INTRODUCTION TO MICROORGANISMS

Definition of Microorganism
Microorganisms are small, living organisms that are invisible to the naked (i.e.
unaided) eye but can only be seen under a microscope. They include bacteria, viruses,
fungi, protozoa, and algae. They are classified into different groups based on their
characteristics and function. The science that study these microorganism is called
microbiology.
The word microbiology is derived from three Greek words, ‘micro’ meaning small;
‘bios’ meaning life; and ‘logos’ meaning study. However, there are some microbes
that could be seen with naked eyes. These include, filameteous algae, bread moulds;
mushrooms and some bacteria (e.g. Epulopiscium fishelsoni and Thiomargarita
magnifica).
Before the study of Microbiology, there has been the assumptions that microorganims
existed far back in the 17th Century. Aristotle was the first to suggest the existence of
microorganisms in 4 BC. The existence of unseen microbiological life was also
postulated by Jainism in the 6th Century BCE. Marcus Terentius Varro also suggested
that there was possibility of disease spreading by unseen organisms. He warned
against locating homes near swamps because there is possibility of unseen organisms
in air which could enter the body through nose and mouth, thereby causing diseases.
Roger Bacon also suggested that there are invisible living creature that cause diseases.
In 1546, Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by
transferable seed-like entities that could transmit infection by direct or indirect contact,
or even without contact over long distance. He gave the term syphilis to an outbreak
in Europe that affected the French soldiers in the 1400s. All these were just
speculations because they were not scientifically proven due to the lack of
microscope as at that time.

Classification of Microorganisms
BACTERIA
Bacteria are single-celled microorganism which do not have membrane-bound
organelles. They are referred to as prokaryotes because they possess prokaryotic cells.
They fall under the domain Bacteria, one of the three domains of life. In terms of
number, they are more than the total number of plants and animals combined. They
are found in every habitat on earth, such as soil, rocks, oceans, Arctic snow, even
some live in or in other organisms. The bacteria found in human is approximately 10
times more than the human cells.
General Characteristics
1. They are single-celled

2. They lack organelles such as chloroplast and mitochondria

3. No true nucleus. Continuous and circular DNA is located in a nucleoid. Some

possess extra circle of genetic material called plasmid. The plasmid make some
possessing it resistant to some antibiotic because they contain resistant genes
against such antibiotics.
4. Their cell membranes and cell walls are made up of peptidoglycan. The cell
membranes and the cell walls are referred to as the cell envelope. The cell walls
are needed by some bacteria for survival.

5. Reproduction is asexually by binary fission. Some also reproduce by a process

known as horizontal gene transfer. This is a process by which two bacteria
exchange genetic material between themselves.

6. Some are pathogenic while some are saprophytic.

7. Most are capable of independent metabolic existence and growth, while some
species such as Rickettsia and Chlamydia are obligate intracellular organisms.

8. Bacterial cells are measured in microns (10-6 m). The size ranged from large such
as Bacillus anthracis (1.0 to 1.3 x 3 to 10 μm) to very small sized cells such as
Pasteurella tularensis (0.2 x 0.2 to 0.7 μm).

Classification of Bacteria
Bacteria are classified into categories based on their features and characteristics. The
following are the classes of bacteria on different criteria.
1. Based on shape
i. Bacillus (e.g. Escherichia coli)
ii. Spirilla or Siprochetes (Spiral bacteria) e.g. Spirillum volutans
iii. Coccus (Sphere) e.g. Strptococcus pneumoniae
iv. Vibrio (comma-shaped) e. g. Vibrio cholerae
2. Based on the composition of the cell wall
i. Peptidoglycan cell wall e. g. Gram-positive bacteria
ii. Lipopolysaccharide cell wall e.g. Gram-negative bacteria
3. based on mode of nutrition
i. Autotrophic Bacteria e.g. Cyanobacteria
ii. Heterotrophic Bacteria e.g. all disease causing bacteria
4. Based on mode of respiration
i. Anaerobic Bacteria e.g. Actinomyces
ii. Aerobic Bacteria e.g. Mycobaterium

Virus
Viruses are small infectious obligate intracellular agents that replicates inside the
body of the host such as plants, animals and bacteria. The name virus was taken from
Latin words, meaning “slimy liquid or poison”.
It was first discovered by Dmitri Ivanowsky in year 1892 as microorganism which
caused mosaic disease in plants. He found that it is smaller than bacteria. In 1898,
Beijerinck M.W. showed that healthy plants can be infected by the extract of infected
tobacco plants. He called the fluid “Contagium vivum fluidum” That is, infectious
living fluid. It was crystallised and demonstrated to be mainly made up of proteins in
1935 by M. W. Stanley. He also elucidated that viruses are obligate parasites and are
not active outside their host cells.

Characteristics of viruses
 They are acellular (non-cellular) organisms. They are non-living (inert) outside
the living organisms. They only exist as living organisms when they are inside a
living host. Hence, the consideration as non-living and living things.
 They only replicate inside the host cells, take the control of the host system and
eventually kill the host.
 They contain nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA and protein.
 They are surrounded with protective protein coat called capsid
 The infective extracellular form of a virus is called virion. It contains at least one
unique protein synthesized by specific genes in the nucleic acid of the virus. The
main function of the virion is to deliver its DNA or RNA genome into the host
cell so that the genome can be expressed (transcribed and translated) by the host
cell.
 They lack ribosomes, therefore they use the ribosomes of their host cells to
translate viral mRNA into viral proteins.
 They cannot generate or store energy inform of ATP. They use the nucleotides
and the amino acids of their host cells to synthesize nucleic acids and proteins
respectively.

The simplest virion consist of two basic components: nucleic acid (single or double
stranded RNA or DNA) and a protein coat called capsid. The virion capsid performs
three functions:
1. To protect the viral nucleic acid from digestion by enzymes called nucleases.
2. To furnish sites on its surface that recognize and attach the virion to receptors on
the surface of the host cell.
3. To provide proteins that form part of a specialized component that enables the
virion to penetrate through the cell surface membrane or inject infectious nucleic
acid into the interior of the host cell.

Classification
Classification is based on different criteria.
1. Based on shape: They are classified into spherical (e.g. influenza virus),
cuboidal or polyhedra (e.g. Adenovirus), rod-shaped (e. g. Tobacco mosaic virus),
tadpole-like or binal (e. g. Bactriophage)
2. Based on host: They are grouped into
i. Phytophage: these are viruses that infect plants. Examples include tobacco
mosaic virus (TMV), beet yellow virus, cauliflower mosaic virus e. t. c.
ii. Zoophage: These are viruses that infect animals. Examples include
Adenovirus, rabies virus, mump virus, polio virus e.t.c.
iii. Bacteriophage: These are viruses that infect bacterial cells. The varieties of
bacteriophage include DNA virus, RNA virus, lambda (λ) page e.t.c.
iv. Insect virus: This is a virus that infects insects. They are also called viral
pathogen of insects. They can be used for biological control of insects.
Examples include ascovirus virions and entomopox virus.
3. Based on genetic material: They are classified into DNA virus and RNA virus.
i. RNA virus: These are viruses that have RNA as their genetic materials.
There are two types, namely
 a. Single stranded RNA (ssRNA): They infect both plants and animals.
They are further classified into Positive sense RNA (+RNA) and
negative sense RNA (-RNA). Examples of ssRNA include tobacco
mosaic virus, mumps virus, influenza virus, rabies virus, hepatitis A vrus
and poliovirus.
b. Double stranded RNA (dsRNA): It affects animals. Examples include
Reovirus and pox virus

ii. DNA virus: This is a virus that have DNA as its genetic material. There are
two types of DNA virus.
a. Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) virus: Examples include
Picornaviruses and Parvovirus.
b. Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus: This affects bacteria, plants and
animals. Examples include cauliflower mosaic virus, T4 bacteriophage,
adenovirus and herpes virus
4. Based on the mode of transmission: Viruses are classified into four.
i. Air borne infections: This is the transmission of virus through the air into
the respiratory tract. Example include rhinovirus and swine flu.
ii. Faecal oral route: This is the infection that occur through faecal
contamination of food and water. Examples include poliovirus, hepatitis A
and rotavirus
iii. Sexually transmitted viruses: These are viruses that are transmitted to
another person through sexual intercourse. Examples include human
papillomavirus and retrovirus.
iv. Zoonotic virus: This is a virus that can infect both human and animals. The
phenomenon is called zoonosis. It can be transmitted through the biting of
insects or animals. Examples include rabies virus, Ebola virus, alpha virus
and flavivirus.

FUNGI
Fungi (singular: Fungus) are achlorophylla, heterotrophic eukaryotic thallophytes.
They are non-vascular plants and are not grouped with higher plants due to their
reproductive or vegetative structure. They are cosmopolitan and occur in places such
as air, water, soil, on plants and animals. They thrive well in warm and humid places.
The organisms in this group include yeasts, moulds and mushrooms. They are found
in the domain Eukarya, kingdom Fungi. Some of the fungi are involved in spoilage of
foods such as the black spot found on bread left for some days, some such as yeasts
e.g. Saccharomyces cervisiae (baker’s yeast) and mushrooms are used in the
production of bread and other snacks, while some cause skin infections and diseases
e.g. Candidas albicans (causes candidiasis and thrush).

General Characteristics
1. Fungi are multicellular eukaryotic organisms, however, some exist as unicellular
organism (e.g Candidas albicans, yeasts).
2. Fungi cells are larger (ranges between 1-5μm in width and 5-35μm in length)
than bacteria cells.
3. Some are dimorphic. They can change from the unicellular to multicellular state
depending on environmental conditions.
4. They generally occur as moulds, yeast or as combination of both forms
5. Yeasts are microscopic fungi consisting of solitary cells that reproduce by
budding. Moulds, in contrast, occur in long filaments known as hyphae, which
grow by apical extension.
6. Fungi cells may be elongated or spherical
7. The fungi body is a thallus called mycelium except some unicellular forms such
as yeasts. The mycelium is made up of interwoven mass of thread-like hyphae.
The hyphae may be septate (i.e. with cross wall) or aseptate (i.e. without cross
wall).
8. The thallus may be divided into two types; unicellular and filamentous
9. They do not contain chlorophyll (achlorophyllous). Therefore, they are incapable
of photosynthesis. They are decomposers. They digest their food externally by
releasing hydrolytic enzymes into the organic matters to break it down before
absorbing it into their mycelia. Due to this they are called saprobes.
10. They can reproduce sexually and asexually. They produce spores. Vegetative
reproduction can take place from the tips of filaments (hyphae) that makes up the
their bodies (mycelia).
11. Other characteristics of fungi include the ability to synthesize lysine by the L-α-
adipic acid biosynthetic pathway and possession of a chitinous cell wall, plasma
membranes containing the sterol ergosterol, 80S rRNA, and microtubules
composed of tubulin.

Classification of Fungi
The nomenclature is binomial, with generic and specific names (Aspergillus niger).
the families have the suffix “aceae”, orders have suffix “ales” and the classes have the
suffix “mycetes”. Fungi and moulds could be grouped into three, namely; true slime
mould (Myxomycetes), lower fungi (Phycomycetes) and higher fungi (Eumycetes).
Fungi are be classified into different groups based of some criteria such as;

1. Based on morphology of reproductive structure

i. Chytridiomycota
ii. Zygomycota (Conjugated fungi)
iii. Ascomycota
iv. Bascidiomycota (Club fungi)
v. Deuteromycota (Imperfect Fungi)

2. Based on Medical importance

i. Based on site
a. Superficial mycosis: Infections restricted to the outer surface of the hair
and skin, e.g., Piedraia hortae. Examples are ringworm, athlete’s foot.
b. Cutaneous mycosis: When the infection occurs by growing in a zone just
above where the protein keratin is deposited. The three genera of fungi
that can cause cutaneous mycosis are Microsporum, Trichophyton and
Epidermophyton. Example is discoloured patches on skin (Tinea
versicolor).
c. Subcutaneous mycosis: They are normally saprophytic inhabitants of soil,
particularly in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, India and South
America.
 d. Systemic mycosis are infections that affect the whole body.

ii. Route of acquisition

a. Exogenous: Transmitted by airborne, cutaneous, or percutaneous routes.
b. Endogenous: May be acquired from colonization or reactivation of a
fungus from latent infection.

iii. virulence
1. Primary pathogens can establish infections in normal hosts.
2. Opportunistic pathogens cause disease in individuals with compromised
host defence mechanisms.