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Microbiology — Essentials for Health Sciences flashcards

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Cell structure, Gram and acid-fast staining, growth and culture media, sterilization and disinfection, viruses and prions, fungi and parasites, antibodies and vaccines, the chain of infection, MRSA and C. difficile, and antibiotic action and resistance.

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Learn deck · part of Microbiology for Health Sciences · written against: Standard nursing/allied-health microbiology course; OpenStax Microbiology, consulted as a reference; no text copied. Updated 2026-10-10.

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  1. What is the defining structural difference between a prokaryotic and a eukaryotic cell?
    A prokaryote (bacteria and archaea) has no membrane-bound nucleus or organelles; its DNA sits in an unenclosed region called the nucleoid. Eukaryotes (fungi, protozoa, plants, animals) keep their DNA inside a true nucleus.
    Cell Structure
  2. How do prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomes differ, and why does it matter clinically?
    Prokaryotes have 70S ribosomes (50S + 30S subunits); eukaryotic cytoplasm has 80S (60S + 40S). The difference lets many antibiotics block bacterial protein synthesis while largely sparing human cells.
    Cell Structure
  3. What are the four Gram stain reagents, in order?
    Crystal violet (primary stain), iodine (mordant), alcohol or acetone (decolorizer), then safranin (counterstain).
    Staining & Morphology
  4. By what process do most bacteria reproduce, and how fast can it be?
    Binary fission — one cell copies its DNA and splits into two identical cells. Under ideal lab conditions E. coli can double about every 20 minutes.
    Growth & Culture
  5. How do sterilization, disinfection and antisepsis differ?
    Sterilization destroys all microbial life, including endospores. Disinfection kills or reduces pathogens on inanimate surfaces but may not kill spores. Antisepsis does the same on living tissue, such as skin before an injection.
    Microbial Control
  6. What is the basic structure of a virus?
    A genome of DNA or RNA (never both) inside a protein shell called a capsid, sometimes wrapped in a lipid envelope. Viruses have no ribosomes or metabolism, so they replicate only inside host cells.
    Viruses & Prions
  7. Which feature of fungal cell membranes do many antifungal drugs target?
    Ergosterol, the fungal counterpart of cholesterol. Azoles block its synthesis and amphotericin B binds to it, damaging the fungal membrane while mostly sparing human cells.
    Fungi & Parasites
  8. How does innate immunity differ from adaptive immunity?
    Innate immunity is present from birth, acts within minutes to hours, is nonspecific and has no memory (barriers, phagocytes, inflammation, complement). Adaptive immunity is specific, takes days the first time and builds memory through B and T lymphocytes.
    Immunity & Vaccines
  9. What are Koch's postulates?
    1. Every diseased host carries the microbe; healthy hosts do not.
    2. It is isolated from the host and grown as a pure culture.
    3. The cultured microbe causes the same disease in a healthy susceptible host.
    4. It is recovered again from that host.
    Infection & Epidemiology
  10. How do beta-lactams and vancomycin kill bacteria, and why are they selectively toxic?
    Both block cell wall (peptidoglycan) synthesis: beta-lactams inhibit the penicillin-binding proteins that cross-link it, and vancomycin binds the wall's building blocks. Human cells have no peptidoglycan, so they are spared.
    Antimicrobials & Resistance

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About these cards

Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • OpenStax Microbiology, consulted as a reference; no text copied.
  • Infection-control points checked against CDC hand hygiene, C. difficile, and disinfection and sterilization guidance for health care settings (reference only; all wording is original).

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