Chapter 1

The Microbial World and You

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Microbes in Our Lives
 Microorganisms are tiny living organisms that are
too small to be seen with the unaided eye
 Ex: bacteria, fungi (yeast and mold), protozoa, microscopic
algae, viruses
 Microorganisms may exist as single cells floating or
swimming in liquid, or they can attach to each other and
some solid surface (biofilms)

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Microbes in Our Lives
 We tend to associate microorganisms with bad
situations
 Infections, diseases, spoiled food
 Whereas only minority of the microorganisms are
pathogenic (disease causing)

 Majority of microorganisms help maintain the

balance of life in our environment
 Marine and freshwater microbes
 Soil microbes
 Microorganisms in our intestines
 Microorganisms in commercial applications
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Microbes in Our Lives
 Knowledge of microorganisms allow humans to
 Prevent food spoilage
 Prevent disease occurrence
 Leads to discovery and improvement of aseptic techniques
to prevent contamination in medicine and in microbiology
laboratories

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Naming and Classifying
Microorganisms
 Carolus Linnaeus established the system of
scientific nomenclature for organisms
 Scientific nomenclature assigns each organisms two
names:
 Genus
 Specific epithet (species name)
 Ex: Staphylococcus aureus
 Ex: Escherichia coli

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Types of Microorganisms
 Bacteria
 Archaea
 Fungi
 Protozoa
 Algae
 Viruses
 Multicellular animal parasites

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Bacteria
 Single celled (unicellular) microorganism
 Prokaryotes (genetic material is not enclosed in
nuclear membrane)
 Appear in one of several shapes:
 Bacillus , coccus , spiral
 Divide by binary fission
 Bacterial cells are surrounded by cell walls (made
from peptidoglycan)
 For nutrition, use organic chemicals, inorganic
chemicals, or photosynthesis
 Can “swim” using flagella (tail)
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Archaea
 Single celled
 Prokaryotes
 Similar shapes to bacterial cells
 Divide by binary fission
 Not all surrounded by cell wall
 Cell wall lacks peptidoglycan
 Live in extreif have ceel wall not
peptiloglyconme environments
 Therefore can be classified as:
 Methanogens (methane)
 Extreme halophiles (salt)
 Extreme thermophiles (heat)

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Fungi
 Can be unicellular or multicellular
 Multicellular – mushroom, mold
 Unicellular – yeast
 Eukaryotic cells (genomic material
surrounded by nuclear membrane, forms
nucleus)
 Divide sexually or asexually (binary fission)
 Cell wall made out of chitin
 For nutrition, they use organic material

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Protozoa
 Unicellular
 Ex: amebae
 Ex: euglena
 Eukaryotic cells
 Divide sexually or asexually
 Free entities or parasites (derive food from living
hosts) that absorb or ingest organic chemicals
 May be motile via:
 pseudopods (false feet)
 cilia (numerous short appendages)
 flagella (one or multiple long “tails”)

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Algae
 Unicellular or multicellular
 Ex: diatoms (unicellular)
 Ex: red algae (multicellular)
 Eukaryotic cells
 Divide sexually or asexually
 Cell walls composed of cellulose
 Photosynthesizers
 Uses light, water and carbon dioxide
 Produces oxygen and carbohydrates

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Viruses
 Acellular (not cellular)
 Reproduce only by using the cellular
machinery of other organisms
(parasites)
 Consist of DNA or RNA
 Surrounded by protein coat
 May be further surrounded by
lipid

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 A brief history of microbiology…

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The First Observations
 Robert Hooke reported that living things were
composed of little boxes, later on the little boxes
were called cells
 Rudolf Virchow said cells arise from preexisting cells
 Cell theory: All living things are composed of cells and
come from preexisting cells

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The Debate over Spontaneous
Generation
 Spontaneous generation: The hypothesis that
living organisms arise from nonliving matter
 Not much more than 100 years ago, people believed that
snakes, mice and other living creatures could be born of
moist soil…

 Theory of biogenesis: The hypothesis that living

organisms arise from pre-existing living cells
 Simple experiment:
 Two jars, each containing meat. One jar was covered,
second jar was left open. Maggots appeared in open jar
but not in the closed one…
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The Theory of Biogenesis
 Louis Pasteur further demonstrated that:
 microorganisms are present in the air
 can contaminate sterile solutions
 His experiments and observations provided basis of
aseptic techniques

Figure 1.3
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Fermentation and Pasteurization
 Pasteur solved spoiled beer and wine problem.
THANK YOU!
 Showed that microbes are responsible for fermentation
 Fermentation is the conversion of sugar to alcohol to
make beer and wine
 Bacteria that use alcohol and produce acetic acid spoil
wine by turning it to vinegar (acetic acid)
 Pasteur saved silk
 Showed that protozoan caused silk damage, and
developed method for recognizing afflicted silkworm
moths.

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Fermentation and Pasteurization
 Pasteur demonstrated that
bacteria which causes
food/drink spoilage could be
killed by heat
 Pasteurization is the
application of a high heat for a
short time

Figure 1.4
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The Germ Theory of Disease
 One step further was taken…
 Assumption that microorganisms might cause disease
 Joseph Lister used a chemical disinfectant to
prevent surgical wound infections
 Edward Jenner introduced vaccination against
smallpox
 Immunity – protection from disease provided by
vaccination

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The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
 Substances can destroy pathogenic
microorganisms…
 Treatment with chemicals is chemotherapy
 Chemotherapeutic agents include:
 synthetic drugs synthesized in laboratory
 antibiotics are chemicals produced by bacteria and fungi
that inhibit or kill other microbes

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A Fortunate Accident—Antibiotics
 The first antibiotic was
discovered by accident.
Opsssss!
 Penicillium fungus made
an antibiotic, penicillin, that
killed S. aureus
 Over the years, other
antibiotics have been
discovered
 Microorganisms began to
develop resistance to
antibiotics Figure 1.5
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Modern Developments in Microbiology
 Overtime, new branches of microbiology were
developed:
 Bacteriology is the study of bacteria
 Mycology is the study of fungi
 Virology is the study of viruses
 Parasitology is the study of protozoa and parasitic worms

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Microbial Ecology
 Study of the relationship between microorganisms
and their environment
 Sewage is about 99% water and 1% suspended solids
 Sewage treatment plants involve action of
microorganisms that remove organic matter (recycle
water)
 Insect pest is controlled using various bacteria
 They produce proteins that are harmful for insects

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Normal Microbiota
 Microbes normally present in and on the human
body are called normal microbiota
 Do us no harm
 Benefit us
 Prevent the overgrowth of harmful microbes
 Produces useful substances such as vitamin K and
some vitamin B

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Infectious Diseases
 When a pathogen overcomes the host’s resistance
(the ability to ward off diseases)
 Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs): New diseases and
diseases increasing in incidence
 Factors that have contributed to the EIDs include
evolutionary changes in existing organisms

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