30 Questions
What type of bacteria maintains its color after treatment with acid solutions?
Acid-fast bacilli
What is the purpose of an agar slant?
To solidify agar at an angle for bacterial growth
What is the term for a routine used to prevent contamination and maintain sterility?
Aseptic technique
What is the study of bacteria called?
Bacteriology
What is the term for tiny bacteria that are intracellular parasites, responsible for causing a sexually transmitted disease?
Chlamydia
What is the purpose of Gram's stain?
To differentiate between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria
What is the term for a mass of bacteria growing on a medium?
Colony
What is the term for the introduction of microorganisms to a medium?
Inoculation
What is the term for a wire with a loop at one end and a handle on the other, heated and used to inoculate or transfer bacteria?
Inoculation loop
What is the purpose of a calibrated loop?
To plant urines
What is the primary purpose of performing pH tests on prepared media?
To ensure the medium supports optimal microbial growth
What is the purpose of incubating a representative sample of each lot/batch of medium?
To test for sterility
What type of medium is used to enhance the growth of pathogens while inhibiting normal flora?
Enrichment medium
What is the purpose of performing growth performance tests on prepared media?
To evaluate the medium's ability to support microbial growth
What type of medium is Mueller Hinton (MH) agar?
Supportive/Basal medium
What is the purpose of stability testing?
To determine if storage conditions affect the medium's performance
What type of medium is MacConkey's agar?
Differential medium
What is the purpose of discarding prepared media with pH values outside the specified range?
To ensure optimal microbial growth
What is the purpose of using enrichment media, such as blood agar, in microbiology?
To inhibit the growth of normal flora and enhance the growth of pathogens
What is the purpose of using selective media, such as Salmonella-Shigella (SS) agar?
To inhibit the growth of some microorganisms and enhance the growth of others
What is the purpose of a transport media in microbiology?
To preserve the microorganisms during transportation to the lab
Which type of microorganism is responsible for septicemia?
Bacteria
What is the term for the study of fungi?
Mycology
What is the purpose of a Petri dish in microbiology?
To hold media for bacterial growth
What is the term for microorganisms that are normally found in the human body?
Normal Flora
What is the purpose of adding charcoal to Amies Transport Media?
To neutralize toxic materials
What is the term for the study of viruses?
Virology
What is the purpose of quality control of media in microbiology?
To ensure the media is free of contaminants
What is the term for disease-causing microorganisms?
Pathogens
What is the purpose of a mordant in microbiology?
To cause dye to stick to an object
Study Notes
Microbiology Basics
- Acid-fast bacteria (AFB) maintain their color after acid treatment, e.g., tuberculosis and leprosy.
- Acid-fast stain, such as Ziehl-Neelsen stain, is used to identify AFB.
Microbiology Terminology
- Aerosol: a spray of fine particles in the air.
- Agar: an extract of seaweed used to grow bacteria.
- Agar plate: a sterile petri dish with solidified agar.
- Agar slant: a tube with solidified agar at an angle.
- Anaerobe: an organism that grows without oxygen.
Bacteria and Microorganisms
- Bacillus: rod-shaped bacteria.
- Bacteria: one-celled microorganisms.
- Bacteriology: the study of bacteria.
- Chlamydia: tiny, intracellular parasites causing sexually transmitted diseases.
Microbiology Techniques
- Aseptic technique: a routine to prevent contamination and maintain sterility.
- Culture: the act of growing bacteria on media.
- Culture and Sensitivity (C&S): growing a microorganism and testing for effective antibiotics.
- Gram's stain: a method to differentiate between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
- Inoculation: introducing microorganisms to media using an inoculation loop.
Microbiology Terms
- Cocci: spherical-shaped bacteria.
- Colony: a mass of bacteria growing on media.
- Medical Microbiology: the study of living microorganisms causing human infections and diseases.
- Media: a solid or liquid substance containing nutrients for growing bacteria.
- Mordant: a substance that helps dye stick to an object, e.g., iodine.
- Mycology: the study of fungi.
- Normal Flora: bacteria normally found in the body, e.g., staph on skin, E. coli in the colon.
- Parasite: an organism that lives off another living creature, e.g., tape worm.
- Parasitology: the study of parasites.
Microbiology Concepts
- Pathogens: disease-causing microorganisms.
- Petri Dish: a flat, plastic plate with a cover holding media.
- Septicemia: the presence of microorganisms in the blood.
- Spirilla: spiral-shaped microorganisms.
- Sputum: mucous secretions from the lungs.
- Transport media: used to transport microorganisms to the lab for culture, keeping them alive.
Microbiology Studies
- Bacteria, fungi, parasites, rickettsiae, and viruses are studied in microbiology.
- Rickettsiae: tiny bacteria resembling both bacteria and viruses, requiring a host cell to survive, e.g., typhus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Microbiology Laboratory
- Microbiology department: identifies organisms causing illnesses in the lab.
- Nosocomial infection: an infection spread in a healthcare facility, also called Healthcare-associated infection (HAI).
- Patient instructions for C&S: include expiration date, patient information, and collection procedures.
Microbiology Media
- Media consists of amino acids, sugars, minerals, salts, and vitamins, and may contain cooked blood, meat, milk, etc.
- Media types:
- Supportive/basal media: provides minimum requirements for growth, e.g., Mueller Hinton (MH).
- Enrichment media: inhibits normal flora growth and enhances pathogen growth, e.g., chocolate agar, blood agar.
- Selective media: inhibits some organism growth while enhancing others, e.g., Salmonella-Shigella (SS), Mannitol salt agar for staph aureus.
- Differential media: has indicators that some bacteria use, e.g., MacConkey's.
Test your knowledge of microbiology terminology, including acid-fast bacilli, agar, and more. Learn the definitions of these important terms and how they're used in the field.
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