Name _______________________________ Period _____

Bacteria and Viruses Exam

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. The figure above shows how prokaryotes can be identified by

a. the composition of their cell walls. c. their cell shapes.
b. their reaction to the Gram stain. d. their methods for obtaining energy.

____ 2. Which cell shape in the above figure is called a coccus?

a. A c. C
b. B d. none of the above

____ 3. Bacilli, cocci, and spirilla are

a. Gram stains. c. methods of prokaryotic movement.
b. shapes of prokaryotes. d. ways that prokaryotes obtain
energy.

____ 4. Most prokaryotes are

a. heterotrophs. c. chemoautotrophs.
b. photoautotrophs. d. photoheterotrophs.

____ 5. Bacteria are sometimes called nature’s recyclers because they

a. undergo conjugation.
b. break down nutrients in dead matter.
c. can switch between respiration and fermentation.
d. carry out photosynthesis.

____ 6. Humans use bacteria to

a. clean up small oil spills. c. synthesize drugs.
b. mine minerals from the ground. d. all of the above
____ 7. The outer protein coat of a virus is called a
a. DNA core. c. bacteriophage.
b. capsid. d. tail sheath.

____ 8. All viruses are made of proteins and

a. nucleic acids. c. bacteriophages.
b. prophages. d. endospores.

____ 9. The instructions for making new copies of a virus are

a. a part of a virus’s capsid.
b. coded in surface proteins attached to the protein coat.
c. coded in either RNA or DNA.
d. found only in bacteriophages.

____ 10. What is the basic structure of a virus?

a. DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat
b. a capsid surrounded by a protein coat
c. a tail sheath surrounded by tail fibers
d. a tiny cell surrounded by a cell wall

____ 11. Bacteriophages infect

a. other viruses. c. any available host cell.
b. bacteria only. d. cells undergoing the lytic cycle.

____ 12. Bacteria that cause disease are called

a. viruses. c. endospores.
b. pathogens. d. antibiotics.

____ 13. Which of the following diseases is NOT caused by a bacterium?

a. tooth decay c. AIDS
b. tuberculosis d. Lyme disease

____ 14. Food stored in a refrigerator will keep longer because the bacteria that spoil food
a. die at low temperatures.
b. take longer to multiply at low temperatures.
c. require light to live.
d. grow more slowly in the dark.

____ 15. Which of the following will NOT kill bacteria?

a. refrigeration c. chemical disinfection
b. boiling d. frying
____ 16. Which of the following is NOT a viral disease?
a. botulism c. measles
b. AIDS d. polio

____ 17. Viral diseases can be

a. treated with antibiotics and prevented with vaccines.
b. treated with vaccines and prevented with antibiotics.
c. prevented with antibiotics but not treated with vaccines.
d. prevented with vaccines but not treated with antibiotics.

____ 18. Viruses cause disease by

a. producing toxins that harm the body.
b. reproducing independently inside the body.
c. forming endospores in the body.
d. disrupting the body’s normal equilibrium.

Modified True/False
Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false. If false, change the identified word or
phrase to make the sentence or statement true.

____ 19. The structure labeled D in the above figure is called a tail fiber.

_________________________

____ 20. Another name for the structure labeled A in the above figure is head.

_________________________

____ 21. The structure labeled A in the above figure helps attach this virus to a host cell during a
lytic infection.

_________________________
Completion
Complete each sentence or statement.

22. In human intestines, bacteria help the body make ____________________.

23. A chemical solution that is used in hospitals to kill bacteria is called a(an)

____________________.

Short Answer

24. Identify structures A through F in the above figure.

25. A container of yogurt from your local supermarket has the following information on its
package: “Contains active cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus.” What does this information
mean?
26. Describe three ways in which humans use bacteria.

27. What are three foods that have been made using bacteria?

28. Following a flood, people are often advised to boil their drinking water.
Explain why this is necessary.

29. Describe three ways in which bacteria can be controlled.

30. What does the above figure represent?

31. Look at both cycles shown in the above figure. During which cycle is the host cell
destroyed?

32. Each stage of the cycles shown in the above figure is labeled with a letter. Which letter
indicates the stage at which the bacteriophage’s DNA becomes a part of the host cell’s
DNA?

33. Which letter in the above figure indicates the stage at which a host cell begins producing
new bacteriophages?

34. Which letter in the above figure indicates the stage at which a bacteriophage injects its
DNA into a host cell?
Essay

35. A student heated 400 mL of milk to 81°C for 15 minutes. Then, he added a teaspoon of
yogurt to the milk and incubated the mixture at 39°C for 24 hours. At the end of 24 hours,
the milk had become thicker in consistency, and its pH had decreased. What do you think
happened to the milk? Why was the milk heated before the yogurt was added?

36. Compare and contrast a virus with a cell.

37. Contrast a bacterial infection with a viral infection.

Bacteria and Viruses – Teacher Answer Key (guide)
© Lisa Michalek
MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. C 7. B 13. C

2. C 8. A 14. B

3. B 9. C 15. A

4. A 10. A 16. A

5. B 11. B 17. D

6. D 12. B 18. D

MODIFIED TRUE/FALSE

19. T

20. T

21. F, D

COMPLETION

22. vitamins

23. disinfectant

SHORT ANSWER

24. A: cell wall; B: cell membrane; C: ribosome; D: pili; E: DNA; F: flagellum

25. The container of yogurt contains living bacteria cultures of the species Lactobacillus
bulgaricus.

26. Accept any three of the following uses: producing foods, cleaning up oil spills, removing
wastes from water, mining minerals, cleaning up sewage, and synthesizing drugs and
chemicals.

27. Answer should include any three of the following: cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream,
pickles, sauerkraut, and vinegar.

28. Boiling water will kill any bacteria that might have contaminated the water supply.
 29. Accept any three of the following: sterilization by subjecting to high heat; chemical
disinfection; refrigeration; and preserving food by canning or treating foods with chemicals
such as salt, vinegar, or sugar.

30. The figure represents the infection cycles of a lysogenic virus.

31. The host cell is destroyed during the lytic cycle.

32. C

33. E

34. G

ESSAY

35. When the yogurt containing bacteria was added to the milk and incubated, the milk
provided a source of food for the bacteria and the increase in temperature provided an
ideal condition for the growth of bacteria. As the bacteria grew, they produced lactic acid,
which caused the milk to become thicker in consistency and the pH to become more acidic.
The milk was heated prior to adding the yogurt in order to destroy any bacteria that may
have been present in the milk.

36. Unlike cells, viruses are inert particles of nucleic acid, protein, and sometimes lipids.
Viruses cannot reproduce independently of a living host cell, and they are not generally
considered living. Most viruses are surrounded by an outer protein coat, called a capsid
that is sometimes studded with surface proteins. Similarly, cells are surrounded by a cell
membrane (which is studded with proteins and surface carbohydrates) or a cell wall. Like
cells, viruses share the same genetic code, contain genes made of nucleic acid, can
reproduce using cellular organelles, and evolve over time.

37. Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria either breaking down the body’s tissues for food
or releasing harmful toxins into the body. A viral infection results when viruses infect body
cells, take over their cellular functioning, and begin replicating themselves. In the process,
viruses can destroy body cells. Antibiotics are effective in treating bacterial infections, but
not in treating viral infections.