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Biology
Microbiology Study Guide
4.19.11
Answer all of the following on a separate piece of paper. Good news – this is the
second-to-last book assignment of the year! Even better yet, today is exactly
one month from the last day of school!! 
1. List the childhood sicknesses/diseases that you have had. Jot down your
best guess as to whether that disease was caused by a virus or a bacteria.
If you find information that corrects your assumption as you read the
chapter, come back to this question and cross out the incorrect listing.
(Note: You may certainly leave out certain illnesses due to privacy
concerns.)
Ex.
2.
3.
4.
5.



Common cold – virus
Strep throat – bacteria
Etc.
How much smaller are viruses than bacteria?
Why do most biologists consider viruses to be nonliving? Explain.
Why don’t you need to be personally worried about bacteriophages?
Sketch the four main viral shapes and label them. (Bacteriophages,
shown in figure 18.1-D, are definitely my favorite. They’ve been used as
the inspiration for various creatures in sci-fi movies over the years.)
6. Why is the flu virus more difficult to control than the smallpox virus, which
has been largely eradicated?
7. Explain the two different methods that viruses employ to get their DNA
into a host cell for replication.
8. Explain the primary difference between the lytic cycle and the lysogenic
cycle. (Realistically, this should be at least a paragraph in order to
adequately explain the differences.)
9. What is a provirus?
10. Explain in terms of lysogenic and lytic cycles why shingles (an adult
reoccurrence of childhood chicken pox) might show up, causing a painful
infection of the nerve cells. Why the pain? (This is the same reason that
cold sores can show up from time to time for those carrying the virus.)
11. What would you expect to find in a person infected with a retrovirus?
What is the purpose of this enzyme?
12. What is it specifically that actually causes a person with HIV to get sick?
Explain this in terms of the lytic cycle and the purpose of the infected
cells.
13. What is the common characteristic shared by the three forms of
archaebacteria?
14. Sketch a bacterial cell with the basic internal and external characteristics.
15. What are two very simple ways to distinguish between various bacteria?
List the three possibilities for the first characteristic and the two
possibilities along with what they look like for the second.
16. Is binary fission most similar to mitosis or meiosis? Defend your answer.
17. Binary fission does not generally result in genetic diversity, yet bacteria
are incredibly successful organisms and usually genetic diversity is
necessary for biological success. How then are bacteria able to overcome
the limitations of binary fission? (p. 506)
18. What is an endospore and why are they so important to some bacteria?
(Note: This is why boiling water does not kill all bacteria all the time. It is
also why it is recommended that you boil your water for five minutes
when drinking from a stream. A few seconds of boiling water will kill most
bacteria, but not those with endospores. They’re tough little buggers.)
Yes, I know the following comic doesn't have anything to do with bacteria or
viruses. We didn't have a handout for our lesson on sexual selection (the
“problem of the peacock”), and it was just too perfect to not share. 