Question: Describe the characteristics of the two kingdoms of prokaryotes.

Answer: Archaebacteria lack peptidoglycan, and their membrane lipids are quite different. Also, the DNA of key archaebacterial genes are like those of eukaryotes.

Question: What factors can be used to identify prokaryotes?

Answer: They are identified by their shapes, the chemical natures of their cell walls, the ways they move, and the ways they obtain energy.

Question: Give one example of how bacteria maintain equilibrium in the movement.

Answer: Bacteria are vital to maintaining the living world. Some are producers, others are decomposers, and others have human uses.

Question: Identify the parts of a prokaryote.

Answer: Cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, DNA, ribosomes, pili, and flagella

Question: What are some ways that prokaryotes obtain energy?

Answer: Some consume organic molecules made by other organisms, whereas others make their own food from inorganic molecules.

Question: Why might an infection by Gram-negative bacteria be more difficult to treat than a Gram-positive bacterial infection?

Answer: Gram-positive bacteria have only one cell membrane, whereas gram-negative bacteria have a second, outer, layer of lipid and carbohydrates. Therefore, gram-negative bacteria might be more difficult to kill.

Question: What are the parts of a virus?

Answer: A typical virus is composed of a core of either

DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat,

which is called a capsid.

Question: Describe the two ways that viruses cause infection.

Answer: In a lytic infection, a virus enters a cell, makes

copies of itself, and causes the cell to burst. In a lysogenic infection, a virus embeds its DNA into the DNA of the host cell and replicates.

Question: What is the difference between a bacteriophage and a prophage?

Answer: A bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacteria. A prophage is the lysogenic viral DNA that is embedded in the host’s DNA.

Question: What is a retrovirus?

Answer: A retrovirus is a virus that contains RNA.