MICP WEEK 1: SCOPE OF MICROBIOLOGY

• Germ is derived from the Latin word "germen," meaning to sprout or germinate
• Microbes, also known as microorganisms, are microscopic living organisms visible only with a microscope
• Microbiology is the study of all living organisms that are too small to be visible with the naked eye, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, prions, protozoa, and algae
• Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723):

  • Known as the "Father of Microbiology," "Father of Bacteriology," and "Father of Protozoology"
  • Ground tiny glass lenses to create single-lens microscopes
  • Observed tiny living creatures he called "animalcules"
• Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895):

  • Discovered forms of life that could exist without oxygen
  • Introduced the terms "aerobes" and "anaerobes"
  • Created pasteurization to eliminate wine spoilage bacteria
  • Developed a vaccine for rabies and discovered the alcoholic fermentation process
• Joseph Lister:

  • Reasoned that surgical infection might be caused by microorganisms
  • Devised antiseptic procedures to prevent microbes from entering wounds
• Ignaz Philip Semmelweis:

  • Used antiseptic procedures to prevent childbirth fever
• Robert Koch:

  • Demonstrated that bacteria were disease-causing agents
  • Identified Bacillus anthracis as the cause of anthrax
  • Developed Koch's postulates to prove specific microbes caused illnesses
  • Discovered B. anthracis spores and created procedures for fixing, staining, and photographing bacteria
• Richard J. Petri:

  • Developed the Petri dish for growing and manipulating microbial cultures
• Fanny Hesse:

  • Developed the use of agar as a solidifying agent for microbiological media
• Hans Christian Gram:

  • Developed the Gram stain technique to separate disease-causing bacteria
• Edward Jenner:

  • Used material from a cowpox-infected individual to immunize against smallpox
• Paul Ehrlich:

  • Searched for a "magic bullet" and developed the first effective cure for a bacterial disease called salvarsan
• Alexander Fleming:

  • Discovered penicillin by noticing mold inhibiting bacterial growth
• Microorganisms:

  • An organism visible only through a microscope
  • Divided into acellular microbes (viruses, viroids, virusoids, prions) and cellular microbes (bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa, fungi)
  • Cellular microbes can be prokaryotes (bacteria, archaea) or eukaryotes (algae, protozoa, fungi)
• Branches of microbiology by Taxonomy:

  • Bacteriology: Study of bacteria
  • Immunology: Study of the immune system
  • Mycology: Study of fungi
  • Nematology: Study of roundworms
  • Parasitology: Study of parasites
  • Phycology: Study of algae
  • Protozoology: Study of protozoa
  • Virology: Study of viruses
• Practical applications of microbiology:

  • Genetic Engineering
  • Biotechnology
  • Biological Warfare
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Medical microbiology
  • Pharmaceutical microbiology
  • Industrial microbiology
  • Microbial biotechnology
  • Food microbiology
  • Agricultural microbiology
  • Veterinary microbiology
  • Environmental microbiology
  • Water microbiology
  • Aeromicrobiology
  • Biotechnology
• Reasons to study microbiology:

  • Genetic Engineering
  • Biotechnology
  • Biological Warfare
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Medical microbiology
• organisms that require oxygen

  aerobes
• organismsthatdo not require oxygen

  anaerobes
• alcoholic fermentation process

  Louis Pasteur
• reasoned that surgical infection(sepsis) might be caused by microorganisms

  Joseph Lister
• The condition resulting fromthe presenceofpathogenic microbes or their products in blood or tissues.

  Sepsis
• Devised methods to prevent microbes from entering the wounds of his patients

  antiseptic (against sepsis) surgery, and includedhandwashing, sterilizing instruments, and dressing wounds with carbolic acid (phenol).
• began using antiseptic procedures to prevent "childbirth" or puerperal fever (aserious and often fatal disease associated with infection contracted during delivery)

  Ignaz Philip Semmelwei
• Direct evidence demonstrating that bacteria were disease-causing agents (etiological agents)

  Robert Koch
• developed the Petri dish in which microbial cultures could be grown andmanipulated.

  Richard J. Petri
• developed the use of agar as a solidifying agent for microbiological media


  Fanny Hesse
• developed the Gram stain, a stain technique that could be usedtoseparatetwo major groups of disease causing bacteria.

  Hans Christian Gram
• reported the use of material scrapedfrom the skin of an individual infected with cowpox to immunize a child against smallpox.

  Edward Jenner
• searched for a “magic bullet”, andinaround 1910 developed the first effective cure for a bacterial disease.

  Paul Ehrlich
• he developed was called salvarsan, and was an arsenic compound that was effectiveagainst syphilis.

  Paul Ehrlich
• discovered penicillin.

  Alexander Fleming
• An organism that can be seen only through a microscope

  Microorganisms
• two major categories of microbes

  acellular microbes (also called infectious particles)and cellular microbes (also called microorganisms).
• lacking cellular organization; not delimited by cytoplasmic membrane(viruses, viroids, virusoids, prions). CANNOT BE SEEN IN A LIGHT MICROSCOPE.

  Acellular microbes
• cytoplasmic membrane present. Broken into prokaryotes andeukaryotesinclude all bacteria, all archaea, some algae, all protozoa, and some fungi

  Cellular microbes
• cells where genomes not contained within a nucleus. Includesuchmicroorganisms as fungi, protozoa, and simple algae. E

  Eukaryotes
• genome contained in a nucleus; are probably the smallest living organisms

  Prokaryotes
• • Eukaryotic microorganisms such as multicellular molds and unicellular (single-celled) yeastsare classified as fungi.


  Fungus