain of Gram positive bacteria on this media. Assume that the microbes have all the essential
nutrients and incubation conditions that are appropriate for their growth, so you’re only evaluating the
effect of the antibiotic. Also assume that antibiotic resistance has not occurred at this time. Which of the
following is the most reasonable expectation for the growth results of this organism on the media?
a. The organisms that grow on the antibiotic agar will most likely stain purple when subjected to a
properly done Gram stain.
b. The organisms that grow on the antibiotic agar will most likely stain green when subjected to a
properly done Gram stain.
c. The organisms that grow on the antibiotic agar will most likely stain blue when subjected to a
properly done Gram stain.
d. The organisms that grow on the antibiotic agar will most likely stain pinkish-red when subjected
to a properly done Gram stain.
e. Given the situation, there will be no growth on the medium and thus, no Gram stain will be able
to be performed.

15. A chemical solution is sprayed on a kitchen counter surface. As a result of this treatment, the microbial
population on the treated area is reduced by 98%. Which of the following terms is best described by the
above situation?
a. The chemical is a sterilizing agent
b. The chemical is a disinfecting agent
c. The chemical is an antiseptic
d. The chemical is appropriate as either an antiseptic or a disinfectant
e. None of the above (a-d) is an accurate description.

16. What structure found in microbes allows its owner to move from deep in the water column of a lake or
ocean to surface waters where oxygen and light are plentiful?
a. Capsule
b. Sulfur globule
c. Gas vesicle
d. Hopanoid
e. Aquaporins

17. Which of the following pairs is mismatched?

a. Gram positive bacteria; peptidoglycan layers linked by a multiple peptide interbridge
b. Bacterial cell membrane; sterols incorporated
c. Archaea; contains pseudomurein
d. Gram negative bacteria; contains diaminopimelic acid (DAP)
e. Capsule; composed of polysaccharides

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

18. When using refrigeration to prevent microbial growth, which of the following situations is occurring?
a. Oxygen is no longer available for aerobic growth
b. Slowing of molecular interactions occurs
c. Micronutrients are competitively bound to allosteric enzymes and cannot catalyze essential
reactions for cell growth
d. Essential enzymes and structural proteins are denatured
e. FtsZ proteins are degraded, making it impossible for cell wall growth

19. A scientist is studying the optimal growth conditions of a unique microbial cell. After testing many
conditions, she finds that the cell grows best at 5°C and a pH of 4.0, and only grows when oxygen is
present at atmospheric concentrations. Which of the terms below would be used to categorize this
organism?
a. Mesophile
b. Halophile
c. Microaerophile
d. Acidophile
e. None of the above

20. A facultative anaerobic and heterotrophic bacterium has depleted its environment of oxygen. Which of
the following will most likely occur?
a. This organism will use photophosphorylation pathways to produce both ATP and O2 for further
growth.
b. This organism may continue to produce ATP via fermentation.
c. This organism will die when the pool of ATP it produced from aerobic respiration is depleted since
it cannot produce any more ATP without oxygen present.
d. This organism will undergo deamination of proteins to free oxygen from its proteins and use it for
more aerobic respiration and chemiosmosis of ATP.
e. None of the above choices (a-d) are possible under these conditions.

21. Regarding the endosymbiont theory and the evolution of eukaryotic cells, which of the following is not
directly supportive of this hypothesis?
a. Presence of 16S rRNA within the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells indicates that mitochondria are
of prokaryotic origin
b. Both eukaryotes and prokaryotes utilize dsDNA as their genetic material to encode proteins
c. Genetic sequence comparisons between eukaryotic chloroplasts and cyanobacteria are highly
homologous to one another
d. Endosymbiosis may have been initiated as one prokaryotic cell ingested another, leading to the
creation of organelles in eukaryotic cells
e. Chemisomosis occurs within the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria and the mitochondrial
membrane of eukaryotic cells

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

22. An organism uses CO2 as its source for carbon. Growth of the organism does not occur if there is not a
source of elemental sulfur present. In experiments where both CO2 and elemental sulfur are available for
the organism, the absence of light makes no impact on its ability to grow. Which of the following terms
does not describe the organism?
a. Autotroph
b. Lithotroph
c. Chemotroph
d. Phototroph
e. More than one of the above choices (a-d), but not all

23. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation can be used to prevent microbial growth because _____.
a. It denatures proteins, impacting the cell’s ability to undergo metabolic reactions
b. It forms toxic oxygen radicals, like superoxides, which cause much structural damage in the
exposed cells
c. It binds to ATP synthase and prevents ATP production in a cell by chemiosmosis
d. It causes DNA mutations, impacting protein synthesis and chromosome replication
e. It causes cells to export water from their cytoplasm, preventing hydrolytic catabolism

24. The concentration of mannitol (C6H14O6) inside the cell is 0.15 nM. The extracellular concentration of
mannitol in the cell’s environment is 0.09 nM. Mannitol transport requires the presence of a permease
transport protein. Assume the cell in question has a functional and appropriate permease for mannitol
transport, however, no ATP is available to the cell to drive its transport. Which of the following forms of
transport will the cell most likely employ to import mannitol from the environment to its cytoplasm?
a. Facilitated diffusion
b. Group translocation
c. ABC transport
d. Passive diffusion
e. Osmosis

25. Identify the correct cellular morphology as depicted in this image:

a. Peritricocci
b. Amphibacillus
c. Staphylococci
d. Lophospirillum
e. Tetravibrio

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

Media recipe for question 27:

3.0 g yeast extract (lysed yeast cells and their cellular contents)
12.0 g sorbitol (a fermentable carbohydrate)
25.0 g NaCl (equivalent to 2.5% salt)
0.04 g neutral red (turns pink in acidic environments, colorless in neutral and alkaline environments)
3.2 g of bile salts (toxic to non-Gram negative cells)
15.0 g of agar (a solidifying agent)
1.0 L of distilled water

Image for question 29:

Data table for question 30:

Mixed Carbon
Glucose CO2 O2- SO3- SO2- pH
Compounds*
Before
0.8 µM 0.03 µM 0.0 µM 0.9 µM 0.03 µM 0.01 µM 7.1
growth
During
0.1 µM 0.05 µM 0.6 µM 0.9 µM 0.03 µM 0.01 µM 5.3
growth
After
0.01 µM 0.08 µM 0.9 µM 0.9 µM 0.03 µM 0.01 µM 3.4
growth

*Other than CO2 or glucose – these are a mix of 3 and 4 carbon organic compounds.

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1 Glucose XXX?
1 Glucose
Net 2 ATP Net 2 ATP
E-M E-M
2 NADH 2 NADH
2 Pyruvate 2 Pyruvate
Transition 1 CO2
Step: 2X
1 NADH
Various Alcohols,
Acids, and/or CO2 1 Acetyl CoA
1 Oxaloacetate 1 Citrate
Conversions: TCA: 1 CO2
1 NADH
2.5 ATP/NADH 2X
1 NADH
1.5 ATP/FADH2 1 FADH2
1 CO2
1 NADH
Net 1 ATP

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

Short Answer Section: Place your answers on the answer sheets provided –they are separate from these
questions! PRINT your answers legibly and DO NOT EXCEED the sentence limits for each question. Wrong
information will be counted against you. (15 pts total for the section)

26. You have a collection of items consisting of: E. coli, Red Blood Cell, Ribosome, Virus, Amino Acid

a. Put the above items in order from smallest to largest: (1 pt – no partial credit available)

b. List which of these are living organisms. (0.5 pt)

27. Joe’s working in a biotechnology lab in the Microbiology department at his university. His mentor has
asked him to isolate some Gram negative bacteria from the surface of tomato plant leaves that can
ferment sorbitol to acidic end products. He’s given Joe some prepared medium to use and the recipe for it
(see page 7) and told Joe that colonies which appear pink are producing acids, while white colonies are
not producing acids.

a. Is this a defined medium or a complex medium? (1 pt)

b. Explain why you chose this answer for 27a. Limit: 2 sentences. (1 pt)

c. Is this media selective, differential, neither, or both? (1 pt)

d. Explain why you chose this answer for 27c. Limit: 2 sentences. (1 pt)

28. A bacterial sample currently contains 5 bacterial cells (time = 0). This organism has a 10 minute generation
time, and you can assume that the culture is in exponential growth already. If we allow this organism to
grow under perfect environmental conditions, estimate the number of bacterial cells present in the
population after 2.5 hours. Recall the formula (Nt = N0 x 2n ). Show your work (e.g., formula
setup/calculation of generations) or no credit will be given for your answer. (2 pts)

29. Use the image on page 7 to answer the questions below. Some may have more than one answer and
some may have only one answer. Wrong answers to each question will cost you 0.25 pt each, up to the
full value of the question. (Example: You give three answers to a question worth 0.5 pt but it only has one
correct answer. Amongst the three answers, one of them is the correct answer. Your score will be a 0 for
this question.)

a. What phase of the microbial growth curve is represented by letter B? (0.5 pt)

b. In which section(s) of the graph are cells undergoing DNA replication? (0.5 pt)

c. In which section(s) of the graph are cells completing cytokinesis? (0.5 pt)

d. In which section(s) of the graph are cells producing starvation proteins? (0.5 pt)

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 Exam 1 MIBO3500 Spring 2014
(40 pts possible on exam - your percentage is recorded in eLC New as your grade on the exam.)

30. A bacterium is growing in a broth medium that contains high levels of glucose, which the organism uses as
an organic carbon growth substrate. Assume it has all of the enzymes for the Embden-Meyerhof
pathway, but none for the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. Chemical levels in the medium have been
monitored before, during, and after growth of the culture in this medium and are presented in the data
table on page 7. Assume these are the only chemicals present in addition to the water in the medium.

a. What major catabolic pathway is this organism using to generate ATP: fermentation, aerobic
respiration or anaerobic respiration? (1 pt)

b. Explain how you deduced the answer to 30 a. Limit: 3 sentences. (1.5 pts)

c. Assume the organism can only follow the pathway you deduced in 30a. Calculate how much net ATP
the organism produces per cell via substrate-level phosphorylation if a single cell has 4 molecules of
glucose. Show your work (e.g., conversions from NADH/FADH2) or no credit will be given for your
answer. (1.5 pts)

d. Assume the organism can only follow the pathway you deduced in 30a. Calculate how much net ATP
the organism is producing per cell via oxidative-level phosphorylation if the cell has 4 molecules of
glucose. Show your work (e.g., conversions from NADH/FADH2) or no credit will be given for your
answer. (1.5 pts)

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