MI

CROORGANI
SMS:
QUESTI
ON/
ANSWERS

Whatisami
croor
gani
sm?
Sol
uti
on:

Amicroorganism i
sat
inyorgani
sm whi
chcanonl
ybeseent
hroughami
croscope.Exampl
e:bact
eri
a,v
irus,
pr
otozoa,algaeandf
ungi.

Quest
ion:2
Namet hefi
vegr
oupsintowhichmi cr
oorganismsar edi
vi
ded.Whichofthesehaveonlyuni
cel
lul
arorgani
sms?
Sol
uti
on:
Thefi
vegroupsi
ntowhichmicroorganismsar edivi
dedarebact
eri
a,vi
rus,pr
otozoa,
algaeandfungi
.
Bact
eriaandpr
otozoahaveonlyunicell
ularorgani
sms.

Quest
ion:3
Namet hethr
eet
ypesofbact
eri
ashowni
nthi
sfi
gur
e.

Solut
ion:
Thethreetypesofbact
eri
ashowni
nthi
sfi
gur
ear
e:
a)cocci
b)bacil
li
c)spir
il
la

Question:
4
Whatki ndofl
ivi
ngorganismsareclassi
fiedasalgae?Givetwoexamples.
Solut
ion:
Si
mpl eplant
-l
ikeor
ganismst hathavecellwal
lsandchlorophy
llar
eclassi
fi
edasal
gae.Theyl
ackr
oot
s,st
emsorl
eav
es,
butareabletomaket heirownfoodthroughtheprocessofphotosy
nthesi
s.
Twoexampl esofalgaear eSpi
rogyr
aandFucus.

Quest i
on:5
Underwhatci r
cumst ancescanvi
rusesr
epr
oduce?
Soluti
on:
Virusescanreproduceonlywhentheyarei
nsi
dethel
iv
ingcel
lofanor
gani
sm.Theymul
ti
plywi
tht
hehel
pof
resourcesfr
om thehostcell.

Question:
6
Giveoneimportantuseofal
gae.
Solut
ion:
Algaeproduceoxygenduri
ngphotosy
nthesi
sthatani
mal
sandhumansusedur
ingr
espi
rat
ion.
Question:7
Howdoescool inghelpi
nfoodpreser
vati
on?
Sol
ution:
Cooli
nghel psi
nfoodpreser
vat
ionasmi croor
gani
smsarenotabl
etogr
owandr
epr
oduceatl
owert
emper
atur
es.
Thus, f
oodispreser
vedandmicrobi
algrowthispr
event
ed.

Question:
8
Whatcausesf oodpoi
soni
ng?
Soluti
on:
Microorganismsgrowonf oodsubst
ancesandpr
oducet
oxi
ns,
tur
ningf
oodpoi
sonous.Suchspoi
ltf
ood,
whenconsumed,
causesf oodpoisoni
ng.
Question:
9
Whati spasteuri
zati
on?
Solut
ion:
Heati
ngmi lkt oahightemperat
ureof70degr
eecel
ciusf
orabout30secondsandthencooli
ngi
tqui
ckl
yisknownas
pasteuri
sation.Thismethodki
ll
smostofthebact
eri
apresenti
nthemil
kandpreserv
esit.

SHORTANS.
TYPEI
IQUESTI
ONS

Question:
1
Howdoesmosqui tohelpinspr
eadi
ngv i
ruses/
mi croor
ganisms?
Soluti
on:
Mosqui t
oessuchasf emaleAnophelesandAedesar ecarri
ersofgermsthatcausemalar
iaanddenguef
ever,
respecti
vely.Whenthesemosquit
oesbi t
eahealthyperson,theyi
njectt
hegermsint
ohisbody.Thusmosquit
oes
spreadv i
rusesandotherdi
sease-
causingmicroorgani
sms.

Question:2
Microorganismsarefoundeveninplaceswher
enootherlif
eformscanexist
.Whatmakesmi cr
oorganismsso
hardy?
Soluti
on:
Microorganismsarefoundev eninplaceswherenootherli
feformscanexist.Theyfor
m ahar dout ercov
eri
ng
call
edacy staroundthemselvesthatmakesthem hardy.Underunf
avourablecir
cumstances,theysurvi
veby
remaininginsi
dethecysti
nani nacti
vefor
m.

Quest i
on:3
Whi chmicroorgani
sm isusedtomakebr eadsoftandfluf
fy?Discusshowthishappens.
Soluti
on:
Yeastisusedt omakebr eadsoftandfluffy.Whenyeastismixedwi t
hthefl
ourformakingbread,
itbr
eaksdownsugar
andpr oducesalcoholandcarbondioxidegas.Whent hebreadisbeingbaked,car
bondioxi
degasescapesduet
ot he
heat,causingthebreadtobecomesof tandf l
uffy.

Quest
ion:4
Whatisferment
ation?Discussit
suseinmaki ngalcoholi
cbever
ages.
Sol
uti
on:
Theconversi
onofsugari ntoal
coholbyyeastisknownasf er
mentati
on.Thi
sprocessi
susedintheprepar
ati
onof
al
coholi
cbeveragesli
kebeerandwi ne.Beerisproducedbythefer
mentati
onofsugari
ngerminat
ingbarl
eyandwine
i
spreparedbyfermentationofsugari
ngrapes.

Question:
5
Howdov i
rusescausedi seases?
Sol
ut i
on:
Avirusenterstheli
vingcellofanor ganism andusest her
esour
cesinsi
dethehostcellfori
tsreproducti
on.Itdupli
cat
es
i
tselfandthenthehostcel ldiesandf i
nall
ybursts.Thenewlyf
ormedv i
rusr
eleasedfrom thatcel
lstart
si nvadi
ngthe
othercel
ls.Thisprocessisrepeatedandi nt hi
sway ,manycel
lsoft
hehostorganism aredestroyed.Aslargenumbers
ofhostcellsaredestroyed,thepersonbecomesi l
l.

Question:
6
Howdoesav accinework?
Solut
ion:
Vaccinesarepr oducedfrom deadorweakenedmicroorgani
smssuchasbact eri
aorav ir
us.Whenvacci
nesare
admi ni
ster
edt oaper son,hi
sbodyproducesanti
bodieswhichfi
ghtagainstpathogens.Theseant
ibodi
esremaini
nsi
de
thebodyandpr ovideprot
ecti
onfrom anyf
utur
eattackbythatpart
icul
armi croorgani
sm.
Quest
ion:
7
Howdoessal tpr
eventfoodspoil
age?
Sol
uti
on:
Whensaltisaddedtofood,i
tforcest
hemicr
oorganismstol
osewaterbytheprocessofosmosi
s.Thus,
micr
oorganismsarenotabletogrowint
hefood.Inthi
sway,sal
tpr
event
sf oodspoil
age.

Question:8
Whatis' dehy
drati
on'offood?Inwhatwayisthistechniqueuseful
?
Solut
ion:
Dehydrationoffoodmeanst heremovalofwaterfrom food.I
tisdonebydryi
ngthefood.Waterisamedi
um r
equir
edfor
thegrowt hofmicroor
ganisms.Thus,t
histechni
quei susefulasi
tstopst
hegrowthofmi cr
oorgani
smsi
nthefood.

Quest ion:
9
Whi chmi croorganismsactasdecomposer s?Howi sthisactivi
tyusefultous?
Solut i
on:
Bact eri
a,protozoaandf ungiactasdecomposers.Thesedecomposer sbreakdownor ganicmatterpresenti
nthe
bodi esofdeadpl antsandani mal
sintosi
mplesubst ancesandmi xt hem i
nt hesoi
l.Aplantgr
owi nginthi
ssoil
absor bsthenut ri
entsandpassesthem totheanimalst hatconsumet heplantproduct
s.Thus,these
mi croorganismsactasdecomposer sandhelpinrecycli
ngt henutr
ientsinthesoil
.

LONG-
ANSWERQUESTI
ONS

Quest ion:1
Whyar ev ir
usesconsideredtobeont heborderl
ineoft hel
iv
ingandnon- l
iv
ing?
Solution:
Virusesdonotgr oworr eproducebythemselves,whichmakest hem non-l
ivi
ng.However,whenavir
usenterst
he
l
iv i
ngcel lofanorganism, i
tmakesuseoft her esourcesi
nthehostcellandstart
sreproduci
ng.Thi
smakesv i
ruses
l
iv i
ng, asreproducti
onisani mport
antcharacterist
icofali
vingorgani
sm.Duet othi
s,vir
usesareconsi
deredt
obeon
thebor derl
ineoftheli
vingandnon-l
ivi
ng.

Quest ion:2
Discusst hr
eeimport
antwaysi
nwhichbacter
iaar
eusefult
ousandt
woway
sinwhi
cht
heyar
ehar
mful
.
Solution:
Thet hr eeimport
antwaysi
nwhichbact
eri
aareusefult
ousare:

1)Formati
onofcur d:Whenasmal lamountofcurd(knownasst art
er)i
saddedt omi l
k,thebacter
iaknownas
Lactobaci
ll
us,convertthemil
kintocurd.
2)Nitr
ogenfixati
on:ThebacteraknownasRhi
i zobium li
veintherootnodul
esofl eguminousplants.Thesebacter
iaf
ix
theatmosphericnit
rogenandconv ert
siti
ntonit
ratesthatcanbeusedbyt heplants.
3)Retti
ngofjute:Bacteri
ahel
pinsepar at
ingj
utefi
bresf r
om therestoft
hetissuesofthej ut
eplant.Thesefi
bres
areusedinmaki ngvariousar
ti
cles.

Twoway sinwhi chbacter

iaareharmfultousare:
1)Diseases:Bacter
iacausemanydi seasesi
nhumansl i
kechol
eraandty
phoi
d.
2)Foodspoi l
age:Bacter
iaspoi
lfood.Examples:put
ref
acti
onofmeatandrot
ti
ngoff
rui
tsandv
eget
abl
es.

Question:
3
Discussthedi
ffer
entwaysinwhi
chcommunicabl
ediseasesspreadf
rom per
sont
oper son.
Soluti
on:
Communi cabl
ediseasesspr
eadf
rom oneper
sontoanotherthr
oughvar
iousmeans.Theseare:

1)Thr
oughai
r:Whenaper
sonsuffer
ingf
rom col
dorf
lusneezesorcoughs,germsarer
eleasedthatspreadt
hrough
theai
r.
2)Thr
oughcont
aminat
edfoodandwater
:Whenhousefl
iessi
tongarbage,ger
msstickt
ot hei
rbodies.Whenthese
housef
li
essi
tonuncov
eredf
oodorwat
er,
theycont
ami
nat
ethef
oodorwat
erbyt
ransf
err
ingt
heger
ms.
 3)Throughmosquitoes:Mosquitoessuchast
hef emaleAedescarrygermsthatcausedengue
fev
er.
4)Throughcutsandwounds:Mi crobesal
soenterourbodythr
oughcut sorwounds.
5)Throughdir
ectcontact
:Diseasessuchaschi
ckenpoxcanspr eadthroughdi
rectcont
actfr
om an
i
nfectedperson.

Quest ion:4
Discussf iv
emet hodsoff oodpr eservat i
on.
Solution:
Thef ollowi ngaret hefivemethodsoff oodpr eservation:
1)Heat ing:Whenf oodisheat edathi ght emper ature,allthemi croorganismspresentinitare
dest r
oy ed.
2)Past eurisati
on:Inthismet hod, milkisheat edatahi ght emper aturefor30secondsandt hen
quickl ycool ed.Thisprocesski l
lsthemi croorganismspr esenti nmi l
k.
3)Cool i
ng:I tpreventsthegrowt handr eproduct i
onofmi croor gani
smsbecause
mi croor ganismsar enotablet or eproduceatl owt emper atures.
4)Dr y i
ng:Thi sprocessr emov eswat erf rom food.Si nce,mi croorganismsneedwat erforthei
r
growt h, dryingfoodpr event
st hegr owt hofmi cr
oor ganisms.
5)Canni ng:I nthi
smet hod,foodi sst eri
li
sedandt hencannedi nairti
ghtcontai
ners.This
prevent st hegr owthofmi cr
oor ganisms.