Structural, Functional, and Genetic Adaptations
Contribute to Prokaryotic Success |
| 1. |
Explain why it might be said that the history of life on Earth is one long “age of prokaryotes.” |
| 2. |
Explain why prokaryotes are unable to grow in very salty or sugary foods, such as cured meats or jam. |
| 3. |
State the function(s) of each of the following prokaryotic features:
a. capsule
b. fimbria
c. sex pilus
d. nucleoid
e. plasmid
f. endospore |
| 4. |
Describe how prokaryotes carry out cellular respiration when they lack compartmentalized organelles such as mitochondria. |
| 5. |
List the three domains of life. |
| 6. |
Describe the structure, composition, and functions of prokaryotic cell walls. |
| 7. |
Distinguish the structure and staining properties of gram-positive bacteria from those of gram-negative bacteria. |
| 8. |
Explain why disease-causing gram-negative bacterial species are generally more deadly than disease-causing gram-positive bacteria. |
| 9. |
Explain how the organization of prokaryotic genomes differs from that of eukaryotic genomes. |
| 10. |
Describe the evidence of parallel adaptive evolution found in Lenski’s experiments on E. coli. |
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Nutritional and Metabolic Diversity |
| 11. |
Distinguish, with prokaryotic examples, among photoautotrophs, chemoautotrophs, photoheterotrophs, and chemoheterotrophs. |
| 12. |
Distinguish among obligate aerobes, facultative anaerobes, and obligate anaerobes. |
| 13. |
Explain the importance of nitrogen fixation to life on Earth. |
| 14. |
Describe the specializations for nitrogen fixation in the cyanobacterium Anabaena. |
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A Survey of Prokaryotic Diversity |
| 15. |
Explain why new assays for prokaryotic diversity that do not require researchers to culture microbes have been so fruitful. |
| 16. |
Explain why some archaea are known as extremophiles. Describe the distinguishing features of methanogens, extreme halophiles, and extreme thermophiles. |
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The Ecological Impact of Prokaryotes |
| 17. |
In general terms, describe the role of chemoheterotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes in the cycling of chemical elements between the biological and chemical components of ecosystems. |
| 18. |
Describe the mutualistic interaction between humans and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. |
| 19. |
Distinguish among mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Provide an example of a prokaryote partner in each type of symbiosis. |
| 20. |
Distinguish between exotoxins and endotoxins and give an example of each. |
| 21. |
Describe the evidence that suggests that the dangerous E. coli strain O157:H7 arose through horizontal gene transfer. |
| 22. |
Define bioremediation. Describe two examples of bioremediation involving prokaryotes. |
