intro to micro

• Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their activities.
• Taxonomy in microbiology involves classification, nomenclature, and identification of microorganisms.
• Structure in microbiology refers to the distribution of microorganisms in nature.
• Reproduction in microbiology involves the study of how microorganisms reproduce and their relationship.
• Physiology in microbiology involves the beneficial and detrimental effects of microorganisms on humans and the environment.
• Metabolism in microbiology involves the physical and chemical effects of microorganisms on humans and the environment.
• Microbiology involves the study of microorganisms that are too small to be seen by the unaided or naked eye and requires a magnification tool called the microscope.
• Microbiology includes branches such as Bacteriology, Mycology, Protozoology, Phycology/algology, Virology, and Parasitology.
• Microbiology also includes branches such as Medical microbiology, which is the study of pathogenic microbes and the role of microbes in human illness, and Agricultural microbiology, which is the study of microbiology in agriculture.
• Protozoa is the etiologic agent of malaria and is transmitted by mosquitoes, causing a deadly infectious disease.
• Protozoa kills 2,000,000 people annually.
• Yersinia pestis caused three outbreaks: the Plague of Justinian (6 th to 8 th ), which killed 25M to 50M people worldwide; the Black Death (1347-1351), which killed a third of the human population; and the Third plague pandemic (1855-1959), which killed 12M people (mostly in China and India).
• Smallpox virus was eradicated by vaccination in 1979.
• Protozoa is thought to have killed Alexander the Great in 323 BC.
• Smallpox virus, or Variola major, is a double-stranded DNA virus and a directly transmissible disease with a 40% mortality rate.
• Yersinia pestis is a bacterium and the etiologic agent of bubonic plague, with the oriental rat flea as its vector.
• Microbiology includes branches such as Applied Microbiology, which includes fields like Medical microbiology, Veterinary microbiology, Pharmaceutical microbiology, Environmental microbiology, Industrial microbiology, Water microbiology, Microbial biotechnology, Aero microbiology, Food microbiology, and Biotechnology.
• Microbiology includes branches such as Pure Microbiology, which includes fields like Bacteriology, Microbial cytology, Predictive microbiology, Mycology, Protozoology, Phycology/algology, Microbial genetics, Nano microbiology, and Virology.
• Exceptions to the cell theory are the viruses and prions.
• Louis Pasteur discovered the pathology of puerperal fever and pyogenic vibrio in blood.
• Pasteurization is a process that kills microbes (mainly bacteria) in food and drink and applies heat to remove microorganisms responsible for spoilage.
• Germ Theory of Disease led Pasteur to the idea that microorganisms infecting animals and humans cause disease and he proposed preventing the entry of microorganisms into the human body.
• Joseph Lister introduced the term aerobic and anaerobic in describing the growth of yeast at the expense of sugar in the presence or absence of O2.
• Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and biologist who made numerous contributions to the newly emerging field of microbiology and is considered the foundation of the Science of Microbiology.
• Louis Pasteur discovered what occurs during alcoholic fermentation and demonstrated that different types of microorganisms produce different fermentation products.
• The cell is the basic unit of structure and organization in organisms.
• All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.
• The Germ Theory of Disease states that microorganisms can cause diseases and was proposed by Girolamo Fracastoro in 1546, although not widely accepted.
• Joseph Lister championed the use of carbolic acid or phenol as an antiseptic, such that it became the first widely used antiseptic in surgery.
• Phenol is the basic agent of Lysol.
• Joseph Lister was an English surgeon who pioneered antiseptic surgery and applied the germ theory to medical/surgical procedures.
• Cells arise from pre-existing cells.
• Louis Pasteur developed vaccines for rabies, anthrax, chicken cholera and swine erysipelas.
• Louis Pasteur dealt the fatal blow to the Theory of Spontaneous Generation and developed a curve-neck or swan-neck flask that prevented contaminated air from reaching boiled beef broth.
• More formal experiments on the relationship between germ and disease were conducted by Pasteur between 1860 and 1864.
• Genotype refers to the genetic make-up of an organism or combinations of forms of one or a few genes under scrutiny in an organism’s genome.
• Organisms are arranged based on the similarities and differences in genotype and phenotype.
• A derived number indicates the genus and species of the bacterium.
• Phenotype refers to the readily observable physical and functional features of an organism expressed by its genotype.
• Phenotypic criteria do not require sophisticated equipment and can easily be done anywhere, examples include macroscopic morphology, colonial characteristics, microscopic morphology, and staining characteristics.