AGE18202 (2+1)

UNITI- Lecture Notes

 Scope of Microbiology
Microorganisms are defined as those organisms and acellular biological
entities too small to be seen clearly by the unaided eye. They are generally 1
millimeter or less in diameter. Some cellular microbes, such as bread molds
and filamentous photosynthetic microbes, are actually visible without
microscopes. These macroscopic microbes are often colonial, consisting of
small aggregations of cells. Some macroscopic microorganisms are
multicellular. They are distinguished from other multicellular life forms such as
plants and animals by their lack of highly differentiated tissues. Most
unicellular microbes are microscopic. In summary, cellular microbes are
usually smaller than 1 millimeter in diameter, often unicellular and, if
multicellular, lack differentiated tissues. The diversity of microorganisms has
always presented a challenge to microbial taxonomists. The early descriptions
of cellular microbes as either plants or animals were too simple. For instance,
some microbes are motile like animals but also have cell walls and are
photosynthetic like plants. Such microbes cannot be placed easily into either
kingdom. An important breakthrough in microbial taxonomy arose from
studies of their cellular architecture, when it was discovered that cells
exhibited one of two possible "floor plans." Cells that came to be called
prokaryotic cells (Greek pro, before, and karyon, nut or kernel; organisms with
a primordial nucleus) have an open floor plan. That is, their contents are not
divided into compartments ("rooms") by membranes ("walls"). The most
obvious characteristic of these cells is that they lack the membrane-delimited
nucleus observed in eukaryotic cells (Greek eu, true, and karyon, nut or
kernel).
These observations eventually led to the development of a
classification scheme that divided organisms into five kingdoms: Monera,
Protista, Fungi, Animalia, and Plantae. Microorganisms (except for viruses
and other acellular infectious agents, which have their own classification
system) were placed in the first three kingdoms. In this scheme, all organisms
with prokaryotic cell structure were placed in Monera. The five-kingdom
system was an important development in microbial taxonomy, but it is no
longer accepted by microbiologists. This is because not all "prokaryotes" are
the same and therefore should not be grouped together in a single kingdom.
The comparison of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), begun by Carl Woese in the
1970s, was instrumental in demonstrating that there are two very different
groups of organisms with prokaryotic cell architecture: Bacteria and Archaea.
Later studies based on rRNA comparisons showed that Protista is not a
cohesive taxonomic unit (i.e., taxon) and that it should be divided into three or
more kingdoms. These studies and others have led many taxonomists to
reject the five-kingdom system in favor of one that divides cellular organisms
into three domains: Bacteria (sometimes referred to as true bacteria or
eubacteria), Archaea (sometimes called archaeobacteria or archaebacteria),
and Eukarya (all eukaryotic organisms).

Members of domain Bacteria are usually single-celled organisms. Most

have cell walls that contain the structural molecule peptidoglycan. Although
most bacteria exhibit typical prokaryotic cell structure (i.e., they lack a
membrane-bound nucleus), a few members of the unusual phylum
Planctomycetes have their genetic material surrounded by a membrane. This
inconsistency is another argument made for abandoning the term
"prokaryote." Bacteria are abundant in soil, water, and air, including sites that
have extreme temperatures, pH, or salinity.Bacteria are also major inhabitants
of our skin, mouth, and intestines. Indeed, more microbial cells are found in
and on the human body than there are human cells. These microbes begin to
colonize humans shortly after birth. As the microbes establish themselves,
they contribute to the development of the body's immune system. Those
microbes that inhabit the large intestine help the body digest food and
produce vitamins. In these and other ways, microbes help maintain the health
and well-being of their human hosts. They break down dead plant and animal
material and, in doing so, cycle elements in the biosphere. Furthermore, they
are used extensively in industry to make bread, cheese, antibiotics, vitamins,
enzymes, and other products.
Members of domain Archaea are distinguished from bacteria by many
features, most notably their distinctive rRNA sequences, lack of peptidoglycan
in their cell walls, and unique membrane lipids. Some have unusual metabolic
characteristics, such as the methanogens, which generate methane (natural)
gas. Many archaea are found in extreme environments, including those with
high temperatures (thermophiles) and high concentrations of salt (extreme
halophiles). Although some archaea are members of a community of
microbes involved in gum disease in humans, their role in causing disease
has not been clearly established.

Domain Eukarya includes microorganisms classified as protists or

fungi. Animals and plants are also placed in this domain. Protists are
generally unicellular but larger than most bacteria and archaea. They have
traditionally been divided into protozoa and algae.
The major types of protists are algae, protozoa, slime molds, and water
molds. Algae are photosynthetic. They, together with cyanobacteria, produce
about 75% of the planet's oxygen and are the foundation of aquatic food
chains. Protozoa are unicellular, animal-like protists that are usually motile.
Many free-living protozoa function as the principal hunters and grazers of the
microbial world. They obtain nutrients by ingesting organic matter and other
microbes. They can be found in many different environments, and some are
normal inhabitants of the intestinal tracts of animals, where they aid in
digestion of complex materials such as cellulose. A few cause disease in
humans and other animals. Slime molds are protists that behave like protozoa
in one stage of their life cycle but like fungi in another. In the protozoan phase,
they hunt for and engulf food particles, consuming decaying vegetation and
other microbes. Water molds are protists that grow on the surface of
freshwater and moist soil. They feed on decaying vegetation such as logs and
mulch. Some water molds have produced devastating plant infections,
including
the Great Potato Famine of 1846-1847 in Ireland. Fungi are a diverse group of
microorganisms that range from unicellular forms (yeasts) to molds and
mushrooms. Molds and mushrooms are multicellular fungi that form thin,
threadlike structures called hyphae. They absorb nutrients from their
environment, including the organic molecules they use as sources of carbon
and energy. Because of their metabolic capabilities,
many fungi play beneficial roles, including making bread rise, producing
antibiotics, and decomposing dead organisms. Some fungi associate with
plant roots to form mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizal fungi transfer nutrients to the
roots, improving growth of the plants, especially in poor soils. Other fungi
cause plant diseases (e.g., rusts, powdery mildews, and smuts) and diseases
in humans and other animals.
The microbial world also includes numerous acellular infectious agents.
Viruses are acellular entities that must invade a host cell to multiply. The
simplest viruses are composed only of proteins and a nucleic acid, and can be
extremely small (the smallest is 10,000 times smaller than a typical
bacterium). However, their small size belies their power: they cause many
animal and plant diseases and have caused epidemics that have shaped
human history. Viral diseases include smallpox, rabies, influenza, AIDS, the
common cold, and some cancers. Viruses also play important roles in aquatic
environments, and their role in shaping aquatic microbial communities is
currently being explored. Viroids and satellites are infectious agents
composed only of ribonucleic acid (RNA). Viroids cause numerous plant
diseases, whereas satellites cause plant diseases and some important animal
diseases such as hepatitis. Finally, prions, infectious agents composed only of
protein, are responsible for causing a variety of spongiform encephalopathies
such as scrapie and "mad cow disease."

Contribution of different scientists to field of Microbiology

The Theory of Spontaneous Generation
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) was one of the earliest
recorded scholars to articulate the theory of spontaneous generation, the
notion that life can arise from nonliving matter.
Aristotle proposed that life arose from nonliving material if the material
contained pneuma (“vital heat”). As evidence, he noted several instances of
the appearance of animals from environments previously devoid of such
animals, such as the seemingly sudden appearance of fish in a new puddle of
water.
Jan Baptista van Helmont, a seventeenth century Flemish scientist,
proposed that mice could arise from rags and wheat kernels left in an open
container for 3 weeks. In reality, such habitats provided ideal food sources
and shelter for mouse populations to flourish.
However, one of van Helmont’s contemporaries, Italian physician
Francesco Redi (1626–1697), performed an experiment in 1668 that was one
of the first to refute the idea that maggots (the larvae of flies) spontaneously
generate on meat left out in the open air. He predicted that preventing flies
from having direct contact with the meat would also prevent the appearance
of maggots.
In 1745, John Needham (1713–1781) published a report of his own
experiments, in which he briefly boiled broth infused with plant or animal
matter, hoping to kill all preexisting microbes.  He then sealed the flasks. After
a few days, Needham observed that the broth had become cloudy and a
single drop contained numerous microscopic creatures. He argued that the
new microbes must have arisen spontaneously.

Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729–1799) did not agree with Needham’s

conclusions, however, and performed hundreds of carefully executed
experiments using heated broth. Spallanzani’s results contradicted the
findings of Needham: Heated but sealed flasks remained clear, without any
signs of spontaneous growth, unless the flasks were subsequently opened to
the air.
Pasteur’s set of experiments irrefutably disproved the theory of
spontaneous generation and earned him the prestigious Alhumbert Prize from
the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1862. In a subsequent lecture in 1864,
Pasteur articulated “Omne vivum ex vivo” (“Life only comes from life”). In this
lecture, Pasteur recounted his famous swan-neck flask experiment, stating
that “life is a germ and a germ is life. Never will the doctrine of spontaneous
generation recover from the mortal blow of this simple experiment.
 In 1632, Leeuwenhoek was born on 24th October in Delft, Netherlands.
His father was a basket maker and died in his early childhood. Antony van
Leeuwenhoek is regarded as the father of microbiology. He is known for the
discovery of bacteria. Van Leeuwenhoek discovered "protozoa" - the single-
celled organisms and he called them "animalcules". He also improved the
microscope and laid foundation for microbiology. He is often cited as the first
microbiologist to study muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa and blood flow in
capillaries.
Although, he did not have much education or a scientific background, yet he
defied all odds to be reckoned as a great scientist through his skillful
observations, insight and unmatched curiosity. He revolutionized biological
science by exposing microscopic life to the world.
Textile merchants widely used small lenses for cloth inspection and
Leeuwenhoek acquired his own magnifying glass for trade purposes in 1653.
This was his introduction with microscope. With the passage of time, he got
keenly interested in glass processing and lens grinding. He was also inspired
by Robert Hooke's microscopic observations in his book Micrographia. He
built a simple microscope during 1671 and started observing different
substances. He experimented to calculate the number of microorganisms in
water and examined other objects like skin, hair and blood. He also studied
physical structure of ivory and discovered parasites in flea using more
powerful microscopes.

Antony Van Leeuwenhoek

A model of Leeuwenhoek Microscope
Antony Leeuwenhoek had naturally gifted eyesight which appropriately
accommodated his skills and passion for lens grinding. With his superior light
adjusting techniques, he was able to make microscopes which could magnify
over 200 times and to some he even had microscopes magnifying up to 500
times.

A brief account of his chief discoveries is presented below.

The Infusoria - (Protist class in modern

1674
Zoology)

The Bacteria (Genus Selenomonas -

1676 crescent shaped bacteria from human
mouth)

1677 The Spermatozoa

1682 The banded pattern of muscular fibers

1687 Research on the coffee beans

Career Ground over 500 lenses

Created over 400 different types of

Career
microscopes
 Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a
French chemist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in microbiology.
His experiments countered the common view of spontaneous generation and
confirmed the germ theory of disease, and he created the first vaccine for
rabies. Pasteur is best known to the general public for describing how to stop
milk and wine from going sour: This process came to be called pasteurization.
Pasteur is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology,
together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch. He also made many
discoveries in the field of chemistry, most notably the asymmetry of crystals.

Louis Pasteur represented some of the best of science, using his

creativity and intelligence to elucidate key scientific principles and working
tirelessly to find cures for diseases of animals (anthrax, chicken cholera) and
of humans as well (rabies).
The germ theory of disease is that microorganisms are the cause of many
diseases., Pasteur used a drop of blood from a sheep dying of anthrax, grew
this in a sterile culture, and kept repeating the process a 100 times,
representing a huge dilution of the original culture (Cohn 2004). Yet, the final
culture produced anthrax, proving that the anthrax bacillus was response for
the disease, and establishing the germ theory (Cohn 2004). Today, Pasteur is
often regarded as the father of germ theory and bacteriology, together with
Robert Koch.
Pasteur's research also showed that some microorganisms
contaminated fermenting beverages. With this established, he invented a
process in which liquids such as milk and beer were heated to kill most
bacteria and molds already present within them. This process was soon
afterward known as pasteurization. In 1865, two parasitic diseases called
pébrine and flacherie were killing great numbers of silkworms at Alès. Pasteur
worked several years proving it was a microbe attacking silkworm eggs that
caused the disease, and that eliminating this microbe within silkworm
nurseries would eradicate the disease
Immunology and vaccination
Pasteur's later work on diseases included work on chicken cholera.
During this work, a culture of the responsible bacteria had spoiled and failed
to induce the disease in some chickens he was infecting with the disease.
Upon reusing these healthy chickens, Pasteur discovered that he could not
infect them, even with fresh bacteria; the weakened bacteria had caused the
chickens to become immune to the disease, even though it had only caused
mild symptoms.
Pasteur publicly claimed he had made the anthrax vaccine by exposing
the bacillus to oxygen. His laboratory notebooks, now in the Bibliotheque
Nationale in Paris, in fact show Pasteur used the method of rival Jean-
Joseph-Henri Toussaint, a Toulouse veterinary surgeon, to create the anthrax
vaccine (Loir 1938; Cohn 2004). Pasteur did a public test in 1882, based on a
challenge from well-known veterinarian Rossignol, and followed closely by the
public and with daily news dispatches (Cohn 2004). There was a carnival
atmosphere. However, it was a complete success, with all 25 control sheep
dead two days after the final inoculation (May 5, 1882) and all 25 vaccinated
sheep alive and healthy (Cohn 2004). This fame spread throughout France
and Europe, and within 10 years a total of 3.5 million sheep and half-a-million
cattle had been vaccinated. The rabies vaccine was initially created by Emile
Roux, a French doctor and a colleague of Pasteur who had been working with
a killed vaccine produced by desiccating the spinal cords of infected rabbits.
The vaccine had only been tested on eleven dogs before its first human trial.
This vaccine was first used on 9-year old Joseph Meister, on July 6, 1885,
after the boy was badly mauled by a rabid dog. This was done at some
personal risk for Pasteur, since he was not a licensed physician and could
have faced prosecution for treating the boy. And he personally felt years of
additional research were needed. However, left without treatment, the boy
faced almost certain death from rabies. After consulting with colleagues,
Pasteur decided to go ahead with the treatment. Fortunately, the treatment
proved to be a spectacular success, with Meister avoiding the disease; thus,
Pasteur was hailed as a hero and the legal matter was not pursued. The
treatment's success laid the foundations for the manufacture of many other
vaccines.
Fermentation theory
The fermentation theory was studied in depth and brought to light first
by Louis Pasteur.
This theory states that it is the idea or concept of how fermentation is
brought on by microbes and put to the concept of spontaneous generation to
rest.
Even though this theory is now outdated and has been replaced by the
germ theory of disease, for a long time it held true, and Louis was on the
forefront of explaining why it seemed organisms appeared out of nothing
instead of claiming it was just a spontaneous act of God.
Fermentation was a process that has been used for thousands of
years, but no one could explain exactly what was happening and why. From
Pasteur's discovery of why and how fermentation occurs, the process has
been studied intensely and is now a mastered art used in everyday life with
processes of making things such as alcoholic beverages, some foods like
yogurt or even manufacturing some medications.
Germ theory of Disease
The germ theory of disease states that many diseases are caused by
microorganisms.
These small organisms, too small to see without magnification, invade
humans, animals, and other living hosts. Their growth and reproduction within
their hosts can cause a disease. "Germ" may refer to not just a bacterium but
to any type of microorganisms, especially one which causes disease, such as
protista, fungi, virus, prion, or viroid. Microorganisms that cause disease are
called pathogens, and the diseases they cause are called infectious diseases.
Even when a pathogen is the principal cause of a disease, environmental and
hereditary factors often influence the severity of the disease, and whether a
potential host individual becomes infected when exposed to the pathogen.
The germ theory was proposed by Girolamo Fracastoro in 1546, and
expanded upon by Marcus von Plenciz in 1762.
John Tyndall (2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent
19th-century Irish physicist. In the lab he came up with the following simple
way to obtain "optically pure" air, i.e. air that has no visible signs of particulate
matter. He built a square wooden box with a couple of glass windows on it.
Before closing the box, he coated the inside walls and floor of the box with
glycerin, which is a sticky syrup. He found that after a few days' wait the air
inside the box was entirely particulate-free when examined with strong light
beams through the glass windows. Now, in the optically pure air there were
no signs of any "germs", i.e. no signs of floating micro-organisms. Tyndall
sterilised some meat-broths by simply boiling them, and then compared what
happened when he let these meat-broths sit in the optically pure air, and in
ordinary air.
 John Tyndall

The broths sitting in the optically pure air remained "sweet" to smell
and taste after many months of sitting, while the ones in ordinary air started to
become putrid after a few days. This demonstration extended Louis Pasteur's
earlier demonstrations that the presence of micro-organisms is a precondition
for biomass decomposition.

However, the next year (1876) Tyndall failed to consistently reproduce the
result. Some of his supposedly heat-sterilized broths rotted in the optically
pure air. From this Tyndall was led to find viable bacterial spores
(endospores) in supposedly heat-sterilized broths.
He discovered the broths had been contaminated with dry bacterial spores
from hay in the lab. All bacteria are killed by simple boiling, except that
bacteria have a spore form that can survive boiling, he correctly contended,
citing research by Ferdinand Cohn. Tyndall found a way to eradicate the
bacterial spores that came to be known as "Tyndallization".
Tyndallization historically was the earliest known effective way to destroy
bacterial spores. At the time, it affirmed the "germ theory" against a number of
critics whose experimental results had been defective from the same cause.
Tyndallization essentially consists of heating the substance to boiling point
and holding it there for 15 minutes, three days in succession. After each
heating, the resting period will allow spores that have survived to germinate
into bacterial cells; these cells will be killed by the next day's heating.

During the resting periods the substance being sterilized is kept in a

moist environment at a warm room temperature, conducive to germination of
the spores. When the environment is favourable for bacteria, it is conducive to
the germination of cells from spores, and spores do not form from cells in this
environment.
Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a
Scottish physician, biologist, pharmacologist and botanist. His best-known
discoveries are the enzyme lysozyme in 1923 and the world's first antibiotic
substance benzylpenicillin (Penicillin G) from the mould Penicillium notatum in
1928, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945
with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.

During World War I, Fleming witnessed the death of many soldiers

from sepsis resulting from infected wounds. Antiseptics, which were used at
the time to treat infected wounds, often worsened the injuries. Antiseptics
worked well on the surface, but deep wounds tended to shelter anaerobic
bacteria from the antiseptic agent, and antiseptics seemed to remove
beneficial agents produced that protected the patients in these cases at least
as well as they removed bacteria, and did nothing to remove the bacteria that
were out of reach. At St Mary’s Hospital Fleming continued his investigations
into antibacterial substances. This was the first recorded discovery of
lysozyme (from nasal mucus), an enzyme present in many secretions
including tears, saliva, skin, hair and nails as well as mucus. Although he was
able to obtain larger amounts of lysozyme from egg whites, the enzyme was
only effective against small counts of harmless bacteria, and therefore had
little therapeutic potential.
 Pencillium sp. showing inhibition against Staphylocci
By 1927, Fleming had been investigating the properties of
staphylococci. On 3 September 1928, Fleming noticed that one culture was
contaminated with a fungus, and that the colonies of staphylococci
immediately surrounding the fungus had been destroyed, whereas other
staphylococci colonies farther away were normal. Fleming grew the mould in
a pure culture and found that it produced a substance that killed a number of
disease-causing bacteria. He identified the mould as being from the
Penicillium genus, and, after some months of calling it "mould juice", named
the substance it released penicillin on 7 March 1929. Gram-positive
pathogens that cause scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis and diphtheria, but
not typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever, which are caused by Gram-negative
bacteria. It also affected Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhoea
although this bacterium is Gram-negative. Fleming published his discovery in
1929, in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology, but little attention was
paid to his article. Fleming continued his investigations, but found that
cultivating penicillium was quite difficult, and that after having grown the
mould, it was even more difficult to isolate the antibiotic agent. Fleming's
impression was that because of the problem of producing it in quantity, and
because its action appeared to be rather slow, penicillin would not be
important in treating infection. Fleming also became convinced that penicillin
would not last long enough in the human body (in vivo) to kill bacteria
effectively. Many clinical tests were inconclusive, probably because it had
been used as a surface antiseptic. In the 1930s, Fleming finally abandoned
penicillin, and not long after he did, Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain at
the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford took up researching and mass-producing it,
with funds from the U.S. and British governments.
Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a
Ukrainian-born, Jewish-American inventor, biochemist and microbiologist. A
professor of biochemistry and microbiology at Rutgers University for four
decades, he discovered over twenty antibiotics (a word he coined) and
introduced procedures that have led to the development of many others. In
1952 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in
recognition "for his discovery of "streptomycin," the first antibiotic active
against tuberculosis.“ It was at Rutgers that Waksman's team discovered
several antibiotics, including actinomycin, clavacin, streptothricin,
streptomycin, grisein, neomycin, fradicin, candicidin, candidin, and others.

Two of these, streptomycin and neomycin, have found extensive

application in the treatment of numerous infectious diseases.
Streptomycin was the first antibiotic that could be used to cure the disease
tuberculosis. Waksman is credited with coining the term antibiotics, to
describe compounds derived from other living organisms such as penicillin,
though the term was first used by the French dermatologist François Henri
Hallopeau, in 1871, to describe a substance opposed to the development of
life. On his return to Waksman's lab in 1943, Schatz offered to take on the
search for an antibiotic effective against tubercle bacillus (the bacterium that
causes TB) and Gram-negative bacteria responsible for other penicillin-
resistant diseases.
Within three and a half months he had identified two related strains of
bacteria in the phylum Actinomycetes which stopped the growth of tubercle
bacillus and several Gram-negative bacteria. One strain came from a mouth
swab from a healthy chicken, the other from soil outside his lab. He named
the antibiotic derived from these bacteria "streptomycin.
Edward Jenner, ( 17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English
physician and scientist who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, the world's
first vaccine. The terms "vaccine" and "vaccination" are derived from Variolae
vaccinae (smallpox of the cow), the term devised by Jenner to denotecowpox.
He used it in 1798 in the long title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae
known as the Cow Pox, in which he described the protective effect of cowpox
against smallpox. Jenner is often called "the father of immunology", and his
work is said to have "saved more lives than the work of any other human.
Noting the common observation that milkmaids were generally immune to
smallpox, Jenner postulated that the pus in the blisters that milkmaids
received from cowpox (a disease similar to smallpox, but much less virulent)
protected them from smallpox. On 14 May 1796, Jenner tested his hypothesis
by inoculating James Phipps, an eight-year-old boy who was the son of
Jenner's gardener. He scraped pus from cowpox blisters on the hands of
Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had caught cowpox from a cow called
Blossomwhose hide now hangs on the wall of the St George's medical school
library (now in Tooting). Jenner inoculated Phipps in both arms that day,
subsequently producing in Phipps a fever and some uneasiness, but no full-
blown infection. Later, he injected Phipps with variolous material, the routine
method of immunization at that time. No disease followed. If variolation after
infection with cowpox fails to produce a smallpox infection, immunity to
smallpox has been achieved.

Edward Jenner
Jenner continued his research and reported it to the Royal Society,
which did not publish the initial paper. After revisions and further
investigations, he published his findings on the 23 cases. Some of his
conclusions were correct, some erroneous; modern microbiological and
microscopic methods would make his studies easier to reproduce. The
medical establishment deliberated at length over his findings before accepting
them.

Eventually, vaccination was accepted, and in 1840, the British government

banned variolation – the use of smallpox to induce immunity – and provided
vaccination using cowpox free of charge

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, known between 1883 and 1897 as Sir Joseph
Lister, Bt., was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery.

Joseph Lister,
He promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal
Infirmary. Lister successfully introduced carbolic acid (now known as phenol)
to sterilise surgical instruments and to clean wounds. Applying Louis Pasteur's
advances in microbiology, Lister championed the use of carbolic acid as an
antiseptic, such that it became the first widely used antiseptic in surgery. He
first suspected it would prove an adequate disinfectant because it was used to
ease the stench from fields irrigated with sewage waste. He presumed it was
safe because fields treated with carbolic acid produced no apparent ill-effects
on the livestock that later grazed upon them. Lister's work led to a reduction in
post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients, distinguishing
himself as the "father of modern surgery.

Microbiology in 20th Century

The discovery of microbial effects on organic and inorganic matter started with
the discovery of Theodore Schwann and others (1937) who observed that
yeast cells are able to convert sugar to alcohol i.e. alcoholic fermentation. It
was Pasteur’s observations that revealed about anaerobic and aerobic
microorganisms. Role of microorganisms in the carbon, nitrogen and sulphur
cycles in soil and aquatic habitats were discussed by Sergei N. Winogradsky
(1956-1953) and Martinus Beijerinck (1851-1931), The Russian microbiologist
Winogradsky also discovered that
(i) soil bacteria oxidize Iron, Sulphur and Ammonia to obtain energy,
(ii) isolated anaerobic N2 fixers and
(iii) studied the decomposition of cellulosic organic matter.
On the other hand, Beijerinck, contributed a lot in the area of microbial
ecology. Azotobacter, a free living nitrogen fixer was isolated. Later a root
nodulating bacterium named as Rhizobium and sulphate reducers were also
isolated. Both these microbiologists developed the enrichment culture
techniques and the use of selective media in the microbiology.
In 20th century, microbiology developed from the angle of other disciplines of
biological sciences in such a way so that problems of cell structure to the
evolution are solved. Although, more emphasis were laid down on the agents
of infectious disease, the immune response, chemotherapeutic agents and
bacterial metabolism.
 Beadle and Tautam (1941) used mutants of the bread mold,
Neurospora while Salvadore Luria and Max Delbruck (1943) used bacterial
mutants to show that gene mutations were truly spontaneous and not directed
by the environment. Avery, Macleod, and Mc Carty (1944) evidenced that
DNA was the genetic carried genetic information. Such discoveries made
microbiology, genetics and biochemistry as modern molecularly oriented
genetics. Microbiology contributed maximum in molecular biology which deals
with the physical and chemical aspects of living matter and its function. The
genetic code and the mechanism of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis were
also studied by using several microorganisms. Regulation of gene expression
and the control of enzymes activity were also discussed in the light of
microbiology in 1970’s new discovery such as recombinant DNA technology
and genetic engineering were also led to development of microbiology which
gave the service of microbial biotechnology.
Scientists of West C jester University, Pennsylvania have revived a microbe
that had been in suspended animation for 250 million years, a remarkable feat
which boosts theories that the ancient seeds for life arrived on Earth from
space. Russell Vreeland (2003) isolated a spore forming Bacillus sp. From
250 years old sample of salt crystal found below ground (1850 ft.) in New
Mexico. The bacterium seems to be similar to Bacillus marismortui. Earlier,
there were reports of oldest living creatures of 254-40 million years.

Summary on the important contribution in the field of Microbiology

One gene one enzyme hypothesis
Beadle and Tatum set out to provide experimental proof of the connection
between genes and enzymes. They hypothesized that if there really was a
one-to-one relationship between genes and specific enzymes, it should be
possible to create genetic mutants that are unable to carry out specific
enzymatic reactions. To test this theory, they exposed spores of Neurospora
crassa (a bread mold) to X-rays or UV radiation and studied the resulting
mutations. The mutant molds had a variety of special nutritional needs. Unlike
their normal counterparts, they could not live without the addition of particular
vitamins or amino acids to their food. For example, normal Neurospora
requires only one vitamin (biotin), but mutants were created that also required
thiamine or choline.

Genetic analysis showed that each mutant differed from the original, normal
type by only one gene. Biochemical studies showed that the mutants seemed
to be blocked at certain steps in the normal metabolic pathways. Their cells
contained large accumulations of the substance synthesized just prior to the
blockage point - just as Garrod's patients had accumulated alkapton.
As Beadle and Tatum had predicted, they were able to create single gene
mutations that incapacitated specific enzymes, so that the molds with these
mutations required an external supply of the substance that the enzyme
normally produced, and the substance that the enzyme normally used, piled
up in the cell. These results led them to the one gene/one enzyme hypothesis,
which states that each gene is responsible for directing the building of a
single, specific enzyme.

One-Gene One-Polypeptide Hypothesis:

One gene one enzyme hypothesis has some drawbacks:
(i) All genes do not produce enzymes or their components. Some of them
control other genes.
(ii) Enzymes are generally proteinaceous in nature but all proteins are not
enzymes.
(iii) Some RNAs also show enzyme activity.
(iv) A protein or enzyme molecule may consist of one or more type of
polypeptides.
Yanofsky et. al. (1965) found that the enzyme tryptophan synthetase of
bacterium E. coli consists of two separate polypeptides. A and B polypeptide
A is of α-type while polypeptide B is of β-type. The synthesis of the two
polypeptides is controlled by two different genes, trp-A and trp-B.
A change in any one of the two genes causes inactivation of tryptophan
synthetase by stopping the synthesis of α and β-poIypeptide. Inactivation of
enzyme stops the synthesis of tryptophan from Indole-3-glycerol phosphate
and serine.
In view of the above mentioned examples, “one gene one enzyme” hypothesis
was changed to “one gene one polypeptide” hypothesis. According to this
hypothesis “a structural gene specifies synthesis of a single polypeptide.

Discovery on the structure of DNA

Watson and Crick worked together on studying the structure of DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecule that contains the hereditary information
for cells. At that time Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, both working at
King's College, London, were using X-ray diffraction to study DNA. Crick and
Watson used their findings in their own research. In April 1953, they published
the news of their discovery, a molecular structure of DNA based on all its
known features - the double helix. Their model served to explain how DNA
replicates and how hereditary information is coded on it. This set the stage for
the rapid advances in molecular biology that continue to this day. Watson,
Crick and Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962. Franklin had
died in 1958 and, despite her key experimental work, the prize could not be
received posthumously. Crick and Watson both received numerous other
awards and prizes for their work.
Photo 51, showing x-ray diffraction pattern of DNA
Eukaryotic Cell vs. Prokaryotic Cell
Prokaryotes (pro-KAR-ee-ot-es) (from Old Greek pro- before + karyon nut
or kernel, referring to the cell nucleus, + suffix -otos, pl. -otes; also spelled
"procaryotes") are organisms without a cell nucleus (= karyon), or any other
membrane-bound organelles. Most are unicellular, but some prokaryotes
are multicellular.
Eukaryotes (IPA: [juːˈkæɹɪɒt]) are organisms whose cells are organized
into complex structures by internal membranes and a cytoskeleton. The
most characteristic membrane bound structure is the nucleus. This feature
gives them their name, (also spelled "eucaryote,") which comes from the
Greek ευ, meaning good/true, and κάρυον, meaning nut, referring to the
nucleus. Animals, plants, fungi, and protists are eukaryotes.

Eukaryotic cells
 Prokaryotic Cell (Bacterium)

Comparison between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cell:

  Prokaryotic Cell Eukaryotic Cell

These organisms are

These are organisms made up of made up of cells that
cells that lack a cell nucleus or possess a membrane-
Definition
any membrane-encased bound nucleus as well
organelles. as membrane-bound
organelles.

It has a true nucleus,

Nucleus It has no nucleus. bounded by a double
membrane.

DNA arrangement It has a circular loop. It is linear.

Size Small cells ( < 5 µm) Large cells ( < 10 µm)

Cell Always unicellular Mostly multi-cellular

When present,
Usually present; chemically
Cell wall chemically simple in
complex in nature
nature

Protein It does not contain protein in its It contains proteins in

 the DNA to form
DNA.
chromatin.

It contains large
Ribosome It contains small ribosomes.
ribosomes.

Always have
Cytoplasm No cytoskeleton
cytoskeleton

Cell division is by
Cell division Cell division is by binary fission
mitosis

Reproduction is
Reproduction Reproduction is always asexual
asexual or sexual

Huge variety of metabolic Common metabolic

Metabolic pathways
pathways pathways

It is complex in nature
Consist of two protein building
Flagella and consists of
blocks
multiple microtubules

Common with
Multi-cellular forms Rare extensive tissue
formation

They perform functions of golgi-

bodies and mitochondria, and also
Mesosomes Not present
help in separation of
chromosomes.

Sterols and
No carbohydrates and lacks
Plasma membrane carbohydrates are
sterols
both present

Present as a capsule or slime Present in some cells

Glycocalyx 
layer which lack a cell wall

 Animal cells and

Example Bacteria and Archaea
plant cells

The distinction between prokaryotes and eukaryotes is considered to be

the most important distinction among groups of organisms. Eukaryotic cells
contain membrane bound organelles, such as the nucleus, while prokaryotic
cells do not. Differences in cellular structure of prokaryotes and eukaryotes
include the presence of mitochondria and chloroplasts, the cell wall, and the
structure of chromosomal DNA.Prokaryotes were the only form of life
on Earth for millions of years until more complicated eukaryotic cells came
into being through the process of evolution.
 The difference between the structure of prokaryotes and eukaryotes
is so great that it is considered to be the most important distinction
among groups of organisms.
 The most fundamental difference is that eukaryotes do have "true"
nuclei containing their DNA, whereas the genetic material in
prokaryotes is not membrane-bound.
 In eukaryotes, the mitochondria and chloroplasts perform various
metabolic processes and are believed to have been derived from
endosymbiotic bacteria. In prokaryotes similar processes occur
across the cell membrane; endosymbionts are extremely rare.
 The cell walls of prokaryotes are generally formed of a different
molecule (peptidoglycan) to those of eukaryotes (many eukaryotes
do not have a cell wall at all).
 Prokaryotes are usually much smaller than eukaryotic cells.
 Prokaryotes also differ from eukaryotes in that they contain only a
single loop of stable chromosomal DNA stored in an area named the
nucleoid, while eukaryote DNA is found on tightly bound and
organised chromosomes. Although some eukaryotes have satellite
DNA structures called plasmids, these are generally regarded as a
prokaryote feature and many important genes in prokaryotes are
stored on plasmids.
 Prokaryotes have a larger surface area to volume ratio giving them a
higher metabolic rate, a higher growth rate and consequently a
shorter generation time compared to Eukaryotes.

Genes
 Prokaryotes also differ from eukaryotes in the structure, packing,
density, and arrangement of their genes on the chromosome.
Prokaryotes have incredibly compact genomes compared to
 eukaryotes, mostly because prokaryote genes lack introns and
large non-coding regions between each gene.
 Whereas nearly 95% of the human genome does not code for
proteins or RNA or includes a gene promoter, nearly all of the
prokaryote genome codes or controls something.
 Prokaryote genes are also expressed in groups, known as
operons, instead of individually, as in eukaryotes.
 In a prokaryote cell, all genes in an operon(three in the case of the
famous lac operon) are transcribed on the same piece of RNA and
then made into separate proteins, whereas if these genes were
native to eukaryotes, they each would have their own promoter
and be transcribed on their own strand of mRNA. This lesser
degree of control over gene expression contributes to the simplicity
of the prokaryotes as compared to the eukaryotes.

Criteria for Delimiting Kingdoms:

Whittaker has used five criteria for delimiting the different kingdoms:
(i) Complexity of cell structure, prokaryotic and eukaryotic
(ii) Complexity of body structure or structural organisation, unicellular and
multicellular.
(iii) Mode of nutrition which is divergent in multicellular kingdoms— photo-
autotrophy in plantae, absorptive heterotrophy in fungi and ingestive
heterotrophyin animalia. Photoautotrophic nutrition is also called holophytic
nutrition while absorptive heterotrophy is known as holozoic nutrition.
Absorptive heterotrophy is saprobiotic (= saprophytic) nutrition.
(iv) Ecological life style like producers (plantae), decomposers (fungi) and
consumers (animalia).
(v) Phylogenetic relationships.
Whittaker’s five kingdoms are Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi and Animalia.

Monera— Kingdom of Prokaryotes:

The kingdom includes all prokaryotes— mycoplasma, bacteria, actinomycetes
and cyanobacteria or blue green alge. Along with fungi, they are decomposers
and mineralizers of the biosphere.
(i) Monerans are basically unicellular (monos-single) prokaryotes and contain
the most primitive of living forms,
(ii) They are varied in their nutrition— saprobic, parasitic, chemoautotrophic,
photoautotrophic and symbiotic. The photoautotrophs include both aerobes
and anaerobes,
(iii) The cells are microscopic (0.1 to a few microns in length),
(iv) Cell wall is generally present. It contains peptidoglycan and
polysaccharides Other than Cellulose,
(v) Cells have one envelope type of organisation, i.e., the whole protoplast is
covered by plasma membrane but internal compartmentalization is absent,
(vi) Genetic material is not organised into a nucleus,
(vii) DNA is naked, i.e., it is not associated with histone proteins. DNA lies
coiled inside the cytoplasm. The coiled mass is known as nucleoid. It is
equivalent to a single chromosome,
(viii) All membrane bound cell organelles are absent, e.g., mitochondria,
lysosomes, spherosomes, Golgi bodies, plastids, etc.
(ix) The flagella, if present, are single stranded instead of being 11 stranded in
eukaryotes. They are formed of protein called flagellin.
(x) Mitotic spindle is absent,
(xi) Gametes are absent. Gene recombination has been discovered in certain
cases. Otherwise reproduction is by asexual methods,
(xii) Some of the monerans have the ability to convert di-nitrogen into
ammonia state.
Protista— Kingdom of Unicellular Eukaryotes:
All prokaryotic organisms were grouped together under Kingdom Monera and
the unicellular eukaryotic organisms were placed in Kingdom Protista.
Kingdom Protista has brought together Chlamydomonas, Chlorella (earlier
placed in Algae within Plants and both having cell walls) with Paramecium
and Amoeba (which were earlier placed in the animal kingdom which lack cell
wall. It has put together organisms which, in earlier classifications, were
placed in different kingdoms.
This happened because the criteria for classification changed. This kind of
changes will take place in future too depending on the improvement in our
understanding of characteristics and evolutionary relationships.
Over time, an attempt has been made to evolve a classification system which
reflects not only the morphological physiological and reproductive similarities,
but is also phylogenetic, i.e., is based on evolutionary relationships. Kingdom
protista includes flagellates (euglenophyceae), diatoms, dinoflagellates, slime
moulds, sarcodines, ciliates, sporozoans, etc.
The important characteristics are:
(i) It includes all unicellular and colonial eukaryotes,
(ii) Mostly they are aquatic organisms forming plankton,
(iii) They have diverse modes of nutrition— photosynthetic, saprobic,
parasitic, ingestive, or holozoic etc.
(iv) The photosynthetic plankton are called phytoplankton. They usually
possess cell wall and constitute an important group of producers. The non-
photosynthetic, wall-less and holozoic plankton are called zooplankton.
Holozoic nutrition involves ingestion of particulate food. The protistans having
holozoic nutrition are collectively called protozoa, though they have been
excluded from kingdom animalia.
(v) There is a group of Euglena-like organisms which have a dual mode of
nutrition, holophytic or photosynthetic in light and holozoic in absence of light
or presence of abundant organic matter.
Slime moulds are a group of protista which are intermediate between wall-less
and walled organisms. They are devoid of a wall in vegetative phase. In the
vegetative phase, the nutrition is of ingestive type. In the reproductive phase,
the slime moulds come to have cell walls,
(vi) The cellular organisation is of two envelope type, i.e., besides plasma
membrane, internal membranes occur around certain organelles,
(vii) Genetic material is organised in the form of nucleus. DNA is associated
with histone proteins,
(viii) The aerobic forms possess mitochondria. Endoplasmic reticulum, golgi
bodies, lysosomes and centrioles occur,
(ix) Flagella, if present, are 11 stranded with 9 + 2 organisation of
microtubules that are composed of a protein named tubulin,
(x) Both sexual and asexual modes of reproduction are present. However, an
embryo stage is absent,
(xi) Tissue system is, absent.
Kingdom protista does not seem to be a natural group due to:
(i) Dinoflagellates are mesokaryotic and not eukaryotic.
(ii) A distinction of unicellular protistan algae and green algae included in
volvocales is not valid,
(iii) Slime moulds are quite distinct from rest of the protists.
(iv) There are several evolutionary lines in protista,
(v) Protists of this kingdom have diverse modes of form, structure and life.

Fungi— Kingdom of Multicellular Decomposers:

The kingdom includes moulds, mildews, yeasts, rust causing fungi,
pencillium, morels, mushrooms, puffballs, bracket fungi, etc., i.e., all the
fungi of the two kingdom classification except slime moulds:
(i) It contains achlorophyllous, spore producing, multicellular or multinucleate
eukaryotic organisms. Basically unicellular yeasts are also included amongst
fungi because their sexual reproduction is similar to that of some fungi,
(ii) The organism: are heterotrophic with absorptive type of nutrition. It is either
saprobic or parasitic. Symbiotic association occurs with some algae and
higher plants, e.g., lichens, mycorrhiza. The saprobic fungi excrete hydrolytic
or digestive enzymes in the external medium for digesting complex organic
compounds. The parasitic fungi absorb nourishment directly from another
living organism called host,
(iii) The body of fungus is filamentous and is called mycelium. The filaments
are known as hyphae.
(iv) Hyphae are either multicellular or multinucleate. Nuclei are very small and
show intra-nuclear spindle,
(v) The wall contains chitin and non-cellulosic polysaccharides. Cellulose also
occurs in a few cases,
(vi) The cellular organisation is two envelope type,
(vii) In most cases, Golgi bodies are unicistemal.
(viii) Reproduction is both asexual and sexual,
(ix) Vegetative body or mycelium is not clear externally in most of the cases
due to its subterranean nature. Reproductive bodies, are, however, apparent
as in mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, bracket fungi,
(x) Tissue differentiation is absent,
(xi) Food reserve is glycogen and fat.
The kingdom is important in nutrient cycling because along with some
protistans and monerans, fungi are decomposers and mineralizers of the
biosphere.
Plantae — Kingdom of Multicellular Producers or Metaphyta:
The kingdom contains all photosynthetic eukaryotic multicellular plants and
their non-photosynthetic relatives. At the lower level it contains multicellular
algae— green, brown and red algae. Other groups included in the kingdom
plantae are bryophytes, pteridophytes and spermatophytes.
Important characters of this kingdom are as follows:
(i) Organisms are multicellular.
(ii) They are eukaryotic.
(iii) Body form is less regular,
(iv) Growth is usually indefinite,
(v) Organs are commonly external,
(vi) Irritability is poor,
(vii) Mode of nutrition is autotrophic.
(viii) The photosynthetic regions contain plastids in their cells. Due to photo-
synthetic activity, plants are called producers,
(ix) Most of the plants are restricted to land, sea-shores and fresh water
reservoirs.
(x) The plants are usually fixed or free floating. Active locomotion is generally
absent,
(xi) Structural differentiation into tissues is found except for certain algae,
(xii) Food reserve is usually starch and fat.
(xiii) Some of the plants are heterotrophic. They are mostly parasitic. A few
are saprobes. A small group of autotrophic plants catch small animals and
insects for obtaining extra nitrogen. They are called carnivorous or
insectivorous plants,
(xiv) Reproduction is both asexual and sexual. Accessory spores are present
in lower plants. An embryo stage is absent in the algal group but is present in
others.
Animalia — Kingdom of Multicellular Consumers or Metazoa:
Members of this kingdom are also known as metazoa or multicellular animals.
The kingdom has maximum number and most diverse types of organisms. It
includes all the animals of the two kingdom classification except Protozoa.
Groups included are sponges, coelenterates, worms, molluscs, arthropods,
star fishes and vertebrates like fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and
mammals. Insects, a group of arthropods, outnumber all other organisms in
variety and number.
The important characteristics of animalia are:
(i) Organisms are multicellular eukaryotes,
(ii) Body form is regular,
(iii) Organs are internal,
(iv) Growth is definite. Well defined growing points are absent,
(v) Cellular, tissue and organ- system levels of organisation occurs in different
groups,
(vi) Response to stimuli is quick,
(vii) A cell does not possess central vacuole. Instead small vacuoles may
occur,
(viii) Centrioles occur in the ceils,
(ix) A cell wall is absent,
(x) Plastids and photosynthetic pigments are absent,
(xi) The organisms have holozoic or ingestive type of nutrition. A few animals
are, however, parasitic. They live on or inside the bodies of other eukaryotes,
(xii) Animals are motile or mobile as they have to search for their food.
Sponges and corals are an exception,
(xiii) The organisms possess muscle cells for their mobility and nerve cells for
conduction of impulses. They are, however, absent in sponges,
(xiv) Reproduction is mostly sexual. Regeneration of whole organism and
formation of spores are found in lower animals,
(xv) Embryo stage is present,
(xvi) Ecologically animals are consumers. These consumers constitute links in
the food chains and food webs.
Advantages of Five Kingdom Classification:
1. Separation of prokaryotes in a separate kingdom of Monera is a wise step
because prokaryotes differ from all other organisms in their genetic, cellular,
reproductive and physiological organisation.
2
.
Many transitional or intermediate forms are present in the unicellular
eukaryotes which had been included both amongst plants and animals.
Separation of unicellular eukaryotes into kingdom protista has removed this
anomaly.
3. Fungi have never been related to plants. They have their own biochemical,
physiological and structural organisation. Separation of fungi into a separate
kingdom was long overdue.
4. The five kingdom classification is based on levels of organisation and
nutrition which evolved very early and became established in later groups that
are existing today.
5. In this classification, animal and plant kingdoms are more homogeneous
than they are in two-kingdom classification.
6. It has tried to bring out phylogenetic relationships even amongst the
primitive forms.

Drawbacks of Five Kingdom Classification:

1. In real terms the phylogenetic system cannot be established till all the
distinct evolutionary tendencies are separated. This is not possible at the
lower level.
For example, certain green algae are known to obtain hydrogen from sources
other than water like photosynthetic bacteria, Similarly, Euglena can be
photosynthetic as well as saprotrophic. Its relatives can have absorptive as
well as ingestive type of heterotrophic nutrition.
2. A distinction between unicellular and multicellular organisms is not possible
in case of algae. It is because of this that unicellular green algae have not
been included in kingdom Protista by Whittaker.
3. Each group has so many diversities that it is difficult to keep them together.
For example, monera and protista contain both walled and wall-less
organisms, photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organisms, unicellular and
filamentous or mycelial organisms.
4. Viruses have not been included in this system of classification.
5. Archaebacteria differ from other bacteria in structure, composition and
physiology.
6. Mycoplasmas are quite different from bacteria where they have been
placed along with prokaryotes.
Criteria for Delimiting Kingdoms:
Whittaker has used five criteria for delimiting the different kingdoms:
(i) Complexity of cell structure, prokaryotic and eukaryotic
(ii) Complexity of body structure or structural organisation, unicellular and
multicellular.
(iii) Mode of nutrition which is divergent in multicellular kingdoms— photo-
autotrophy in plantae, absorptive heterotrophy in fungi and ingestive
heterotrophyin animalia. Photoautotrophic nutrition is also called holophytic
nutrition while absorptive heterotrophy is known as holozoic nutrition.
Absorptive heterotrophy is saprobiotic (= saprophytic) nutrition.
(iv) Ecological life style like producers (plantae), decomposers (fungi) and
consumers (animalia).
(v) Phylogenetic relationships.
Whittaker’s five kingdoms are Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi and Animalia.
Monera— Kingdom of Prokaryotes:
The kingdom includes all prokaryotes— mycoplasma, bacteria, actinomycetes
and cyanobacteria or blue green alge. Along with fungi, they are decomposers
and mineralizers of the biosphere.
(i) Monerans are basically unicellular (monos-single) prokaryotes and contain
the most primitive of living forms,
(ii) They are varied in their nutrition— saprobic, parasitic, chemoautotrophic,
photoautotrophic and symbiotic. The photoautotrophs include both aerobes
and anaerobes,
(iii) The cells are microscopic (0.1 to a few microns in length),
(iv) Cell wall is generally present. It contains peptidoglycan and
polysaccharides Other than Cellulose,
(v) Cells have one envelope type of organisation, i.e., the whole protoplast is
covered by plasma membrane but internal compartmentalization is absent,
(vi) Genetic material is not organised into a nucleus,
(vii) DNA is naked, i.e., it is not associated with histone proteins. DNA lies
coiled inside the cytoplasm. The coiled mass is known as nucleoid. It is
equivalent to a single chromosome,
(viii) All membrane bound cell organelles are absent, e.g., mitochondria,
lysosomes, spherosomes, Golgi bodies, plastids, etc.
(ix) The flagella, if present, are single stranded instead of being 11 stranded in
eukaryotes. They are formed of protein called flagellin.
(x) Mitotic spindle is absent,
(xi) Gametes are absent. Gene recombination has been discovered in certain
cases. Otherwise reproduction is by asexual methods,
(xii) Some of the monerans have the ability to convert di-nitrogen into
ammonia state.
Protista— Kingdom of Unicellular Eukaryotes:
All prokaryotic organisms were grouped together under Kingdom Monera and
the unicellular eukaryotic organisms were placed in Kingdom Protista.
Kingdom Protista has brought together Chlamydomonas, Chlorella (earlier
placed in Algae within Plants and both having cell walls) with Paramecium
and Amoeba (which were earlier placed in the animal kingdom which lack cell
wall. It has put together organisms which, in earlier classifications, were
placed in different kingdoms.
This happened because the criteria for classification changed. This kind of
changes will take place in future too depending on the improvement in our
understanding of characteristics and evolutionary relationships.
Over time, an attempt has been made to evolve a classification system which
reflects not only the morphological physiological and reproductive similarities,
but is also phylogenetic, i.e., is based on evolutionary relationships. Kingdom
protista includes flagellates (euglenophyceae), diatoms, dinoflagellates, slime
moulds, sarcodines, ciliates, sporozoans, etc.
The important characteristics are:
(i) It includes all unicellular and colonial eukaryotes,
(ii) Mostly they are aquatic organisms forming plankton,
(iii) They have diverse modes of nutrition— photosynthetic, saprobic,
parasitic, ingestive, or holozoic etc.
(iv) The photosynthetic plankton are called phytoplankton. They usually
possess cell wall and constitute an important group of producers. The non-
photosynthetic, wall-less and holozoic plankton are called zooplankton.
Holozoic nutrition involves ingestion of particulate food. The protistans having
holozoic nutrition are collectively called protozoa, though they have been
excluded from kingdom animalia.
(v) There is a group of Euglena-like organisms which have a dual mode of
nutrition, holophytic or photosynthetic in light and holozoic in absence of light
or presence of abundant organic matter.
Slime moulds are a group of protista which are intermediate between wall-less
and walled organisms. They are devoid of a wall in vegetative phase. In the
vegetative phase, the nutrition is of ingestive type. In the reproductive phase,
the slime moulds come to have cell walls,
(vi) The cellular organisation is of two envelope type, i.e., besides plasma
membrane, internal membranes occur around certain organelles,
(vii) Genetic material is organised in the form of nucleus. DNA is associated
with histone proteins,
(viii) The aerobic forms possess mitochondria. Endoplasmic reticulum, golgi
bodies, lysosomes and centrioles occur,
(ix) Flagella, if present, are 11 stranded with 9 + 2 organisation of
microtubules that are composed of a protein named tubulin,
(x) Both sexual and asexual modes of reproduction are present. However, an
embryo stage is absent,
(xi) Tissue system is, absent.
Kingdom protista does not seem to be a natural group due to:
(i) Dinoflagellates are mesokaryotic and not eukaryotic.
(ii) A distinction of unicellular protistan algae and green algae included in
volvocales is not valid,
(iii) Slime moulds are quite distinct from rest of the protists.
(iv) There are several evolutionary lines in protista,
(v) Protists of this kingdom have diverse modes of form, structure and life.

Fungi— Kingdom of Multicellular Decomposers:

The kingdom includes moulds, mildews, yeasts, rust causing fungi,
pencillium, morels, mushrooms, puffballs, bracket fungi, etc., i.e., all the
fungi of the two kingdom classification except slime moulds:
(i) It contains achlorophyllous, spore producing, multicellular or multinucleate
eukaryotic organisms. Basically unicellular yeasts are also included amongst
fungi because their sexual reproduction is similar to that of some fungi,
(ii) The organism: are heterotrophic with absorptive type of nutrition. It is either
saprobic or parasitic. Symbiotic association occurs with some algae and
higher plants, e.g., lichens, mycorrhiza. The saprobic fungi excrete hydrolytic
or digestive enzymes in the external medium for digesting complex organic
compounds. The parasitic fungi absorb nourishment directly from another
living organism called host,
(iii) The body of fungus is filamentous and is called mycelium. The filaments
are known as hyphae.
(iv) Hyphae are either multicellular or multinucleate. Nuclei are very small and
show intra-nuclear spindle,
(v) The wall contains chitin and non-cellulosic polysaccharides. Cellulose also
occurs in a few cases,
(vi) The cellular organisation is two envelope type,
(vii) In most cases, Golgi bodies are unicistemal.
(viii) Reproduction is both asexual and sexual,
(ix) Vegetative body or mycelium is not clear externally in most of the cases
due to its subterranean nature. Reproductive bodies, are, however, apparent
as in mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, bracket fungi,
(x) Tissue differentiation is absent,
(xi) Food reserve is glycogen and fat.
The kingdom is important in nutrient cycling because along with some
protistans and monerans, fungi are decomposers and mineralizers of the
biosphere.
Plantae — Kingdom of Multicellular Producers or Metaphyta:
The kingdom contains all photosynthetic eukaryotic multicellular plants and
their non-photosynthetic relatives. At the lower level it contains multicellular
algae— green, brown and red algae. Other groups included in the kingdom
plantae are bryophytes, pteridophytes and spermatophytes.
Important characters of this kingdom are as follows:
(i) Organisms are multicellular.
(ii) They are eukaryotic.
(iii) Body form is less regular,
(iv) Growth is usually indefinite,
(v) Organs are commonly external,
(vi) Irritability is poor,
(vii) Mode of nutrition is autotrophic.
(viii) The photosynthetic regions contain plastids in their cells. Due to photo-
synthetic activity, plants are called producers,
(ix) Most of the plants are restricted to land, sea-shores and fresh water
reservoirs.
(x) The plants are usually fixed or free floating. Active locomotion is generally
absent,
(xi) Structural differentiation into tissues is found except for certain algae,
(xii) Food reserve is usually starch and fat.
(xiii) Some of the plants are heterotrophic. They are mostly parasitic. A few
are saprobes. A small group of autotrophic plants catch small animals and
insects for obtaining extra nitrogen. They are called carnivorous or
insectivorous plants,
(xiv) Reproduction is both asexual and sexual. Accessory spores are present
in lower plants. An embryo stage is absent in the algal group but is present in
others.
Animalia — Kingdom of Multicellular Consumers or Metazoa:
Members of this kingdom are also known as metazoa or multicellular animals.
The kingdom has maximum number and most diverse types of organisms. It
includes all the animals of the two kingdom classification except Protozoa.
Groups included are sponges, coelenterates, worms, molluscs, arthropods,
star fishes and vertebrates like fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and
mammals. Insects, a group of arthropods, outnumber all other organisms in
variety and number.
The important characteristics of animalia are:
(i) Organisms are multicellular eukaryotes,
(ii) Body form is regular,
(iii) Organs are internal,
(iv) Growth is definite. Well defined growing points are absent,
(v) Cellular, tissue and organ- system levels of organisation occurs in different
groups,
(vi) Response to stimuli is quick,
(vii) A cell does not possess central vacuole. Instead small vacuoles may
occur,
(viii) Centrioles occur in the ceils,
(ix) A cell wall is absent,
(x) Plastids and photosynthetic pigments are absent,
(xi) The organisms have holozoic or ingestive type of nutrition. A few animals
are, however, parasitic. They live on or inside the bodies of other eukaryotes,
(xii) Animals are motile or mobile as they have to search for their food.
Sponges and corals are an exception,
(xiii) The organisms possess muscle cells for their mobility and nerve cells for
conduction of impulses. They are, however, absent in sponges,
(xiv) Reproduction is mostly sexual. Regeneration of whole organism and
formation of spores are found in lower animals,
(xv) Embryo stage is present,
(xvi) Ecologically animals are consumers. These consumers constitute links in
the food chains and food webs.
Advantages of Five Kingdom Classification:
1. Separation of prokaryotes in a separate kingdom of Monera is a wise step
because prokaryotes differ from all other organisms in their genetic, cellular,
reproductive and physiological organisation.
2. Many transitional or intermediate forms are present in the unicellular
eukaryotes which had been included both amongst plants and animals.
Separation of unicellular eukaryotes into kingdom protista has removed this
anomaly.
3. Fungi have never been related to plants. They have their own biochemical,
physiological and structural organisation. Separation of fungi into a separate
kingdom was long overdue.
4. The five kingdom classification is based on levels of organisation and
nutrition which evolved very early and became established in later groups that
are existing today.
5. In this classification, animal and plant kingdoms are more homogeneous
than they are in two-kingdom classification.
6. It has tried to bring out phylogenetic relationships even amongst the
primitive forms.
Drawbacks of Five Kingdom Classification:
1. In real terms the phylogenetic system cannot be established till all the
distinct evolutionary tendencies are separated. This is not possible at the
lower level.
For example, certain green algae are known to obtain hydrogen from sources
other than water like photosynthetic bacteria, Similarly, Euglena can be
photosynthetic as well as saprotrophic. Its relatives can have absorptive as
well as ingestive type of heterotrophic nutrition.
2. A distinction between unicellular and multicellular organisms is not possible
in case of algae. It is because of this that unicellular green algae have not
been included in kingdom Protista by Whittaker.
3. Each group has so many diversities that it is difficult to keep them together.
For example, monera and protista contain both walled and wall-less
organisms, photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organisms, unicellular and
filamentous or mycelial organisms.
4. Viruses have not been included in this system of classification.
5. Archaebacteria differ from other bacteria in structure, composition and
physiology.
6. Mycoplasmas are quite different from bacteria where they have been
placed along with prokaryotes.