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Definition, Scope, and Significance of Microbiology

Definition

MICROBIOLOGY

Microbiology is a specialized area of biology that deals with living things ordinarily too small to be
seen without magnification. Such microscopic organisms are collectively referred to as
microorganisms, microbes, or several other terms depending upon the kind of microbe or the
purpose. In the context of infection and disease, some people call them germs, viruses, or
agents; others even call them “bugs;” but none of these terms are clear. In addition, some of
these terms place undue emphasis on the disagreeable reputation of microorganisms.
Nevertheless, only a small minority of microorganisms is implicated in causing harm to other
living beings (see diagram below).

OCCURRENCE OF MICROBES

10%
3%

Opportunistic
Pathogenic
Beneficial
87%

(According to Burton and Engelkirk, 2011)

PARASITOLOGY

The study of parasites; sometimes defined as the study of protozoa and helminths. Although a
parasite is more accurately defined as an organism that obtains food and other requirements at
the expense of a host, the term parasite is often used to denote protozoan and helminth
pathogens.

Major Groups of Microorganisms

The major groups of microorganisms are bacteria, algae, protozoa, helminths (parasitic
invertebrate animals such as worms), and fungi. All of these microbes–just like plants and animals–
can be infected by viruses, which are noncellular, parasitic, protein-coated genetic elements,
dependent on their infected host. They can cause harm to the host they infect. Although viruses are
not strictly microorganisms – namely, cellular beings – their evolutionary history and impact are
intimately concerned with the evolution of microbes and their study is thus integrated in the science
of microbiology.

Divisions of Microbiology

Bacteriology – bacteria
Phycology – algae
Mycology – fungi
Protozoology – protozoa
Helminthology – worms, especially parasitic worms
Virology – viruses
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Branches of Microbiology

1. Medical Microbiology

Involves the study of pathogens, the diseases they cause and the body’s defenses against it.
Furthermore, this branch is involved with the identification of the causative microbe, prevention
and study of antibiotic sensitivity to various diseases in humans like tuberculosis, typhoid fever,
sexually transmitted diseases and other illnesses.

2. Public Health Microbiology and Epidemiology (Medical Ecology)

Aims to monitor and control the spread of disease in communities. The principal U.S. and global
institutions involved in this concern are the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) with its main
agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health
Organization (WHO), the medical limb of the United Nations.

In the Philippines, two offices under the Department of Health (DOH) are involved with this
concern: the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) and the National
Epidemiology Center (NEC).

3. Immunology

Includes the study of the complex web of immune responses to infection by microorganisms. At
the same time, it also concerns itself with the study of autoimmunity and hypersensitivity, as well
as the inappropriate immune responses that can be harmful to the human host. Allergy is one
example of hypersensitivity.

4. Microbial Ecology or Environmental Microbiology

This branch is involved with the study of microbes with respect to their natural habitats. It is also
concerned with the relationships between microbes and the environment.

5. Sanitary Microbiology

Includes the processing and disposal of garbage and sewage wastes, as well as the purification
and processing of water supplies to ensure that no pathogens are carried to the consumer by
drinking water.

6. Industrial or Applied Microbiology

Concerned with the study of the practical uses of microbes in food processing, industrial
production, and biotechnology. This branch overlaps with microbial ecology to a considerable
degree – largely because most natural habitats have been altered by human activities.

7. Biotechnology

Includes any processes in which humans use the metabolism of living things to arrive at a
desired product, ranging from bread making to gene therapy. It is a tool used in industrial
microbiology, which is concerned with the uses of microbes to produce or harvest large
quantities of substances such as amino acids, beer, drugs, enzymes, and vitamins.
Biotechnology creates industrial, agricultural, nutritional, or medical products through microbial
activities.

The practical applications of microorganisms in manufacturing products or carrying out a

particular decomposition process belong to the large and diverse area of biotechnology.
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8. Agricultural Microbiology

Concerned with the relationships between microbes and crops, with an emphasis on improving
yields and combating plant diseases. It also deals with the microbiology of soil fertility, such as
microbial degradation of organic matter and soil nutrient transformations.

9. Food Microbiology

The study of the microorganisms that inhabit, create or contaminate food. Of major importance is
the study of microorganisms causing food spoilage and foodborne illnesses. It involves using
microorganisms to produce food, for example by fermentation (cheese, yogurt, other fermented
foods, bread, beer and wine).

Food safety is a major focus of food microbiology.

10. Veterinary Microbiology

The study of the role of microbes in veterinary medicine or animal taxonomy, at the same time,
it involves the production of food from livestock, the raising of other agriculturally important
animals, the care of pets and the transmission of diseases from animals to humans that are
considered areas of major importance in this field of microbiology.

Zoonoses or zoonotic diseases – infectious diseases of humans that are acquired from
animal sources

11. Microbial Physiology and Genetics

The study of how the microbial cell functions biochemically. It includes the study of microbial
growth, microbial metabolism and microbial cell structure. Microbial genetics is the study of how
genes are organized and regulated in microbes in relation to their cellular functions.

12. Genetic Engineering and Recombinant DNA Technology

It involves techniques that deliberately alter the genetic makeup of organisms to mass-produce
human hormones and pharmaceuticals, create totally new substances, and develop organisms
with unique methods of synthesis and adaptation.

Genetic engineering is a newer area of biotechnology that manipulates the genetics of microbes,
plants, and animals for the purpose of creating new products and genetically modified
organisms (GMOs). One powerful technique for designing GMOs is termed recombinant DNA
technology. This technology makes it possible to transfer genetic material from one organism to
another and to deliberately alter DNA. Bacteria and fungi were some of the first organisms to be
genetically engineered.

Each major discipline in microbiology contains numerous subdivisions or specialties that deal with a
specific subject area or field. In fact, many areas of this science have become so specialized that it
is not uncommon for a microbiologist to spend his or her whole life concentrating on a single group
or type of microbe, biochemical process, or disease.

Among the specialty professions of microbiology are newer ones such as:
 Geomicrobiology – which focuses on the roles microbes play in the earth’s crust
 Marine microbiology – a study of the oceans and its smallest inhabitants
 Astromicrobiology – which studies the potential for microbial life in space

Significance and Practical Applications of Microbiology

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1. We have, living on and in our bodies (e.g. on our skin and in our mouths and intestinal tract),
approximately 10 times as many microorganisms as the total number of cells that make up our
bodies. It has been estimated that perhaps as many as 500 to 1,000 different species of
microorganisms live on and in us. Collectively, these microbes are known as our indigenous
microflora (or indigenous microbiota) and, for the most part, they are beneficial to us.

For example, the indigenous microflora inhibit the growth of pathogens in those areas of the
body where they live by occupying space, depleting the food supply, and secreting materials
(waste products, toxins, antibiotics, etc.) that may prevent or reduce the growth of pathogens.

2. Some of the organisms that colonize (inhabit) our bodies are known as opportunistic
pathogens (or opportunists). Although such organisms do not usually cause us any problems,
they have the potential to cause infections if they gain access to a part of our body where they
do not belong.

For example, a bacterium called Escherichia coli (E. coli) lives in our intestinal tracts. This
organism does not cause any harm for as long as it stays in our intestinal tract, but can cause
disease if it gains access to our urinary bladder, bloodstream or a wound. Other opportunistic
pathogens strike when a person becomes run down, stressed out, or debilitated (weakened) as
a result of some disease or condition. Opportunistic pathogens can be thought of as
microorganisms awaiting the opportunity to cause a disease.

3. Microorganisms are essential for life on this planet as we know it.

For example, some microbes produce oxygen by the process known as photosynthesis. Actually,
microorganisms contribute more oxygen to our atmosphere than do plants. Thus, organisms that
require oxygen – humans, for example – owe a debt of gratitude to the algae and cyanobacteria
(a group of photosynthetic bacteria) that produce oxygen.

4. Many microorganisms are involved in the decomposition of dead organisms and the waste
products of living organisms. Collectively, they are referred to as decomposers or saprophytes.
By definition, a saprophyte is an organism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter. They
aid in fertilization by returning inorganic nutrients to the soil. They break down dead and
decaying organic materials (plants and animals) into nitrates, phosphates, and other chemicals
necessary for the growth of plants.

5. Some microorganisms are capable of decomposing industrial wastes (oil spills, for example).
Thus, we can use microorganisms – genetically engineered microbes, in some cases – to clean
up after ourselves. The use of microorganisms in this manner is called bioremediation.

Bioremediation involves the introduction of microbes into the environment to restore stability or to
clean up toxic pollutants. This process is required to control the massive levels of pollution from
industry and modern living. One form of bioremediation that has been used for some time is the
treatment of water and sewage.

6. Many microorganisms are involved with different elemental cycles (e.g. carbon, nitrogen, oxygen,
sulfur, and phosphorus cycles). In the nitrogen cycle, certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas ion
from the air to ammonia ion in the soil. Other soil bacteria then convert ammonia to nitrites and
nitrates. Still other bacteria convert the nitrogen in nitrates to nitrogen gas, thus completing the
cycle. Knowledge of these microbes is important to farmers who practice crop rotation to
replenish nutrients in their fields and to gardeners who keep compost pits as a source of natural
fertilizer. In both cases, dead organic material is broken down into organic nutrients (e.g. nitrates
and phosphates) by microorganisms.

7. Algae and bacteria serve as food for tiny animals. Then, larger animals eat the smaller creatures,
and so on. Thus, microbes serve as important links in food chains. Microscopic organisms in the
ocean collectively referred to as plankton, serve as the starting point of many food chains. Tiny
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marine plants and algae are called phytoplankton, whereas tiny marine animals are
zooplankton.

8. Some microorganisms 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.

For example, the E. coli bacteria that live in the human intestinal tract produce Vitamin K and B1,
which are absorbed and used by the human body. Although termites eat wood, they cannot
digest wood. Fortunately for them, termites have cellulose-eating protozoa in their intestinal
tracts that break down the wood into smaller molecules that the termites can consume and use
as nutrients.

9. Many microorganisms are essential in various food and beverage industries, whereas others are
used to produce certain enzymes and chemicals.

10. Some bacteria and fungi produce antibiotics that are used to treat patients with infectious
diseases. By definition, an antibiotic is a substance produced by a microorganism that is
effective in killing or inhibiting the growth of other microorganisms. The use of microbes in the
antibiotic industry is another example of biotechnology.

11. Microbes are essential in the field of genetic engineering. In genetic engineering, a gene from
one organism (e.g. from a bacterium, a human, an animal or a plant) is inserted into a bacterial
or yeast cell. Because a gene contains the instructions for the production of a gene product
(usually a protein), the cell that receives the new gene can now produce whatever product is
coded for by that gene; so too can all of the cells that arise from the original cell. Microbiologists
have engineered bacteria and yeasts to produce a variety of substances, such as insulin,
various types of growth hormones, interferons, antibiotics, enzymes and materials for use as
vaccines.

12. For many years, microbes have been used as “cell models.” The more scientists learned about
the structure and functions of microbial cells, the more they learned about cells in general. E.
coli is one of the most studied of all microbes. By studying E. coli, scientists have learned a
great deal about the composition and inner workings of cells, including human cells.

13. Finally, we come to diseases. Microorganisms cause two categories of diseases: infectious
diseases and microbial intoxications. An infectious disease result when a pathogen colonizes
the body and subsequently causes a disease. A microbial intoxication results when a person
ingests a toxin (poisonous substance) that has been produced by a microorganism.

Relevance to Nursing and Other Health Professions

Anyone pursuing a career in the healthcare profession must be aware of infectious diseases, the
pathogen that cause them, the sources of the pathogens, how these diseases are transmitted, and
how to protect yourself and your patients from these diseases. Physician’s assistants, nurses,
dental assistants, laboratory technologists, respiratory therapists, orderlies, nurses’ aides, and all
others who are associated with patients and patient care must take precautions to prevent the
spread of pathogens. Harmful microorganisms may be transferred from health workers to patients;
from patient to patient; from contaminated mechanical devices, instruments, and syringes to
patients; and from patients to healthcare workers, hospital visitors, and other susceptible persons.
To limit the spread of pathogens, sterile, aseptic and antiseptic techniques are used everywhere in
hospitals, nursing homes, operating rooms and laboratories.

References:

Burton, G.R.W. & Engelkirk, P.G. (2007). Burton’s microbiology for the health sciences (8th ed.)
USA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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Cowan, K. & Talaro, K.P. (2009). Microbiology: A systems approach (2nd ed.). Philippines:
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Cowan, M. K. (2015). Microbiology: A systems approach (4th ed.). U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill Education,
Inc.