
Biology
Biological Classification Solutions
Match the term with the appropriate description to test your understanding of the diversity of oxygen requirements among
microorganisms
Obligate anaerobe
Describes an organism that requires oxygen for growth and
has the enzymes to remove toxic by-products of oxygen
metabolism
Microaerophile
Describes an organism that can grow in the presence of
oxygen and can detoxify it, but can also grow in the absence
of oxygen
Facultative anaerobe
Describes an organism that cannot grow at normal
atmospheric oxygen concentrations, but does require a small
amount of oxygen for growth
Obligate aerobe
Describes an organism that is unable to use oxygen and
lacks the enzymes to detoxify oxygen, thus requiring the
absence of oxygen for growth
Aerotolerant
anaerobe
Describes an organism that does not use oxygen, but can
grow to a limited extent in the presence of oxygen
Reset