Test 3 Biol 687 Microbial Ecology Spring 1992
Name____________________________
1. Briefly describe the Biolog system that Dr. Marchin used to identify microbial environmental isolates. (5)
2. Give three methods for estimating microbial biomass and briefly give advantages and disadvantages of each (9).
3. Describe how both partners benefit from a mycorrhizal interrelationship. (4)
4. Describe the mutual benefits to the phycobiont and the mycobiont in a lichen. (4)
5. Distinguish between the methods used by evolutionarily advanced termites, and those by less advanced termites for processing cellulose. (4)
6. What are the possible explanations for the evolution of bioluminescence? (5)
7. Fill in the Table (5)
|
environment |
aspect |
adaptation |
|
ice algae |
low light |
high alpha |
|
hotspring bacteria |
rRNA |
|
|
|
proteins |
increased beta sheets and alpha helix structures to minimize ion shielding effects |
|
|
|
decreased branching, fewer methyl groups, un-saturated |
|
|
low temperature, extreme dryness |
high alpha |
8. What benefit is generally ascribed to the natural microbial populations associated with humans? (4)
9. Discuss considerations that must be made when releasing genetically engineered microorganisms into the environment with regard to establishment of the organisms and transfer of genetic material.(15)
10. A lake has been acidified, describe what you would expect to happen to rates of lignin and cellulose degradation and the rates of sucrose degradation, and how you would estimate total rates of activity and rates of lignin and sucrose degradation. (12)
11. Describe the relative microbial numbers starting at the mouth and moving through the digestive tract with reference the environmental factors. (7)
12. How are Michaelis-Menten uptake kinetics with inhibition and the hydrodynamics of boundary layers and diffusion related to designing bioreactors to decontaminate toxic organic spills? (10)
13. What is the major problem in the study of microbial communities? (2)
14. What major groups of organisms tend to dominate in extreme environments? (2)
15. Microbes are the most important organisms in most biological aspects of nutrient cycling (True/false)? (2)
16. How do legumes protect Rhizobia from oxygen, and why? (2)
17. What aspects of this course do you think could be improved, and how should I do it? (2)
18. What topics were your favorite topics and probably deserved more attention? (2)
19. Were there any topic that you would like to have seen discussed that were not, and any that you think should be left out? (2)
20. Give the equations for photosynthesis and respiration (2).