- acidophile
- organism with optimal growth pH of three or below
- alkaliphile
- organism with optimal growth pH of nine or above
- ammonification
- process by which ammonia is released during the decomposition of nitrogen-containing organic compounds
- anaerobic
- refers to organisms that grow without oxygen
- anoxic
- without oxygen
- antibiotic
- biological substance that, in low concentration, is antagonistic to the growth of prokaryotes
- biofilm
- microbial community that is held together by a gummy-textured matrix
- biological nitrogen fixation
- conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia exclusively carried out by prokaryotes
- bioremediation
- use of microbial metabolism to remove pollutants
- biotechnology
- any technological application that uses living organisms, biological systems, or their derivatives to produce or modify other products
- Black Death
- devastating pandemic that is believed to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis
- botulism
- disease produced by the toxin of the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum
- CA-MRSA
- MRSA acquired in the community rather than in a hospital
- capsule
- external structure that enables a prokaryote to attach to surfaces and protects it from dehydration
- chemotroph
- organism that obtains energy from chemical compounds
- conjugation
- process by which prokaryotes move DNA from one individual to another using a pilus
- cyanobacteria
- bacteria that evolved from early phototrophs and oxygenated the atmosphere; also known as blue-green algae
- decomposer
- organism that carries out the decomposition of dead organisms
- denitrification
- transformation of nitrate from soil to gaseous nitrogen compounds such as N2O, NO, and N2
- emerging disease
- disease making an initial appearance in a population or that is increasing in incidence or geographic range
- endemic disease
- disease that is constantly present, usually at low incidence, in a population
- epidemic
- disease that occurs in an unusually high number of individuals in a population at the same time
- extremophile
- organism that grows under extreme or harsh conditions
- foodborne disease
- any illness resulting from the consumption of contaminated food, or of the pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or other parasites that contaminate food
- Gram negative
- bacterium whose cell wall contains little peptidoglycan but has an outer membrane
- Gram positive
- bacterium that contains mainly peptidoglycan in its cell walls
- halophile
- organism that require a salt concentration of at least 0.2 M
- hydrothermal vent
- fissure in Earth’s surface that releases geothermally heated water
- hyperthermophile
- organism that grows at temperatures between 80–122 °C
- microbial mat
- multi-layered sheet of prokaryotes that may include bacteria and archaea
- MRSA
- (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) very dangerous Staphylococcus aureus strain resistant to multiple antibiotics
- nitrification
- conversion of ammonium into nitrite and nitrate in soils
- nitrogen fixation
- process by which gaseous nitrogen is transformed, or “fixed” into more readily available forms such as ammonia
- nodule
- novel structure on the roots of certain plants (legumes) that results from the symbiotic interaction between the plant and soil bacteria, and is the site of nitrogen fixation
- nutrient
- essential substances for growth, such as carbon and nitrogen
- osmophile
- organism that grows in a high sugar concentration
- pandemic
- widespread, usually worldwide, epidemic disease
- peptidoglycan
- material composed of polysaccharide chains cross-linked to unusual peptides
- phototroph
- organism that is able to make its own food by converting solar energy to chemical energy
- pilus
- surface appendage of some prokaryotes used for attachment to surfaces including other prokaryotes
- pseudopeptidoglycan
- component of archaea cell walls that is similar to peptidoglycan in morphology but contains different sugars
- psychrophile
- organism that grows at temperatures of -15 °C or lower
- radioresistant
- organism that grows in high levels of radiation
- resuscitation
- process by which prokaryotes that are in the VBNC state return to viability
- S-layer
- surface-layer protein present on the outside of cell walls of archaea and bacteria
- serotype
- strain of bacterium that carries a set of similar antigens on its cell surface, often many in a bacterial species
- stromatolite
- layered sedimentary structure formed by precipitation of minerals by prokaryotes in microbial mats
- teichoic acid
- polymer associated with the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria
- thermophile
- organism that lives at temperatures between 60–80 °C
- transduction
- process by which a bacteriophage moves DNA from one prokaryote to another
- transformation
- process by which a prokaryote takes in DNA found in its environment that is shed by other prokaryotes
- viable-but-non-culturable (VBNC) state
- survival mechanism of bacteria facing environmental stress conditions
- zoonosis
- disease that primarily infects animals that is transmitted to humans