Microbiology

THE SCIENCE
Microbiology
•It is the study of microbes
•Includes the study of certain non-living entities as well as certain living organisms
•Collectively, these non-living entities and living organisms are called MICROBES
•Micro: means very small (must be viewed with a microscope)
•MICROBES ARE UBIQUITOUS: meaning they are virtually EVERYWHERE
Various categories of Microbes
•Viruses
•Bacteria
•Archaea
•Protozoa
•Certain types of Algae and Fungi
Major categories of microbes
•Acellular microbes are called Infectious particles
•Cellular microbes are also called microorganisms
•Acellular (infectious) :examples: Prions, Viruses
•Cellular: 2 types: Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Differences between Prokaryotes and
Eukaryotes
•Prokaryotes: organisms composed of cells that LACK a true nucleus
•Eukaryotes: organisms composed of cells that contain a TRUE nucleus
•Examples:
1. Prokaryotes: Archaea and Bacteria
2. Eukaryotes: Algae, Fungi, Protozoa
Differences between Pathogens and
Non pathogens
•Pathogens: microbes that cause disease (infectious agents)
•Non pathogens: microbes that do not cause disease
•Only 3% of known microbes are capable of causing disease (microbial enemies or foes)
•Thus the vast majority of known microbes are non pathogens (microbial allies or friends)
Pathogens and examples of diseases they
cause
Category of Pathogens Diseases they cause
1. Algae Intoxications (ingestion of toxins)
2. Bacteria Anthrax, botulism, cholera, diarrhea, diphtheria,
food poisoning
3. Fungi Allergies, meningitis, pneumonia, ring worm,
vaginitis, thrush
4. Protozoa amebic dysentery, malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia
5. Viruses
AIDS, bird flu, certain types of cancers, chickenpox, common cold
Reasons for studying Microbiology
1.To appreciate the presence of INDIGENOUS MICROBIOTA
•Indigenous Microbiota: microbes that live on and in the human body (in our mouth,
gastrointestinal tract (GIT), on our skin
•There are about 100 trillion microbes (microbes are 10x more than our cells which is 10 trillion)
•There are about 500- 1000 different species of microbes that live in or on our body
•Role of Indigenous microbiota: they inhibit the growth of pathogens in those areas of the body
where they live by occupying space, depleting food supply and secreting materials such as waste
products, toxins, antibiotics that may PREVENT or reduce the growth of pathogens
Reasons for studying Microbiology
2. To discuss the role of opportunistic pathogens
•OPPORTUNISTIC PATHOGENS(OPPORTUNISTS): microbes that colonize or inhabit our bodies; they
have the potential to cause infections
•Opportunists do not cause disease under ordinary conditions but have the POTENTIAL to cause
disease should the opportunity presents itself ; they can cause infections if they gain access to a
part of our anatomy where they do not belong
•Escherichia Coli or E. coli which is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract when it gains access
to the urinary bladder, blood stream or wound may cause an infection
Reasons for studying Microbiology
3. To discuss that microbes are essential for life on this planet
•Some microbes produce oxygen by the process of photosynthesis
•Microbes contribute more oxygen to our atmosphere than do plants (algae and cyanobacteria
(photosynthetic bacteria)
4. To appreciate that many microbes are involved in the decomposition of dead organisms and the
waste products of living organisms (decomposers and saprophytes)
Decomposition: the process by which substances are broken down into simpler forms of matter
Saprophytes: an organism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter
Role: they aid in fertilization by returning inorganic nutrients to the soil; they break down dead and
dying organic materials (plants and animals into nitrates, phosphates, & other chemicals necessary
for the growth of plants
Reasons for studying Microbiology
5. Some microbes are capable of decomposing industrial wastes (oil spills)
•Microbes that clean up waste materials-Bioremediation
6. Many microbes are involved in elemental cycles such as the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and
phosphorus cycles
•Nitrogen cycle: certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas in the air to ammonia in the soil
•Other soil bacteria then convert the ammonia to nitrites and nitrates
•Still other bacteria convert nitrogen in nitrates to nitrogen gas, thus completing the cycle
•Knowledge of these microbes are helpful to farmers who practice crop rotation to replenish
nutrients in their fields and to gardeners who keep compost pits as a source of natural fertilizers
•Microbial ecology: study of relationships between microbes and the environment
Reasons for studying Microbiology
7. Algae and bacteria- serve as food for tiny animals; larger animals eat smaller creatures; thus
microbes serve as important links in food chains
Plankton: microscopic organisms in the ocean-serve as the starting point of many food chains
Tiny marine plants and algae are called phytoplankton, whereas tiny marine animals are called
zooplankton
8. Some microbes live in the intestinal tracts of animals where they aid in the digestion of food
and in some cases produce substances that are of value to the host animal
E. coli bacteria produces Vitamin K and Vitamin B1 which are absorbed and used by the human
body
Termites-eat wood, they have cellulose-eating protozoa in the intestinal tract that break down
wood
Reasons for studying Microbiology
9. Some bacteria and fungi produce antibiotics that are used to treat patients with infectious
diseases
Antibiotic: substances produced by a microbe that is effective in killing or inhibiting the growth of
other microbes
10. Many microbes are essential in various food and beverage industries thru biotechnology
whereas others are used to produce enzymes and chemicals
Pathogens cause two types of diseases
Microbes cause two categories of diseases: INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND MICROBIAL
INTOXICATIONS
•Infectious disease results when a pathogen colonizes the body and subsequently causes a
disease
•Microbial intoxication 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 (50,000 deaths per day, occurring
in developing countries) and the third leading cause of death in the US (after heart disease and
cancer)
•ANYONE PURSUING A CAREER IN HEALTH CARE MUST BE AWARE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, THE
PATHOGENS THAT CAUSE THEM, THE SOURCES OF PATHOGENS, HOW THESE DISEASES ARE
TRANSMITTED AND HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR PATIENTS FROM THESE DISEASES.
Earliest known infectious diseases
•Human pathogens have existed for thousands of years because damage caused by them has been
observed in the bones and internal organs of mummies and early human fossils. By studying mummies,
scientists have learned that bacterial diseases such as TUBERCULOSIS (TB), LEPROSY, AND SYPHILIS,
MALARIA, HEPATITIS and PARASITIC WORM INFECTIONS such as SCHISTOSOMIASIS, DRACUNCULIASIS
(GUINEA WORM INFECTION)HOOKWORM AND FLUKE AND TAPEWORM INFECTIONS have been around
for a very long time
•Pestilence occurred in Egypt about 3180 BC
•1900 BC near the end of the Trojan War, Greek army were decimated by an epidemic though to be the
bubonic plague
•1500 BC written in Ebers Papyrus discovered in a tomb in Thebes, Egypt, describing epidemic fevers
•1122 BC, smallpox was thought to have occurred in China
•790, 710, 640 BC epidemics of plague occurred in Rome, Italy and in Greece in 430 BC
Other diseases found to occur in early times were: rabies, anthrax, dysentery, smallpox,
ergotism, botulism, measles typhoid fever, typhus fever, diphtheria and syphilis
Syphilis made its first appearance in Europe in 1493, believed to have been carried to Europe by
Native Americans who were brought to Portugal by Christopher Columbus
French people called syphilis the Neopolitan disease, Italians called it the French or Spanish
disease and the English called it the French pox
The name syphilis was given to the disease in 1530.
PIONEERS in the Science of
Microbiology
•Bacteria and protozoa were the first microbes to be observed by humans
•Most significant events in the early history of microbiology were the development of
microscopes, bacterial staining procedures, culture of microorganisms and steps taken to prove
that microbes were responsible for causing specific infectious diseases
•Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723): Father of Microbiology; the first person to see live
bacteria and protozoa; Father of Bacteriology; Father of Protozoology; created the single lens or
simple microscope
•Louis Pasteur (1822- 1895): French chemist, his contributions are considered by many people to
be the foundation of the science of microbiology and a cornerstone of modern medicine; he
discovered “aerobes” ( organisms that require oxygen) and “anaerobes” (organisms that do not
require oxygen)
•Pasteur developed Pasteurization , a process to kill microbes that were causing wine to spoil;
heating wine to 55 degrees centigrade
•Today, pasteurization is accomplished by heating liquids to 63 deg. C to 65 deg C for 30 mins or
to 73 deg C to 75 deg C for 15 seconds. Pasteurization does kill all microbes in liquids-just the
pathogens
•Pasteur made significant contributions to the Germ Theory, that specific microbes cause specific
infectious diseases; he developed vaccines to prevent chicken cholera, anthrax and swine
erysipelas (skin disease), he developed vaccines against rabies in dogs and successfully used the
vaccine to treat human rabies.
•Robert Koch ( 1843- 1910), German physician; known for Koch’s Postulates
•Koch proved that anthrax bacillus (B. anthracis) caused anthrax
•Koch developed methods of fixing, staining and photographing bacteria; developed methods of
cultivating bacteria on solid media, worked with RJ Petri, invented a flat glass dish (Petri dish) in
which to culture bacteria on solid media. Frau Hesse, suggested the use of agar as a solidifying
agent which eanbled Koch to obtain pure cultures of bacteria
•Pure culture: refers to a condition in which only one type of organism is growing on a solid culture
medium or in a liquid culture medium in the laboratory; no other types of organisms are present
•Koch discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes tuberculosis and the bacterium Vibrio
cholerae that causes cholera ; his work on tuberculin a protein derived from M. tuberculosis led
to the development of a skin test valuable in diagnosing tuberculosis
Koch’s postulates (published 1884)
1. A particular microbe must be found in all cases of the disease and must not be present in
healthy animals or humans
2. The microbe must be isolated from the diseased animal or human and grown in pure culture
in the laboratory
3. The same disease must be produced when microbes from the pure culture are inoculated into
healthy susceptible laboratory animals
4. The same microbe must be recovered from the experimentally infected animals and grown
again in pure culture
The Koch’s postulates helped prove the germ theory of disease but boosted the development of
microbiology by stressing laboratory culture and identification of microbes