Worksheet: Bacteria

Web site name: Cells Alive

Web site address: http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/bactcell.htm
Look at the diagram of a bacterial cell and click on the labels to get details.
1).

What does the Nucleoid contain? __________________________________

2).

Are there more ribosomes or flagellum shown in the diagram? _______

Click on Cell wall

3).

What is the function of the capsule? ________________________________

4).

What is the bacterial cell wall composed of ? _________________________

5).

What shape is a coccus bacterium? _______________________________

6).

What is the function of pili? ___________________________________

Click on Microbiology at the top left of the screen, and then Dividing Bacteria
7).

How do bacteria reproduce? ______________________________________

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8).

Why is the earth not covered with bacteria?

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9).

What happens in the lag phase? _________________________________

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Click on Microbiology at the top left of the screen, and then Parasites
10). Why is Cryptosporidium increasingly important? ____________________
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11). What diseases can Entamoeba cause? _______________________________
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12). There is a rapid influx of ________________ into a contacted cell.

13). Which animal carries Giardia? ______________________________

14). What are the two eyes on Giardia? _____________________________
B)

Web site name: FCCJ

Web site address: http://web.fccj.org/~dbyres/bacteria.html

15). Can most bacteria cause disease? ________________

16). Give an example of a bacterium that cannot live outside human cells:
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17)

What is colonisation resistance? _________________________________

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18). What problems can be caused by taking antibiotics? ___________________

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19). What vitamin is produced by bacteria in the gut? ______________________
20). Why is the stomach usually sterile? ________________________________
21). What are three bacteria found in the small bowel (small intestine)?
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22). Where is E. coli usually found? ___________________________________
23). Who is often infected with Staph. aureus? ___________________________
24). Where are spirochaetes found? ____________________________________
C)

Web site name: University of Kansas

Web site address: http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html

25). What does the E. in E. coli stand for ? ____________________________

26). How much of the bacteria in an adults intestine is E. coli? ___________ %

27). When was Escherichia first isolated and characterized? _______________

28). What parts of the body usually do not contain helpful bacteria?
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29). Which strain of E. coli causes hemorrhaging? ________________________
30). Which toxin does this strain produce? ______________________________
31). What problems, apart from hemorrhaging, does this strain cause to people
who are infected with it? _________________________________________
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D) Web site name: New Scientist magazine
Web URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4054-antibiotic-ban-cuts-drug-resistant-bugs.html
Read Antibiotic ban cuts drug resistant bugs
32). What did the WHO report conclude in August 2003?
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33). Why are low doses of antibiotics used in animal feed? _________________
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34). Which country is the worlds largest exporter of pork? ________________
35). What change was seen in the percentage of Enterococcus that were
antibiotic resistant?
Before the ban: _________ % resistant, after the ban ________ % resistant.
36). List any household items that now routinely contain antibiotics, or other
anti-bacterial chemicals: ______________________________________
E) Web site name: Centers for Disease Control
Web URL: http://www.cdc.gov/std/Chlamydia/STDFact-Chlamydia.htm
37). What serious complications can Chlamydia cause? __________________
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38). Roughly how many infections were there in 2006? ___________________

39). Why are teenage girls and young women at high risk? _________________
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40). How much more likely are women infected with Chlamydia to get infected
with HIV? _____________________
Commercial companies, such as Monsanto, also use bacteria to add genes to crop
plants to produce a transgenic plant. This is often called recombinant DNA,
because it re-combines DNA from different species.
F) Web site name: Monsanto Inc.
Web site address: http://web.fccj.org/~dbyres/monsanto.html
41). What enzymes were needed to help transfer genes between species?
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42). What was the first commercial application of recombinant DNA technology?
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43). Which bacterium is used by Monsanto for introducing genes into plants?
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44). Which crops are hard to grow from single cells? ______________________
45). Roughly what percentage of potato cells accept new genes? __________%
46). What is the difference between traditional plant breeding and plant
biotechnology? ________________________________________________
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47). What is Bacillus thuringiensis ? ___________________________________
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48). How does this bacteria kill pests? __________________________________
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49). Why are chemical insecticides rarely used in Africa? __________________

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Some people are concerned about the process of moving genes from one species to
another ( recombinant DNA or genetic engineering ). The last website looks at
some of the potential problems
G) Web site name: San Francisco State University
Web site address: http://online.sfsu.edu/%7Erone/GEessays/gedanger.htm
Click on one of the essays about Genetic engineering.
50). Which essay did you pick? _______________________________________
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51). Briefly summarize the essay: _____________________________________
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