Module 1

• micro-organism: single-celled, has DNA and can replicate it
• most micro-organisms are not visible
• microbe: not a cell, can't replicate DNA/RNA (ex. viruses)
• difference between bacteria and archaea: bacteria is a pathogen
• differences between bacteria/archaea and eukaryotes:

  • eukaryotes are mostly single celled
  • eukaryotes have complex morphology
  • eukaryotes have simple metabolism
  • eukaryotes are pathogens
• bacteria, archaea, and single-celled eukaryotes are microorganisms
• viruses are microbes, parasites of all living things
• biological impact of microbes

  metabolic processes, nutrient cycle
• microbe research impacts

  microbes are common evolutionary origin of all organisms
• microbes medical importance

  cause disease and promote health/useful functions
• microbes agricultural importance

  soil health, plant nutrients/defense and diseases
• microbes importance in food production

  fermentation
• microbes importance in biotechnology

  industrial production, environmental health
• Thonis philipszoon discovered microorganisms with a lens grinder
• Why was there a long gap between philipszoon's discovery and cultivation of microorganisms?

  no good solid medium to grow
• Robert Koch used gelatin as a solid medium, discovered airborne disease
• what did walter and angelina hesse popularize?


  agar for growing heat-sensitive microbes
• Louis pasteur showed wine souring was caused by lactic acid infection
• what did pasteur and koch demonstrate?

  germ theory of disease: specific microbes cause specific diseases
• edward jenner discovered cowpox provides protection against smallpox, first demonstration of vaccination
• Tom Brock isolated thermus aquaticus: microorganism that grows at high temps
• what was thermus aquaticus important for?

  later development of PCR, had extremely heat stable DNA polymerase
• the first vaccine ever developed was for small pox
• thonis philipszoon described microorgansisms as little animals