LEARNING CHUNK

Course Title: Microbiology

Learning Outcomes:

 Define microbiology
 Explain the importance of observation made by Hooke and Van Leeuwenhoek.
 Identify types of microorganisms
 List several ways in which microbes affect our lives.

Topic: Introduction to Microbiology and Microorganism

Activity:

Look for minute or small specimens around your home. It should be a living organism. List
down what you have found and then write any observation you can make from those specimens.
The more you can find, the better.

List of specimens found Observation

Analysis

From the activity, did you experience any difficulty in doing your observations? Why do you say it’s
not hard at all or why do you say you did find it hard to make observation?

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Small living organisms can be viewed by our naked eye but there are these super tiny living
organisms that can only be viewed with the aid of magnifying lens and microscopes. Better
observations can be done with these small specimens if we use microscopes. Microscopes are
primary tools used in Microbiology.

Let’s first define these two terminologies before we proceed:

a. Microbiology -is the study of microorganisms. Scientists who specialize in the study of microbes
are called microbiologists.

b. Microorganism- is an organism that cannot be seen with the unaided eye. That is, you must use
a microscope to see microorganisms. In fact, some microorganisms (like viruses) are so small that
special electronic instruments called electron microscopes must be used to view them. Bacteria,
viruses, protozoa, and molds are some examples of microorganisms. Microorganisms are
sometimes called microbes.

Abstraction

Microorganisms were first discovered and described with the discovery of microscopes. The history
of microscope can be traced back from the curiosity of several scientists. Robert Hooke and Anton
van Leeuwenhoek were among the first to invent the early microscopes.

 Robert Hooke
In 1665, he observed bark of cork trees under a microscope. He observed from the
cork objects that looked like individual rooms in a monastery which were called cells. He
then called his discovery CELLS. He was the first to coin the term “cells”.However his
invention limited him to further know the true function of the cell.

Illustration 1. Hooke’s microscope.

  Anton van Leeuwenhoek

In 1674, van Leeuwenhoek developed the microscope lens that can see greater
magnification. With his invention, bacteria, protozoa (single-celled animal), and red blood
cells were first observed and described.

Illustration 2. Leeuwenhoek’s microscope.

From Hooke and Leeuwenhoek’s ideas, microorganisms were now better and continuously being
described.

Microorganisms are extremely important in our everyday lives. In some instances, as the
production of certain cheeses, the presence of certain microorganisms is greatly desired. In other
cases, as spoiling food or bacterial infections, microorganisms are not desirable. Now let’s discuss
the major types of microorganisms, their characteristics, and the diseases.

1. Viruses

a. Characteristics

 are the smallest microorganisms

 can only be seen with the aid of an electron microscope.
 the diameter of the smallest viruses can be as little as 10 millimicrons (or
39/1,000,000,000 of an inch). Because of their size, most viruses can easily pass
through filters that would capture bacteria.
 are composed of an outer coat of protein and an inner coat of either DNA
 (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid).
 do not cause a disease like most bacteria, instead, they change the metabolic and
reproductive activity of the host cell. This causes necrosis or death of the host cell.

b. Reproductive Characteristics.

 Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites. This means they must be inside a living
cell in order to live. Viruses use the substances of that host cell to reproduce since
they do not have the internal structures required for life. Basically, the virus ‘injects'
its internal components (that is, DNA or RNA) into the host cell. Then, the
 metabolism of the host cell is controlled by the virus. After other viruses are
produced inside the host cell, the host cell ruptures, and the viruses are released
into the environment.

(On-going….)

Application

Now, let’s list several ways in which microbes affect our lives.
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References: