GLOSSARY OF  MICROBIOLOGICAL TERMS

1. actinomycetes: Gram-positive bacteria that can form branching filaments similar to those of fungal mycelia.

2. amendment: alteration or change, especially for the better, as when adding a soil amendment.

3. autotroph: organism that synthesizes all of their organic molecules from inorganic materials (carbon dioxide, salts, etc.).

4. biogeochemical cycle: the interaction of biological, geological, and chemical components of a larger system.

5. chemoautotroph: organism that uses inorganic molecules for energy production in the synthesis of organic molecules

6. eukaryote: organism whose cells have chromosomes with nucleosomal structure separated from cytoplasm by a nuclear envelope and compartmentalization of functions in cytoplasmic organelles.

7. heterotroph: an organism that requires carbon compounds from other plant or animal sources and cannot synthesize them itself.

8. hypha: (plural-hyphae):  long filaments of cells in fungi or actinomycetes.

9. inoculum: cells added to start a culture.

10. microbial succession: selection and development of sequential microbial populations in natural or disturbed systems.

11. microenvironment: the immediate physical and chemical surroundings of a microorganism  (also referred to as microsite or microzone).

12. mycelium: mass of hyphae that constitutes the vegetative part of a fungus (the conspicuous part in most cases is the fruiting body).

13. photoautotroph: organism that uses light for energy in synthesis of organic molecules.

14. prokaryote: organism with a simple DNA chromosome without a nuclear membrane and possessing a small range of organelles.  Examples are bacteria and cyanobacteria.

15. psychrophile: organism that thrives at low temperatures.

16. remineralization: breakdown of previously fixed carbon into carbon dioxide.

17. thermophile: organism that thrives at high temperatures.

18. titration: A method, or the process, of determining the strength of a solution, or the concentration of a substance in solution, in terms of the smallest amount of it required to bring about a given effect in reaction with another known solution or substance, as in the neutralization of an acid by a base.

18. lab mentor: one who can successfully design, and implement in three days, a true research experiment for a group of people with no background in the field of interest and whose general science knowledge was current no less than ten years ago.