Viruses:

Key Words:
 Micro-organisms: Organisms that are too small to see with Structure:
the naked eye OR only visible under a microscope  Regular symmetrical shape
 Obligate parasites: Parasites depend on a host  Nucleic acid enclosed in a simple protein coat (aka capsid)
 Pathogenic: Micro-organisms which cause diseases
 Virology: The study of viruses Characteristics:
 Bacteriophages: Viruses that infect bacterial cells
 They are acellular and contain no cytoplasm or organelles
 Transcriptase: Create RNA from a DNA template but with
 No cell structure
mutations
 No metabolic activities can occur
 Mutualistic relationship: Both organisms benefit from the
relationship  Obligate endoparasites as they can only reproduce inside a
 Immunity: The body’s ability to resist infections living host cell
 Host specific: Attacks a specific type of tissue
 Antigen: A foreign substance that enters the body
 They are non-living so antibiotics are ineffective
 Antibody: A protective protein produced by the immune
system MICRO-
 Immunization: The process whereby a person is made Reproduction:
immune or resistant to infectious disease ORGANISMS
 Take over metabolism of host to create copies of itself
 Vaccine: A biological preparation that provides active
acquired immunity to a particular disease
Importance of Viruses:
 Gene therapy: Viruses can target unhealthy tissue in
humans and incorporate the healthy gene into the DNA of
HIV/AIDS (example): these cells
 HIV attacks white blood cells (T4 lymphocytes) and  Vaccines: Attenuated viruses (weakened forms) can be
prevent them from making antibodies used to make vaccines

Symptoms: Ways of Transmission:

 Weight loss  Blood transfusion
 Sweating  Sexual intercourse
 Pneumonia  Sharing hypodermic needles
 Diarrhoea  Mother to child transmission
Treatment:

 PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis)

 ART (Anto-Retroviral Treatment): Stops enzyme revered
transcriptase so that HIV RNA is not changed to HIV DNA.
Not a cure as they do not destroy the HIV but slow down
the reproduction of the HIV
Bacteria: Types of Bacteria:
Structure:  Photosynthetic bacteria: Utilise radiant
energy from the sun
 Cytoplasm:
 Chemosynthetic bacteria: Obtain energy
- Dense and granular but lacks organelles
from the breakdown of chemical
- Ribosomes occur freely in cytoplasm
compound
 DNA/ chromatin material: Concentration of chromatin material
 Heterotrophic bacteria: Feed on organic
in a nucleoid area (aka plasmids)
matter to release energy
 Cell wall: Protection; Made of complex molecules of proteins,
lipids and carbohydrates Useful bacteria:
 Ribosome: Used for protein synthesis
 Cilium/ flagellum: Whip-like cellular out-growth which  Saprophytic bacteria: Feed on dead
facilitates movement (absent in some bacteria) organisms in soil, water or on the
 Slime-capsule: Protects against harmful chemicals in body fluid excretory waste or animals and therefore
of host (absent in some bacteria) ensure the recycling of nutrients
 Cell membrane: Protection; Has many folds (memosomes) that  Nitrogen-fixing bacteria: Found in soil or
increase the surface area to control the entry and exit of nodules on the roots of legumes
substances (mutualism) and convert nitrogen gas, in
the air, into nitrates
Shapes of Bacteria: MICRO-  Symbiotic bacteria: Bacteria live together
with another living organism through


Coccus: Round
Bacillus: Rod-shaped
ORGANISMS mutualism (both organisms benefit) e.g.
Rhizobium, Rumen bacteria, E.coli
 Spirillium: Spiral-shaped
 Genetic engineering: The genetic material
 Vibrio: Comma-shapped
in plasmids can be transferred from one
Characteristics: cell to another, and is used in
experimental work in genetic engineering
 Unicellular, prokaryotic
 May have cilia and/or flagella
 Reproduce through binary fission
Tuberculosis (TB example):
Importance of bacteria:
 Caused by the Mycobacteria tuberculosis
 Role in food chains and food webs  Attacks and destroys lung tissue
 Pathogenic bacteria  Airborne disease
 Role in symbiotic relationships
Symptoms: Tests to confirm TB:
Economic Importance in Biotechnology:
 Weight loss  X-ray of the lungs
 Oil spill clean-up  Sweating at night  TB skin test
 Production of chemicals  Fever  Tissue culture
 Production of hormones  Loss of appetite
Protista: Malaria (example):
Structure:  Caused by the Plasmodium protozoan
 Results in ruptured red blood corpuscles
 Plasma membrane:
 Vector: Anopheles mosquito; It carries the
- Encloses and protects the organism
Plasmodium parasite but is not affected by it
- Allow for gaseous exchange and diffusion to
 Mosquito injects an anti-coagulant to prevent blood
occur
clotting
 Nucleus: Controls the cell activities
 Contractile vacuole: Controls the water balance Symptoms:
within the organism by osmo-regulation
 Food vacuole:  Fever
- Contains food  Headache
- Enzymes for digestion are contained in a  Sweating
lysosome which fuses with the food vacuole  Nausea and vomiting
 Ectoplasm: Outer clear gel-like medium (semi-solid)
Treatment:
 Endoplasm: Inner granular liquid medium
 Lysosome: Contains digestive enzymes  Visit a doctor who will recommend drugs on the
 Pseudopodia: Outward bulges of the cytoplasm that market
is used for locomotion or to engulf food  Treatment must start immediately as symptoms only
(phagocytosis) MICRO- appear 10-14 days after infection

Characteristics: ORGANISMS Prevention:

 Are eukaryotic  Sleep under a mosquito net

 Unicellular  Drain stagnant water from swamps and empty
 Pseudopodia, cilia, flagella (locomotion) containers of rainwater to prevent mosquito breeding
 Aquatic  Spray houses with insecticide at sunset after all
 Reproduce asexually (binary fission/ mitosis) windows are closed
 Install insect screens i=on windows and doors to
Importance:
prevent mosquitos from entering a house
 Organisms found in lakes, dams and oceans are
autotrophic and are able to trap sunlight and convert
it to chemical potential energy. They become a source
of food in aquatic regions Types of Protists:
 Protists are able to maintain the balance between
 Protozoa: Unicellular, Heterotrophic, animal-like
oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the aquatic
 Algae: Plan-like, autotrophic
environment
 Slime moulds: Fungus-like, heterotrophic, decomposers
 Some parasitic protists cause diseases in plants and
 Diseases: Trypano-soma (e.g. sleeping sickness, Amoebic
animals
dysentery, Bilharzia/ Schistomiasis)
Fungi:
Structure:
 Hyphae: Tube-like filamentous structures
 Mycelium
 Mycelium: Collective term for the mass of
threads of bread mould
 Rhizoids: Hyphae that penetrate the substance
(e.g. bread)
 Sporangiophores: Upright growing structure that
hold the sporangia
 Sporangia: Produce spores for asexual
reproduction
 Stolons: Hyphae that grow horizontally
 Aseptate: The absence of cross walls
 Columella: A cross wall that separates the
sporangium from the hyphae
 Thallus: Unspecialised plant body OR Has no true
roots, stems and leaves
Characteristics:
 Hyphae walls are made of fungal chitin
 Saprophytes: Secrete digestive enzymes into
organic matter, digesting and absorbing nutrients
from the substrate
Economic Importance:
 Mushroom provide a food source for many
people
 Some fungi are used to produce antibiotics e.g.
penicillin (Penicillium notatum)
 Pathogenic fungi can cause diseases in plants
and animals
 Industries that use fungi in the manufacturing of
consumer products, create jobs for many people
Examples:
Candidiasis (Thrush):
 Caused by the Candida fungi, especially Candida albicans
 Affects moist surfaces around lips, inside of cheeks, tongue
and palate
 Symptoms: Curd-like white patches inside the mouth,
which can be sensitive and painful
 Other Types: Oesophagitis, Cutaneous (skin) Candidiasis
 Treatment:
- Gargling mouth with ant-fungal mouthwash
- Applying anti-fungal medication
Athlete’s foot and Ring Worm
 Ring worm: Tinea corporis
 Athlete’s foot: Tinea pedis
 Symptoms: Red itchy patches, white flakey skin that peels
MICRO- off, blisters and bleeding if untreated

ORGANISMS 
Treatment: Anti-fungal cream
Prevention: Wash your feet everyday, dry your feet well,
especially in between toes
Rusts (Plant disease):
 Symptoms:
- Begin as small yellow spots on leaves and stem of
plants
- Elongated orange pustules form on the undersurface
of the leaves and later turn reddish-brown
- The upper surface of the leaves develop yellow to
orange spots with reddish centres
Prevention:
 Plant disease-free turf or seeds
 Treat seeds and equipment used for planting with
fungicide before planting starts
 Plant rust-resistant varieties

Immunity:
Types:
 Natural Immunity: The body’s inherent ability
to produce antibodies and fight diseases
 Acquired Immunity:
- Passively Acquired: Does not use the
person’s own immune system. Obtained
from breast milk or ready-made
antibodies supplied in a serum
- Actively Acquired: Obtained through
natural infection of vaccination as the
body itself produces appropriate
antibodies
Advantages:
 Better to prevent people from falling ill that to
have to treat them once they are ill
 Suffering, disability and death can be avoided
 Certain diseases can and have been eradicated
by immunization
Types of Vaccines:
 Live ‘attenuated’ vaccines: Micro-organisms
that have been altered in such a way as to
render them incapable of producing infectious
disease but capable of stimulating an immune
response. Require a primary course of
immunization
 Inactive vaccines: Dead micro-organisms that
can still produce an immune response.
Require a primary course of immunization
Defence Mechanisms Against Infections:
Animals:
 Protective Proteins: When viruses infect an animal cell, the
infected cell produces a protein called interferon, which
binds receptors in non-infected cells to prevent the virus
from eating these healthy cells
 Phagocytic WBC: Should microbes gain entry in the body,
white blood cells in the body that are phagocytic surround
the foreign body and engulfs them
Plants:
 Hypersensitive Response (HR): Infected cells die
immediately
 Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR): The plant becomes
immune to a pathogen by producing a chemical that
prevent further infection
MICRO-
ORGANISMS
Barriers to Entry:
Animals:
 The skin and the mucus membrane lining the digestive and respiratory tract
 The secretion of sebum (oil) by the sebaceous glands of the skin
 The acidic pH (hydrochloric acid) in the stomach which inhibits the growth
of many different bacteria
Plants:
 Thick waxy cuticle prevents micro-organisms from entering cell
 Chemical secretions produced by many plants are poisonous preventing
micro-organisms from growing or entering the plant