Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. These tiny organisms play a critical role in many aspects of life on Earth, from maintaining the balance of ecosystems to providing essential products like antibiotics and food. Microbiology also has a crucial role in medicine, where it is used to diagnose, prevent and treat infections. However, not everyone is aware of the interesting trivia and facts surrounding microbiology. Here are a few examples of microbiology trivia questions that might test your knowledge:
- Who discovered bacteria and named them?
- What are the three main categories of microorganisms?
- What was the first antibiotic discovered and by whom?
- What is the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?
- What is the name of the disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis?
These are just a few examples of the many fascinating facts and trivia related to microbiology. Whether you're a student of biology or just someone who is curious about how these tiny organisms affect our world, these questions can be a fun and interesting way to learn more about the field of microbiology.
143 Microbiology Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- An anoxic environment wouldn’t be great for humans, but certain organisms thrive in them. Anoxic means that which element needed by most life to survive is absent?
Answer: Oxygen
- A microscopic organism that is a microaerophile is most stable at a very low level of what atmospheric element, atomic number 8?
Answer: Oxygen
- What bacterium, better known in its partially abbreviated name, is Gram-negative and rod-shaped? It had a famous outbreak in 1993 when “Jack In The Box” inadvertently spread it across four states.
Answer: E. Coli
- Also called a "molecular machine," what organelle found in the cytoplasm of living cells builds proteins from amino acids?
Answer: Ribosome
- Beginning with L are which molecules that are the primary building blocks of the plasma membrane in cells?
Answer: Lipids
- Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial species known for causing what infectious disease that is spread by ticks in the genus Ixodes?
Answer: Lyme Disease
- The most common DNA test used for paternity testing is performed by collecting buccal cells, which are found in what specific body part?
Answer: Cheek
- The varicella-zoster virus causes skin outbreaks in children, and in 1995 the FDA approved a vaccine to prevents its infection. What's the common name for the disease this virus causes?
Answer: Chicken pox
- There are non-image-forming ganglion cells in the human eye (and other mammals) that are still photosensitive and receive light signals that can help regulate and suppress the production of what "M" hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake schedule?
Answer: Melatonin
- All amino acids contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and what other element that starts and ends with the same letter?
Answer: Nitrogen
- The two subunits of the organelle known as the endoplasmic reticulum are typically abbreviated RER and SER. What do the "R" and "S" stand for in these abbreviations?
Answer: Rough, Smooth
- In the U.S., basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of what type of cancer?
Answer: Skin cancer
- Announced in 2020, the program AlphaFold 2 program became record-settingly good at using AI algorithms to accurately predict the structure of what biomolecules?
Answer: Proteins
- The goal of any operating room is what “A” term, the state of being free from contamination from bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms?
Answer: Aseptic
- TMV, the first virus to ever be identified, is a "mosaic" virus that strikes what New World cash crop represented by the "T" in "TMV?"
Answer: Tobacco
- By what process do cyanobacteria, species of bacteria which are ubiquitous in marine environments, obtain energy? Some species can produce powerful toxins, called cyanotoxins, that can harm people and animals.
Answer: Photosynthesis
- What “P” term refers to a virus, bacteria, or other agent that causes disease?
Answer: Pathogen
- What five-letter word means a single-celled reproductive unit that is capable of giving rise to a new organism without sexual fusion, such as those found in fungi?
Answer: spore
- Which infectious disease that’s spread to humans by mosquito bites is caused by Plasmodium spp?
Answer: Malaria
- What jelly-like substance obtained from the cell walls of red algae is often used as a substrate in Petri dishes?
Answer: Agar
- Methanogens are archaea that produce methane as a byproduct, and are found in locations (including wetlands and the digestive tracts of humans and ruminants such as cows) that are low in or lack what element?
Answer: Oxygen
- A freaky fungus called ophiocordyceps is also known but what “Walking Dead”-esque name, since it changes the behavior of the ants it infects (almost like it’s controlling them)?
Answer: Zombie
- Often appended with "tea" to distinguish it from a culture of bacteria and yeast, what is the fermented, slightly effervescent, sweetened tea drink that is often consumed for purported health benefits? Although its origins are not fully known, it is believed to have originated in China.
Answer: Kombucha
- A unicellular eukaryote called Plasmodium, which develops in blood-feeding insects like mosquitoes and then spreads to vertebrate hosts, is the cause of what deadly disease?
Answer: Malaria
- A widespread system for classifying viruses is named for a researcher with what last name, which also happens to be the city where John Hopkins University and its prestigious medical school is located?
Answer: Baltimore
- Also known as the Brazilian Treatment, what alternative moniker (named after the protein it uses which is naturally found in hair shafts) describes the hair straightening method where the namesake protein is added to the hair and then run over with a hot flat iron? This treatment is known to add shine to hair and lasts for approximately 6 months.
Answer: Keratin
- Amino acids are organic compounds that unsurprisingly contain the amine functional group, and what other functional group do they always contain?
Answer: Carboxyl
- Though zymology spreads out to all sorts of stuff, "Zymurgy Magazine" caters to home hobbyists playing around with yeast to produce what potable stuff?
Answer: Beer
- If you want to distinguish a spirochaete from other bacteria, you can ask "Are you a spirochaete?" or just look for what whippy F-word appendages?
Answer: Flagella
- What four-letter word, now commonly used in microbiology, was coined by Robert Hooke after looking at some cork through a microscope and seeing what looked to him like small rooms found in monasteries?
Answer: Cell
- The bacterium Acetobacter Aceti is used in the production of which acidic condiment?
Answer: Vinegar
- 5-HTP: 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is a naturally occurring amino acid that is a precursor to which neurotransmitter that helps regulate your mood?
Answer: Serotonin
- When a spermatozoon and an ovum love each other very much, they come together to form what alphabetically-disadvantaged cell with a full set of chromosomes?
Answer: Zygote
- If a bacterium is described as "pyogenic," it means that an infection with that bacterium will lead to the production of what icky substance?
Answer: Pus
- Carbon fixation, reduction, carbohydrate formation, and regeneration are the four basic phases of what photosynthesis cycle that's presumably pretty good friends with a comic strip tiger?
Answer: Calvin cycle
- A gigaannum is a term that represents a very long time. One billion years in fact. About 3.5 gigaannumms ago was when what critical process used to convert light energy into chemical energy is estimated to have begun?
Answer: Photosynthesis
- Yeast extracts, which are used as food additives or flavorings, consist of the cell contents of yeast without which structural layer? This structural layer is absent from animal cells.
Answer: Cell wall
- Paternity testing by DNA is considered 99.9% accurate. However, there are rare instances in which individuals have at least two different set of genes rather than one set, which can lead to a false negative test. What is the "mythological" term for these folks?
Answer: Chimera
- What’s the term for an organism that loves and thrives in an environment with a pH under 4?
Answer: Acidophile
- Separating bacteria into 'positive' or 'negative' groups based on their cell wall composition is what 2-word testing method beginning with G?
Answer: Gram stain
- There is a small area at the base of the brain consisting of several groups of nerve cell bodies that is considered the most important part of the brain for sexual functioning. What is this brain portion?
Answer: Hypothalamus
- Pathogenicity means the ability of an infectious organism to cause disease; what V-word means the severity of the symptoms it causes?
Answer: Virulence
- What contagious disease causes symptoms including the formation of small white abrasions called Koplik’s spots and is also known as rubeola and morbilli?
Answer: Measles
- An assay using Salmonella typhimurium bacteria to identify carcinogens by measuring bacterial mutagenicity is known by what A-name?
Answer: Ames
- The highly poisonous blue-ringed octopus warns people to "buzz off" by lighting up super bright rings powered partly by what G-word nucleobase that's in DNA and Monster energy drinks?
Answer: Guanine
- What “A” term refers to a microorganism that requires oxygen to live and grow?
Answer: Aerobe
- What “v” is the name of the infectious entities affecting plants that are smaller than viruses and consist only of nucleic acid without a protein coat?
Answer: Viroids
- Svedbergs, a non-SI unit for sedimentation coefficients, are commonly used to distinguish between which macromolecular machines found within cells? These macromolecular machines are sometimes called Palade granules.
Answer: Ribosomes
- What is the five-letter name of the neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium botulinum? This neurotoxin is used for cosmetic purposes?
Answer: Botox
- Which body of water in Brooklyn is too polluted for humans, but a perfect breeding ground for new microbes?
Answer: Gowanus Canal
- If an infectious microbe is pyrogenic, that means that it causes what condition (defined by the CDC as a body temperature of more than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit in humans)?
Answer: Fever
- In which subdiscipline of microbiology would you study marimo, giant kelp, and other algae?
Answer: Phycology
- Which type of lymphocyte has enzyme-filled particles inside it that get released during an allergic reaction? (Hint: Their name implies that they stain well—a dark purple—with a basic dye).
Answer: Basophil
- Hydrolysis is the process of using which substance to break down polymers into smaller molecules? (Hint: The chemical name is H2O!)
Answer: Water
- Which C-term describes the protective protein coating or “shell” around a virus?
Answer: Capsid
- What fungal microorganism, thanks to its associations with bread and beer, was likely the first organism "domesticated" by human beings?
Answer: Yeast
- What kind of gene transfer, which is abbreviated HGT and is the primary cause of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, is the movement of genetic material between organisms that are not parent and offspring?
Answer: Horizontal Gene Transfer
- You’ve got your organisms with many cells (multicellular) and just one cell (unicellular), so what do you call an organism with no cells?
Answer: Acellular
- What substance causes an immune response in the body that leads to the production of antibodies?
Answer: Antigen
- Macrophages are an example of which type of white blood cell that can engulf a pathogen?
Answer: Phagocytes
- What is the term for the non-protein molecules that an enzyme needs to be a catalyst?
Answer: Cofactor
- What cellular structure consists of liquid or cytoplasm within a lipid bilayer?
Answer: Vesicle
- Which term applies to pathogens that have to eat living plant tissue from a host to survive (rather than killing the host’s cells)?
Answer: Biotrophic
- Austrian pediatrician Theodor Escherich is credited with discovering what disease-bearing bacterium, which still bears his name?
Answer: E. Coli
- What single-cell organisms comprise the third taxonomic domain, along with Bacteria and Eukaryota? Many of these are extremophiles, living in conditions that would not support other life, such as in hot springs and geysers.
Answer: Archaea
- What German scientist founded the field of bacteriology in the 19th century? He also developed a classification system for bacteria and discovered endospores.
Answer: Ferdinand Cohn
- Microorganisms called what are responsible for fixing nitrogen in the soil, in the form of ammonia? This process is vital to allow nitrogen to be available to plants and animals.
Answer: Diazotrophs
- If it’s got a nucleus in its cells but it’s not an animal, plant, or fungus, what is it? (Hint: Algae and flagellates fall into this category of organism)
Answer: Protist
- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) uses to metals to stain objects to be scanned. One of them is gold. What is the other?
Answer: Palladium
- What type of infection is caused by the host’s own microbiome rather than coming from the outside (exogenous)?
Answer: Endogenous
- What two German scientists invented the first electron microscope in 1931, although the microscope was not sufficiently capable to be sold commercially until 1940?
Answer: Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska
- What is the name for dinoflagellates that live in symbiotic relationships with various forms of aquatic life, such as corals and jellyfish?
Answer: Zooxanthellae
- What subdivision of archaea contains both the smallest living cell (1/100th the size of E. coli) and the smallest known genome?
Answer: Nanoarchaeota
- What is the Latin "C" word that is used in English to refer to either an eyelash (when speaking anatomically) or an organelle on eukaryotic cells that projects from a much larger cell body (when speaking microbiologically)?
Answer: Cilium
- A dermatophyte is a fungus that needs what protein found in skin to grow? (Hint: It’s also great for your hair and nails!)
Answer: Keratin
- A microbiologist at UC Berkeley discovered DNA that had aspects of multiple species of bacteria, and named it after what cybernetic villains of “Star Trek: The Next Generation?” They similar build their race by assimilating other species into their own.
Answer: Borg
- Used as a biological maker, green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) were first isolated from what type of marine creature?
Answer: Jellyfish
- A monotrichous organism has only one of what “F” hairlike appendage that protrudes on the side of a microorganism?
Answer: Flagellum
- “Micrographia” is the title of a ground-breaking 1665 book written by which English scientist? A law of elasticity is named after this man, a rival of Isaac Newton.
Answer: Robert Hooke
- Sounding like it might be made of a shiny metal, what is the name of the substance found in chromosomes that is a complex mixture of proteins, DNA, and RNA?
Answer: Chromatin
- In mycology, what is the term for the threads that make up the mycelium of a fungus, which grow apically -- that is, at their tips?
Answer: Hyphae
- The citric acid cycle, by which respiring organisms release energy stored in fats and proteins, is most often named for what German-British biologist?
Answer: Hans Krebs
- What “L” disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by its namesake bacteria? It is somewhat unique in disease nomenclature with its use of the “’s” and the word “Disease” in its full name.
Answer: Legionnaires' Disease
- Microbiologists were hired by Warner Bros. Pictures Canada to create a billboard made of growing bacteria in Petri dishes, which spelled the name of what 2011 pandemic-themed movie directed by Steven Soderbergh?
Answer: Contagion
- In contrast to Gram negative bacteria, Gram positive bacteria have a cell wall with a thicker layer of what substance, which consists of sugars and amino acids?
Answer: Peptidoglycan
- What is the name of the genetic structure in a cell, typically circular in bacteria, that can replicate independently of the chromosomes and which is commonly used as a vector in genetic engineering?
Answer: Plasmid
- Often used to measure the mechanical properties of cells, which type of high-resolution microscopy is commonly abbreviated to AFM?
Answer: Atomic force microscopy
- Which term describes the breaking down of a cell’s membrane after the outer protection has been damaged?
Answer: Lysis
- Molecules are produced from smaller units by anabolic reactions; what opposite type of metabolic pathway breaks molecules down into smaller units, often oxidizing them to produce energy?
Answer: Catabolic
- Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck is credited with the discovery of what microorganisms? In 1898 he showed that tobacco mosaic disease was caused by an infectious agent that was smaller than a bacteria.
Answer: Virus
- What is the name of the taxonomic domain of single-celled organisms that lack cell nuclei, and are distinct from the other two domains of Bacteria and Eukaryota?
Answer: Archaea
- Which “-phile” would you call an extreme organism that just loves livin’ it in up hot springs and those deep-sea, super-hot vents?
Answer: Thermophile
- A team of scientists investigates the effects of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism in what 1969 Michael Crichton novel with a constellation in its name?
Answer: The Andromeda Strain
- Because it processes proteins and sends them to different destinations, which organelle found in most eukaryotic cells is sometimes refered to as the “post office of the cell?"
Answer: Golgi apparatus
- Born in 1822, this French chemist has a type of food preservation process (typically used for items like milk and juice) named after him and is recognized by many as the “Father of bacteriology” and the “Father of microbiology.” Name him.
Answer: Louis Pasteur
- What “P” word describes a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, which feed on organic matter? Historically they were known as “once celled animals” because of their predatory behavior and because they lack plant-like cell walls.
Answer: Protozoa
- Robert Hooke was the first person to see cells when he examined what kind of plant tissue under a microscope? These days you might find it most easily in a wine shop.
Answer: Cork
- Due to the cultural insensitivity and unclear nature in which the source of the disease originated, "monkeypox" was officially renamed by the World Health Organization in 2022 to what abbreviated four-letter term?
Answer: Mpox
- In molecular biology, "mRNA" stands for "messenger RNA." What does the lowercase t in "tRNA," which is involved in bringing amino acids for protein synthesis, stand for?
Answer: Transfer
- Which organelle found in most eukaryotic cells is named after an Italian physician with the first name Camillo who discovered it in 1897?
Answer: Golgi apparatus
- If you wanted to blame a microbe for causing a disease outbreak in the 19th century, you might have used Koch's postulates to prove it. What was the first name of the German doctor the criteria were named for?
Answer: Robert
- Based on a 1962 short film called "La Jetée", what 1995 sci-fi film revolves around a man being sent back in time to help discover a cure for a deadly virus known as Kalavirus?
Answer: 12 Monkeys
- What “B” condition describes the presence of viable bacteria within the blood?
Answer: Bacteremia
- What 17th century English scientist was the first person to visualize a microorganism, using a microscope?
Answer: Robert Hooke
- What trapping agent is used in Gram staining to inhibit the decolorization of stained bacteria?
Answer: Lugol's iodine
- Also known as water bears or moss piglets, what eight-legged micro-animal has a name that means "slow stepper" in Latin?
Answer: Tardigrade
- Which letter of the English alphabet is used when DNA’s structure is “left-handed” instead of right (e.g., A-DNA and B-DNA)?
Answer: Z
- Halophiles are bacteria that need high concentrations of what mineral to survive? They are examples of extremophiles, capable of living under conditions that would not support most life.
Answer: Salt
- Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and kuru are nasty diseases believed to be caused by what misfolded P-word proteins?
Answer: Prions
- What mosquito-borne tropical disease infects up to 500 million people per year, is typically transmitted by the Aedes aegypti, has the alternate name "breakbone fever," and is referred to in a Jin Dynasty Chinese encyclopedia as "water poison"?
Answer: Dengue Fever
- Which bacterium can survive refrigeration temperatures, is often linked to foodborne illness outbreaks involving raw milk, ice cream, cheese, and deli meats, and is especially dangerous for pregnant people because it can cross the placenta and infect a fetus?
Answer: Listeria
- Frequently used in research laboratories, roundworms are also known by what name derived from the Greek for "thread?"
Answer: Nematode
- What is the term for bacteremia that develops into a potentially life-threatening invasion of the bloodstream by bacteria and their toxins, accompanied by acute systemic illness?
Answer: Septicemia
- The EPV virus is named after Yvonne Barr and a British pathologist. What is the surname of this pathologist? This pathologist shares his surname with the manager of The Beatles.
Answer: Epstein
- Also known as bacterial sex, what gene transfer mechanism involves transfer of DNA from a donor to a recipient bacterium by direct contact?
Answer: Conjugation
- What genus of anaerobic bacterium, whose name comes from a Latin word for "spindle," causes both botulism and tetanus?
Answer: Clostridium
- Pathogenic species of what genus of bacteria are responsible for African tick-bite fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and typhus?
Answer: Rickettsia
- Often found in freshwater habitats, what is the name of the type of single-celled protist known for its slipper shape and covering of short hairy structures called cilia?
Answer: Paramecium
- What kind of “-ation” uses ultrasonic sound to make a cell’s membrane easier to permeate? For example, it can be used to help get big molecules like drugs and DNA into a cell.
Answer: Sonoporation
- What “P” “-ology” describes the study eukaryotic organisms that do not classify as plant, animal or fungus? Its prefix sounds like it is in favor of things.
Answer: protistology
- In the 1920s, researchers named what genus of bacteria, which can cause meningitis and sepsis in humans, after the "father of sterile surgery?"
Answer: Listeria
- Micropia, a museum that houses exhibits focused on microbes, is located in which city Benelux city? The museum is adjacent to the city’s zoo, Artis.
Answer: Amsterdam
- Diatoms, amoebae, and dinoflagellates are examples of which type of simple eukaryotic organisms that don’t fit into the classification of plants, animals, or fungi?
Answer: Protists
- Which Scottish physician and microbiologist won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for the discovery of a fungus that has been called the "single greatest victory ever achieved over disease"?
Answer: Alexander Fleming
- Different fungi reproduce by different means. Which type reproduces by means of budding?
Answer: Yeasts
- What is the part of the cell cycle in which chromosomes which have replicated themselves separate to form two new nuclei? This is followed by the division of the cell into two identical daughter cells.
Answer: Mitosis
- Thiomargarita magnifica is the largest of what kind of microorganism (truly a misnomer) scientists have ever seen? (And it really was SEEN when they discovered it in 2022—the single cell is about as big as a housefly!)
Answer: Bacteria
- Which light-producing enzyme can occur naturally in organisms such as fireflies?
Answer: Luciferase
- Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the "father of microbiology," is among other things credited with being the first person to use a histological stain using what yellow spice?
Answer: Saffron
- Slime molds are organisms that have characteristics of molds and what other microorganisms? Under certain circumstances, slime molds can exist as cytoplasm, resembling amoebas.
Answer: Protozoa
- The first published photograph of bacteria was made in 1877 by German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch. The bacteria in question causes what disease?
Answer: Anthrax
- Now placed in the Chlorophyceae class, Xanthophyta is also known as algae that is colored green and what bright color?
Answer: Yellow
- Hemolysis describes the destruction of erythrocytes, which are also known as what type of colored cells?
Answer: Red blood cells
- Diazotrophs are microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea, that conduct nitrogen fixation in soil, turning it into what colorless gas?
Answer: Ammonia
- Zymology or zymurgy is the name of the science that studies the use of yeasts and bacteria to conduct what process, important to human culture?
Answer: Fermentation
- What fungal mold was named by an Italian priest and chemist in 1729, because under a microscope it reminded him of a holy water sprinkler, whose Latin name he gave to the mold?
Answer: Aspergillus
- What portmanteau describes an assemblage of viruses that are associated with a particular ecosystem--for example, the human body?
Answer: Virome
- When you think about the seasonal symptoms associated with viruses under its umbrella, it makes sense that Orthomyxoviridae would come from the Greek word for “mucus.” Among the genera are A, B, C, and D viruses that infect birds and humans?
Answer: Influenza
- In perhaps the first feature length biopic of a microbiologist, Paul Muni starred as what French scientist in a 1936 film about major advances in microbiology?
Answer: Louis Pasteur (in The Story of Louis Pasteur)
- The genome of a virus is surrounded by a protein coat called a capsid; by what name are the individual protein molecules that make up the capsid known?
Answer: Capsomere
- Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine for work in uncovering the mechanisms of what process by which the cell degrades and recycles its contents, the name of which comes from the Greek for "self" and "eating"?
Answer: Autophagy
- Give either of the two words, both of which start with the same letter, that can fill in the common name of ____'s Yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a microorganism used in culinary fermentation.
Answer: Brewer, Baker
- What German scientist, who discovered the causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax, is known (along with Louis Pasteur) as the "Father of Microbiology?"
Answer: Robert Koch
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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