You and your exercise buddy decide to go to Yosemite National Park to hike the famous El Capitan trail. You book your trip through a well known agency but before you leave for your vacation, you learn that there have been two cases of plague reported in people who recently visited a different area of the park. Your friend is anxious and tells you he thinks that plague is really dangerous and kills people everyone who gets it. He points out that this disease killed a lot of people during the Middle Ages, and says he doesn't want to do the trip after all. You decide to do some research on the plague and its causative agent before making a decision about your trip.
-Plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative facultatively anaerobic rod. It is non-motile and grows best at 28°C. Because you are a microbiology student, you know that the organism is
A) a mesophile that grows best in the presence of oxygen but can also grow without it.
B) a psychrophile that grows best in the presence of oxygen but can also grow without it.
C) a psychrophile that grows best without oxygen but can also grow when oxygen is present.
D) a mesophile that grows best without oxygen but can also grow when oxygen is present.
E) a mesophile that cannot grow when oxygen is present.

Question

You and your exercise buddy decide to go to Yosemite National Park to hike the famous El Capitan trail. You book your trip through a well known agency but before you leave for your vacation, you learn that there have been two cases of plague reported in people who recently visited a different area of the park. Your friend is anxious and tells you he thinks that plague is really dangerous and kills people everyone who gets it. He points out that this disease killed a lot of people during the Middle Ages, and says he doesn't want to do the trip after all. You decide to do some research on the plague and its causative agent before making a decision about your trip.
-Plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative facultatively anaerobic rod. It is non-motile and grows best at 28°C. Because you are a microbiology student, you know that the organism is
A) a mesophile that grows best in the presence of oxygen but can also grow without it.
B) a psychrophile that grows best in the presence of oxygen but can also grow without it.
C) a psychrophile that grows best without oxygen but can also grow when oxygen is present.
D) a mesophile that grows best without oxygen but can also grow when oxygen is present.
E) a mesophile that cannot grow when oxygen is present.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Yersinia pestis is a mesophile because it grows best at 28°C, which is within the mesophilic temperature range. It is facultatively anaerobic, meaning it grows best in the presence of oxygen but can also grow without it.

You and Your Exercise Buddy Decide to Go to Yosemite