INTRODUCTION MICROPARA

• What is microbiology primarily concerned with?

  The study of microbes
• What does the term "microbe" refer to?

  Extremely small living organisms and non-living entities
• What are living microbes called?

  Cellular microbes or microorganisms
• What are non-living microbes known as?

  Acellular microbes or infectious particles
• What are pathogens?

  Microbes that cause disease
• What are nonpathogens?

  Microbes that do not cause disease
• What percentage of microbes are pathogens?

  3%
• What percentage of microbes are nonpathogens?

  97%
• What is indigenous microbiota?

  Microbes that live on and in our bodies
• What are opportunistic pathogens?

  Microbes that can cause disease but usually do not
• What role do photosynthetic algae and bacteria play?

  They produce much of the oxygen in our atmosphere
• What are saprophytes?

  Organisms that live on dead organic matter
• What is bioremediation?

  The use of microbes to clean up toxic wastes
• What cycles do many microbes play essential roles in?

  Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorous cycles
• How do microbes aid in digestion?

  They live in the intestinal tracts of animals
• What is biotechnology?

  The use of living organisms to make products
• How old are the fossils of primitive microorganisms?

  About 3.5 billion years old
• What are the candidates for the first microorganisms on Earth?

  Archaea and cyanobacteria
• When did the earliest known account of pestilence occur?

  About 3180 BC in Egypt
• Who is known as the "Father of Microbiology"?

  Anton van Leeuwenhoek
• What did Anton van Leeuwenhoek discover?

  Protozoa in 1674 and bacteria in 1676
• What process did Louis Pasteur develop?

  The pasteurization process
• What did Robert Koch discover about Bacillus anthracis?

  It produces spores that resist adverse conditions
• What are Koch's postulates used for?

  To establish a causative relationship between microbes and disease
• What is a limitation of Koch's postulates?

  Some microorganisms are species-specific
• Who contributed the Petri dish?

  Richard Petri
• What are the main career fields in microbiology?

  • Bacteriology
  • Phycology
  • Protozoology
  • Mycology
  • Virology
  • Agricultural microbiology
  • Environmental microbiology
  • Medical and clinical microbiology
  • Genetic engineering
  • Paleomicrobiology
  • Parasitology
  • Sanitary microbiology
  • Microbial physiology
  • Veterinary microbiology
• What is the focus of agricultural microbiology?

  Relationship between microbes and crops
• What does environmental microbiology apply microbiology to?

  Ecology
• What is the aim of medical and clinical microbiology?

  To monitor and control disease spread
• What does genetic engineering involve?

  Techniques that alter genetic makeup of organisms
• What does paleomicrobiology study?

  Ancient microbes through molecular fossils
• What does sanitary microbiology include?

  Processing and disposal of waste and water purification
• What is microbial physiology used for?

  Using microbial cells as cell models
• What is the focus of veterinary microbiology?

  Laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases in animals
• What is clinical microbiology also known as?

  Diagnostic microbiology