Microbiology

MICROBIOLOGY Joy R. Oliveros, MSES

WITH DISEASES BY BODYNat.
SYSTEM SECOND
Sci. Dept., CAS EDITION
 The Scope of Microbiology

• Microbiology: The study of living

things too small to be seen without
magnification

• Microorganisms or microbes-
these microscopic organisms
• Commonly called “germs, viruses,
agents…” but not all cause disease
and many more are useful or
essential for human life
 Introduction to Microbiology

How Can Microbes Be Classified?

Carolus Linnaeus (Swedish) developed

taxonomic system for naming plants
and animals and grouping similar
organisms together
Leeuwenhoek’s microorganisms grouped
into six categories as follows:
Fungi
Protozoa
Algae
Bacteria
Archaea
Small animals
• 1. Fungi

• Eukaryotic (have membrane-bound

nucleus)
• Obtain food from other organisms
• Possess cell walls
• Composed of
• Molds – multicellular; have
hyphae; reproduce by sexual and
asexual spores
• Yeasts – unicellular; reproduce
asexually by budding; some
produce sexual spores
• 2. Protozoa
• Single-celled eukaryotes
• Similar to animals in nutrient needs
and cellular structure
• Live freely in water; some live in
animal hosts
• Asexual (most) and sexual
reproduction
• Most are capable of locomotion by
• Pseudopodia – cell extensions
that flow in direction of travel
• Cilia – numerous, short, hairlike
protrusions that propel
organisms through environment
• Flagella – extensions of a cell
that are fewer, longer, and more
whiplike than cilia
• 3. Algae

• Unicellular or multicellular
• Photosynthetic
• Simple reproductive
structures
• Categorized on the basis of
pigmentation, storage
products, and composition of
cell wall
• 4. Bacteria and Archaea

• Unicellular and lack nuclei

• Much smaller than eukaryotes
• Found everywhere there is
sufficient moisture; some found
in extreme environments
• Reproduce asexually
• Two kinds
• Bacteria – cell walls contain
peptidoglycan; some lack
cell walls; most do not cause
disease and some are
beneficial
• Archaea – cell walls
composed of polymers
other than peptidoglycan
 The Golden Age of Microbiology

• Redi’s Experiments

• When decaying meat was kept

isolated from flies, maggots
never developed
• Meat exposed to flies was soon
infested
• As a result, scientists began to
doubt Aristotle’s theory
• Pasteur’s Experiments

• When the “swan-necked

flasks” remained upright, no
microbial growth appeared

• When the flask was tilted, dust

from the bend in the neck
seeped back into the flask and
made the infusion cloudy with
microbes within a day
• What Causes Disease?

• Pasteur developed
germ theory of disease
• Robert Koch studied
causative agents of
disease
• Anthrax
• Examined colonies
of microorganisms
• Koch’s Experiments

• Simple staining techniques

• First photomicrograph of bacteria
• First photomicrograph of bacteria in
diseased tissue
• Techniques for estimating CFU/ml
• Use of steam to sterilize media
• Use of Petri dishes
• Aseptic techniques
• Bacteria as distinct species
• Koch’s Postulates
• How Can We Prevent Infection
and Disease?

• Semmelweis and handwashing

• Lister’s antiseptic technique
• Nightingale and nursing
• Snow – infection control and
epidemiology
• Jenner’s vaccine – field of
immunology
• Ehrlich’s “magic bullets” – field of
chemotherapy
• What Are the Basic Chemical
Reactions of Life?
• Biochemistry
• Began with Pasteur’s work on
fermentation and Buchner’s
discovery of enzymes in yeast
extract
• Kluyver and van Niel –
microbes used as model
systems for biochemical
reactions
• Practical applications
• Design of herbicides and
pesticides
• Diagnosis of illnesses and
monitoring of patients’
responses to treatment
• Treatment of metabolic
diseases
• Drug design
• How Do Genes Work?

• Microbial genetics
• Molecular biology
• Recombinant DNA
technology
• Gene therapy
• Recombinant DNA
Technology

• Genes in microbes, plants, and

animals manipulated for
practical applications
• Production of human blood-
clotting factor by E. coli to aid
hemophiliacs
• Gene Therapy

• Inserting a missing gene or

repairing a defective one in
humans by inserting desired
gene into host cells
• What Role Do Microorganisms
Play in the Environment?

• Bioremediation uses living

bacteria, fungi, and algae to
detoxify polluted environments

• Recycling of chemicals such as

carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur
• How Do We Defend Against
Disease?

• Serology
• The study of blood serum
• Von Behring and Kitasato –
existence in the blood of
chemicals and cells that fight
infection
• Immunology
• The study of the body’s defense
against specific pathogens
• Chemotherapy
• Fleming discovered penicillin
• Domagk discovered sulfa drugs
• What Will the Future Hold?
• The need for more rapid diagnoses, increased standardization of
testing and greater adaptability to cope with new threats from
infectious microorganisms.
• Microbiology laboratory plays an important role in patient care
by providing the cause of infection and antimicrobial susceptibility
data to physicians. Rapid diagnosis of pathogens is important for
initiating effective antibiotic administration and improving the
outcomes of treatment.
• There’ll be opportunities in various fields like healthcare
organizations, forensic science laboratories, environmental
organizations, higher education institutions, food and drink,
pharmaceuticals and many other industries.
• It supports a wide range of clinical services, from infectious disease
diagnosis and treatment, to infection prevention and control.
• When it continue to bring new pathogens and pandemics, and there
will be many new technologies and platforms that need to innovative
diagnostics
 Worldwide Infectious Diseases Affecting Health
Sciences
• Increasing number of drug resistant strains
Nosocomial and Community Acquired
microorganisms
➢MRSA
• Methicillin Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
➢VRE
• Vancomycin Resistant
Enterococcus
➢VRSA
• Vancomycin Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
➢MDR-TB
• Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis
• Increasing number of emerging
diseases (SARS, AIDS, hepatitis
C, viral encephalitis)
• Paying attention to the diagnostic
tests being used to identify people
testing positive for coronavirus
(COVID – 19)
• Other diseases previously not
linked to microorganisms now are
(gastric ulcers, certain cancers,
multiple sclerosis)
 Cellular Organization

Prokaryotic - organisms whose cells

lack a nucleus and other
organelles, small, single-celled
organisms that have a relatively
simple structure.
Example: bacteria, algae, archea
 Cellular Organization

Eukaryotic - organisms whose cells

contain a nucleus and other
membrane-bound organelles, may
be either single-celled or
multicellular.
Example: animals, plants, fungi, and
protists, most algae.
 Definition of Life

What characteristics must an organism

have in order to considered alive?

 Metabolism: Transformation of energy

by converting chemicals and energy into
cellular components (anabolism) and
decomposing organic matter
(catabolism). Living things require
energy to maintain internal organization
(homeostasis) and to produce the other
phenomena associated with life.

 Reproduction: The ability to produce

new individual organisms either
asexually, from a single parent organism,
or sexually, from at least two parent
organisms.
 Types of Microorganisms Based on
Acquiring Nutrition
• Autotrophic - are the producers in the food
chain, they create their own nutrients and
energy.
• Example: bacteria, fungi, algae

• Heterotrophic - living organism that eats

other organisms for their energy source, they
consume producers or other consumers.
• Example: bacteria, fungi, yeast

• Saprophytic - microorganism that lives and

feed on wastes and dead or decaying organic
matter.
• Example: fungi, mushrooms, molds, bacteria
 Viruses

• Not independently living cellular

organisms

• Much simpler than cells- basically a

small amount of DNA or RNA wrapped
in protein and sometimes by a lipid
membrane

• Individuals are called a virus particle or

virion

• Depend on the infected cell’s machinery

to multiply and disperse
 Taxonomy: Naming, Classifying, and
Identifying Microorganisms

• Microbial nomenclature- naming

microorganisms

• Taxonomy- classifying living things

• Identification- discovering and recording

the traits of organisms so they can be
named and classified
 Traditional Whittaker Classification
Five Kingdoms
Prokaryotae (Monera)
Protista
Fungae
Plantae
Animalia

Based on:
Morphology
Metabolism (Biochemical Activity)
Molecular Techniques
Fatty Acid Profiles
Protein Differentiation
DNA Finger Printing
 Classification

Woese-Fox Classification

Three Super Kingdoms

Eubacteria
Archaeabacteria
Eukarya

System is based on rRNA.

 Assigning Specific Names

• The binomial system of

nomenclature

• The generic (genus) name followed

by the species name

• Generic part is capitalized, species

is lowercase

• Both are italicized or underlined if

italics aren’t available

• Staphylococcus aureus
 The Origin and Evolution of
Microorganisms
• Phylogeny- the degree of relatedness
between groups of living things

• Based on the process of evolution-

hereditary information in living things
changes gradually through time; these
changes result in structural and functional
changes through many generations

➢ Two preconceptions:
• All new species originate from
preexisting species
• Closely related organisms have
similar features because they
evolved from a common ancestor
➢ Phylogeny usually represented by a
tree- showing the divergent nature of
evolution
 Why Microbiology is important to
Nurses?

➢ Microbiology is an integral part of nursing studies and is significant

part of nursing profession.
➢ Microbiology encompasses the study of microorganisms which cause
infectious diseases. The ability to identify and understand these basic
properties of specific microorganism is essential for everyone in the
health profession especially the nurses who play a vital role in patient
care.
➢ Nurses are responsible for implementing appropriate measures to
reduce hospital infections, especially with multidrug resistant bacteria.
➢ This helps them to understand bacterial dissemination and infectious
disease control, since nurse practitioners are independently
diagnosing and treating infectious disease.
 Why Microbiology is important to
Nurses?

Nurses must have sufficient education and training in microbiology to

perform many roles within clinical nursing practice

➢ administering antibiotics,
➢ collecting specimens,
➢ preparing specimens for transport and delivery,
➢ educating patients and families,
➢ communicating results to the healthcare team, and
➢ developing care plans based on results of microbiology studies and
patient immunological status