MICP CHAPTER 1 (PART 1)

• Microbiology


  The study of microbes
• Microbes


  • Anything so small that it must be viewed with a microscope
  • Virtually everywhere
• Categories of microbes


  • Viruses
  • Bacteria
  • Archaea
  • Protozoa
  • Certain types of algae and fungi
• Acellular microbes


  Also called infectious particles, include viruses and prions
• Cellular microbes


  Also called microorganisms, include all bacteria, all archaea, some algae, all protozoa, and some fungi
• Pathogens


  Microbes that cause disease
• Nonpathogens


  Microbes that do not cause disease
• Opportunistic pathogens


  Microbes that do not normally cause disease but have the potential to if the opportunity arises
• Only about 3% of known microbes are capable of causing disease
• We have approximately 10 times as many microbes living on and in our bodies as the total number of cells that make up our bodies
• Indigenous microflora (or indigenous microbiota)


  The microbes that live on and in the human body
• Indigenous microflora inhibit the growth of pathogens by occupying space, depleting the food supply, and secreting materials that prevent or reduce pathogen growth
• Microbes contribute more oxygen to our atmosphere than do plants
• Saprophytes


  Microbes involved in the decomposition of dead organisms and waste products
• Saprophytes break down dead and dying organic materials into nitrates, phosphates, and other chemicals necessary for the growth of plants
• Certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas in the air to ammonia in the soil, and other soil bacteria then convert the ammonia to nitrites and nitrates
• Nitrifying bacteria


  1. Convert ammonia into nitrites and nitrates

  2. Nitrites and nitrates are nutrients used by plants
• Microbes


  • Capable of decomposing industrial wastes (e.g. oil spills)
  • Can be used for bioremediation (using microbes to clean up after ourselves)
• Nitrogen cycle


  1. Certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas in the air to ammonia in the soil

  2. Other soil bacteria convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrates

  3. Other bacteria convert nitrogen in nitrates to nitrogen gas
• Microbial ecology


  The study of the relationships between microbes and the environment
• Food chain


  1. Algae and bacteria serve as food for tiny animals

  2. Larger animals eat the smaller creatures
• Products requiring microbial participation in the manufacturing process

  • Foods
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Chemicals
  • Antibiotics
• Biotechnology


  The use of living organisms or their derivatives to make or modify useful products or processes
• Antibiotic


  A substance produced by a microbe that is effective in killing or inhibiting the growth of other microbes
• Genetic engineering


  • Inserting a gene or genes from one organism into a bacterial or yeast cell
  • The cell can now produce the product coded for by the new gene
• Infectious disease


  A disease that results when a pathogen colonizes the body and subsequently causes disease
• Microbial intoxication


  A disease that results when a person ingests a toxin (poisonous substance) that has been produced by a microbe
• Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in the world and the third leading cause of death in the United States
• Microbes have existed on Earth for about 3.5 billion years, while animals and humans are relative newcomers
• Infectious diseases of humans and animals have existed for as long as humans and animals have inhabited the planet
• The earliest known account of a "pestilence" occurred in Egypt about 3180 BC
• Papyrus b written in Thebes, Egypt

  1500 BC
• Smallpox disease occurred in China

  1122 BC
• Epidemics of plague occurred in Rome

  790 BC, 710 BC, 640 BC
• Epidemics of plague occurred in Greece

  430 BC
• Early accounts of diseases

  • Rabies
  • Anthrax
  • Dysentery
  • Smallpox
  • Ergotism
  • Botulism
  • Measles
  • Typhoid fever
  • Typhus fever
  • Diphtheria
  • Syphilis
• Syphilis made its first appearance in Europe

  1493
• Syphilis was carried to Europe


  By Native Americans brought to Portugal by Christopher Columbus
• Names for syphilis


  • Neapolitan disease
  • French or Spanish disease
  • French pax
  • Spanish pocks
  • German pocks
  • Polish pocks
  • Turkish pocks
• The name "syphilis" was given to the disease

  1530