LESSON 1 – INTRODUCTION TO MICROBIOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGY
• Is the study of microscopic organisms, such as
bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
• Includes the study of certain nonliving entities as well as
certain living organisms.
➢ Collectively, these nonliving entities and living
organisms are called microbes.
• Micro means very small.
➢ Anything so small that it must be viewed with a
microscope (an optical instrument used to observe
very small objects).
• Thus, microbiology can be defined as the study of microbes.
• Biology refers to life.
TERMS TO REMEMBER
Bios
→ Living Organisms
Logy
→ “The Study Of”
Biology
→ The study of living organisms.
PARASITOLOGY
• Comes from the root word Parasite.
• It is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship
between them.
➢ Their relationship is called Parasitism.
• Take note that a parasite cannot exist without a host.
• Considered as a wide field of Microbiology.
➢ Microbiology and Parasitology both deal with the
study of microorganisms.
MICROBES
• With only rare exceptions, individual microbes can be
observed only with the use of various types of microscopes.
• Microbes are said to be ubiquitous.
➢ Meaning they are virtually everywhere.
• The various categories of microbes include:
➢ Viruses
➢ Bacteria
➢ Archaea
➢ Protozoa
➢ Certain types of Algae and Fungi
• Because most scientists do not consider viruses to be living
organisms, they are often referred to as “acellular
microbes” or “infectious particles” rather than
microorganisms.
• Your first introduction to microbes may have been when
your mother warned you about “germs”
➢ Although not a scientific term, germs are the
microbes that cause disease.
o Your mother worried that you might
become infected with these types of
microbes.
• Disease-causing microorganisms are technically known as
Pathogens (also referred to as infectious agents)
• Actually, only about 3% of known microbes are capable of
causing disease
➢ (i.e., only about 3% are pathogenic).
• Thus, the vast majority of known microbes are
Nonpathogens
➢ Microbes that do not cause disease.
• Some nonpathogens are beneficial to us, whereas others
have no effect on us at all.
Did you Know?
In newspapers and on television, we read and hear more
about pathogens than we do about nonpathogens, but in this
module you will learn about both categories—the microbes that
help us (“microbial allies”) and those that harm us.
HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
• Scientists first observed microorganisms when the first
primitive microscopes were developed during the 17th
Century.
• Back then, people attribute diseases to witchcrafts and
devils.
• Later, they believed that diseases were caused by Miasma.
➢ Miasma
o Refers to a highly unpleasant or
unhealthy smell or vapor.
ANTON VAN LEEUWENHOEK
• 1623 to 1723
• He was the first to demonstrate the presence of
microorganisms via the microscope.
• Thus, he was named as the Pioneer of Microscopy
• In 1647, he used a single-lens microscope to examine
microscopic organisms.
• First to publish observations of bacteria, which he viewed
by looking at water with a microscope.
• In 1684, his drawings of bacteria were published in the
Royal Society of London’s journal Philosophical
Transactions
➢ These are the first known drawings of bacteria.
• He was also first to describe protozoa, which are single-
celled organisms that include amoebae, and also described
yeast, which are fungi, in beer.
SPONTANEOUS GENERATION
• Microbiology techniques used to disprove the long-held
theory of spontaneous generation in the 19th Century.
• Spontaneous generation was the belief that living things
arose spontaneously from a combination of ingredients,
often including ingredients that were inorganic.
➢ For example, people believed that mice arose
from soiled cloth combined with wheat if the
combination was left out to sit.
• Although scientists such as Francesco Redi had disproven
spontaneous generation as early as the 17th Century, belief
in the theory persisted up to the 19th Century.
• This started to change when Louis Pasteur conducted
experiments using microorganisms.
Page 1 of 3
LOUIS PASTEUR
• Showed the presence of germs in the environment.
• He opened the field of Pasteurization and Sterilization
• He developed vaccines called Anthrax Vaccines
• He showed that microorganisms could be filtered out of air
by using cotton wool;
• He was also able to keep liquids sterile for an extended
period of time by boiling them in a swan-necked flask.
ROBERT KOCH
• Described methods of preparing culture.
• He was able to discover the respective causative agents of
Tuberculosis and Cholera.
➢ Tuberculosis – Mycobacterium tuberculosis
➢ Cholera – Vibrio cholerae
ALEXANDER FLEMING
• Developed Penicillin in 1928 from a fungus.
➢ The fungus is named Penicillium notatum
Additional Information
• The X-Ray was discovered accidentally by a German
mechanical engineer and physicist named Wilhelm
Conrad Röntgen
➢ Called X-ray because "x" is still unknown
• Was testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass
TH
19 CENTURY
• Other important advancements in 19th Century included:
➢ The widespread use of the compound microscope.
➢ The development of staining techniques in order
to better visualize microorganisms.
• In addition, people began to realize that microorganisms
could cause disease, and did experiments on immunity.
•
20TH CENTURY
• It was a time of great advancement for all forms of science,
including microbiology.
• The first vaccines and antibiotics were developed.
• The first chemotherapeutic agents were used to treat
bacterial diseases such as syphilis.
• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was discovered to be the
genetic material of the cell.
➢ Which opened up the field of genetics research
and allowed more recently for sequencing the
genomes of microorganisms.
ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Host
→ An organism that harbors a guest organism.
Parasite
→ An organism that lives within a host.
Pathogens
→ A biological agent that causes diseases or illness to its
host.
ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS
• Organisms form relationships with each other because they
are connected.
• Ecological relationships describe the interactions between
and among organisms within their environment
• These includes the following:
1. Competition
2. Predation
3. Commensalism
4. Mutualism
5. Parasitism
COMPETITION
• Occurs when organisms compete for the same resources.
• Interaction between organisms or species in which both the
organisms are harmed.
• Competition occurs naturally between living organisms that
coexist in the same environment.
PREDATION
• Prey vs. Predator Relationship
• This is when an organism eats another organism.
• A form of a symbiotic relationship between two organisms
of unlike species in which one of them acts as a predator
that captures and feeds on the other organism that serves
as the prey.
COMMENSALISM
• Benefits one organism without harming the other.
• No one is affected or harmed.
• Basically, one organism benefits without harming the other
organism.
MUTUALISM
• A relationship between two organisms in which both benefit
• A mutualistic relationship is when two organisms of different
species "work together," each benefiting from the
relationship.
PARASITISM
• One benefits while the other is harmed.
• One organism, the parasite, lives off of another organism,
the host, harming it and possibly causing death.
FACTORS PROMOTING GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT OF MICROORGANISMS
• Nutrients
➢ Every organism requires food or nutrition.
• Temperature
➢ Very high or very low discourages growth
➢ Plays a great role in development
• pH Levels
➢ Measurement of how acidic or alkaline a particular
substance is.
➢ Most microorganism prefer neutral pH
➢ Our pH Level ranges from 0 to 14
• Moisture
➢ All microorganism require water
• Oxygen
➢ Some organism are aerobic and some anaerobic
➢ Aerobic
o Uses/requires Oxygen to occur.
o Products: Carbon Dioxide, Water, ATP
o We also use a lot of water when sleeping
through breathing.
➢ Anaerobic
o Does not require Oxygen
o Products: Lactic Acid, ATP, Ethanol
Page 2 of 3
 BRANCHES OF MICROBIOLOGY
• Classified into groups such as by: Taxonomy and Type of
Research (includes Pure Microbiology Research and
Applied Microbiology Research)

BY TAXONOMY
Bacteriology The study of bacteria.
The study of the immune system.
Immunology Looks at the relationships between
pathogens such as bacteria and viruses
and their hosts.
The study of fungi, such as yeasts and
Mycology
molds.
Nematology The study of nematodes (roundworms).
The study of parasites.
Not all parasites are microorganisms, but
many are.
Parasitology
Protozoa and bacteria can be parasitic; the
study of bacterial parasites is usually
categorized as part of bacteriology.
Phycology The study of algae.
The study of protozoa, single-celled
Protozoology
organisms like amoebae.
Virology The study of viruses.

BY TYPE OF RESEARCH
• Microbiology research, like other fields of scientific
research, can be subdivided into the categories of pure and
applied.
• Pure (Basic) Research
➢ Exploratory
➢ Conducted in order to better understand a
scientific phenomenon.
• Applied Research
➢ Based on information gleaned from pure research.
➢ Used to answer specific questions or solve
problems.

PURE MICROBIOLOGY RESEARCH

Astromicrobiology
Evolutionary Microbiology
Cellular Microbiology
Microbial Ecology
Microbial Genetics
Microbial Physiology
Systems Microbiology
The study of the origin of life
on Earth, and the search for
extraterrestrial life.
The evolution of
microorganisms.
The study of the structure
and function of microbial
cells.
Mathematical/computational
modeling of the activities of
microbiological systems.

APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY RESEARCH

The study of microorganisms

Agricultural Microbiology
Food Microbiology
Medical Microbiology
Microbial Biotechnology
Pharmaceutical
Microbiology
that interact with plants and
soils.
The study of
microorganisms that spoil
food or cause foodborne
illnesses.
Can also study how
microorganisms are used in
food production, such as
fermentation of beer.
The study of microorganisms
responsible for human
disease.
Using microbes in industrial
or consumer products.
The study of microorganisms
used in pharmaceutical
products, such as vaccines
and antibiotics.

Page 3 of 3