Vocabulary #4

Antibiotic: Chemical substances that kill or slow the growth of bacteria

Asexual Reproduction: The reproduction of a living thing from only one parent.

Bacteria: Very small, one-celled monerans.

Biotechnology: The use of living things to solve practical problems.

Blue-green bacteria: small,one-celled monerans that contain chlorophyll and can make their own food.

Capsule : A sticky outer layer produced by bacteria.

Colony : A group of similar cells growing next to each other that do not depend on each other.

Communicable disease : Those that can be passed from one organism to another.

Decomposer : living things that get their food from breaking down dead matter into simpler chemicals.

Endospore : A thick-walled structure that forms inside a bacterial cell.

Fission : The process of one organism dividing into two organisms.

Flagellum : A whiplike thread used for movement by bacteria.

Host : An organism that provides food for a parasite.

Interferon : A chemical substance that interferes with the way viruses reproduce.

Koch’s postulates : Steps for proving that a disease is caused by a certain microscopic organism.

Parasite : An organism that lives in or on another living thing and gets food from it

Pasteurization : The process of heating milk to kill harmful bacteria.

Saprophyte : Organisms that use dead materials for food.

Vaccine : Substances made from weakened or dead viruses that protect you against certain diseases.

Virus : A chromosome-like part surrounded by a protein coat.