bioremediation		a virus that contains single-stranded RNA and produces a reverse transcriptase, which converts RNA to DNA.
capsule		a disease that is caused by new or reappearing infectious agents that typically exist in animal populations.
chemotroph		a short, thick hair-like protein structure that allows a bacterium to attach to other bacteria and surfaces.
coccus		a potent, extracellular toxin secreted by some gram positive bacteria.
endospore		the biological treatment of hazardous waste by natural or genetically engineered microorganisms.
endotoxins		an organism that gets its energy from chemicals taken from the environment.
exotoxins		a protein-carbohydrate compound that makes the cell walls of bacteria ridgid.
halophile		a microorganism that produces methane gas.
methanogen		a spiral shaped bacterium.
pathology		a single-celled organism that has no nucleus and has no membrane-bound organelles.
peptidoglycan		the part that contains spores.
pilus		a coccus that grows with others in grape-like clusters.
plasmid		a method of viral replication that results in the destruction of a host cell and the release of many new virus particles.
prokaryote		a toxin that occurs in the outer membrane of Gram negative bacteria and that is released when the bacteria cell breaks apart.
spirillum		a sphere- shaped bacterium.
staphylococcus		a gene that regulates normal cell division but that can become a cancer- causing oncogene as a result of mutation or recombination.
streptococcus		can incorporate foreign DNA and transfer that DNA from one organism to another.
thermoacidophile		the scientific study of diseases.
bacteriophage		an organism that can grow in, or favors environments that have very high concentrations.
capsid		a circular DNA molecule that is usually found in bacteria and that can replicate independent of the main chromosome.
emerging		a nonliving, infectious particle composed of a nucleic acid and a protein coat, it can invade and destroy a cell.
envelope		the virus takes over the cell's replication and translation mechanisms
lysogenic		an organism that grows well in a warm, acidic environment.
lytic cycle		a virus that infects bacteria.
oncogenes		a protein sheath that surrounds the nucleic core in a virus.
proto-oncogenes		when cocci occur in chains.
retrovirus		a membrane like layer that covers the capsids of some viruses.
vector		a gene that induces cancer, or uncontrolled cell proliferation.
virus		a thick-walled protective spore that forms inside a bacterial cell.