Lecture PowerPoint to accompany

Talaro

The Main Themes of

Microbiology

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
The main themes of
Microbiology

2
 Microbiology is the study of organisms too
small to be seen with the naked eye. A
microscope is needed to view them.

 Microorganisms include:

bacteria
viruses (replicate) - microbe
fungi (micro-fungi, macro-fungi)
protozoa
helminths (worms)
algae (Spirulina)

3
 Immunology

 Public health microbiology and epidemiology

 Food, dairy and aquatic microbiology

 Biotechnology

 Genetic engineering and recombinant DNA

technology

4
 Nutrient production and energy flow

 Decomposition

 Biotechnology

 Genetic engineering

 Bioremediation

 Infectious disease

5
 Nearly 2,000 different microbes cause
diseases.

 10 B new infections/year worldwide

 13 M deaths from infections/year worldwide

6
7
 Procaryotes and eukaryotes
 Procaryotes – Microscopic, unicellular organisms.
Lack nuclei and membrane-bound organelles

 Eucaryotes – Unicellular and multicellular

organisms. Have nuclei and membrane-bound
organelles

 Viruses
Acellular, parasitic particles composed of a nucleic
acid and protein

8
 Insert figure 1.5
basic cell and virus structures

9
 Procaryotes are measured in micrometers.

 Viruses in nanometers

 Helminths are measured in millimeters.

10
Insert figure 1.7
measurements

11
 300 years of contributions by many

 Prominent discoveries include:

◦ microscopy
◦ scientific method
◦ development of medical microbiology
◦ microbiology techniques

12
  Dutch linen
merchant
Insert figure 1.8
 First to observe
living microbes

 Single-lens
magnified up to
300X
13
Insert figure 1.9 (a)
microscope

14
Early belief that some forms of life could arise
from vital forces present in nonliving or
decomposing matter (flies from manure, etc)
 A general approach to explain a natural
phenomenon

 Form a hypothesis - a tentative explanation

that can be supported or refuted by
observation and experimentation

 A lengthy process of experimentation, analysis

and testing either supports or refutes the
hypothesis.

16
 Results must be published and repeated by
other investigators.

 If hypothesis is supported by a growing body

of evidence and survives rigorous scrutiny, it
moves to the next level of confidence - it
becomes a theory.

 If evidence of a theory is so compelling that

the next level of confidence is reached - it
becomes a Law or principle.

17
 John Tyndall and Ferdinand Cohn each
demonstrated the presence of heat
resistant forms of some microbes.
*Cohn determined these forms to be endospores.

 Sterility requires the elimination of all life

forms including endospores and viruses.

18
 Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes – observed that
mothers of home births had fewer infections
than those who gave birth in hospital

 Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis – correlated infections

with physicians coming directly from
autopsy room to maternity ward

 Nosocomial Infections - infections acquired

during stay in hospitals

19
 Joseph Lister – introduced aseptic
techniques reducing microbes in medical
settings to prevent infections

◦ involved disinfection of hands using chemicals

prior to surgery

◦ use of heat for sterilization

20
 Many diseases are caused by the growth of
microbes in the body and not by sins, bad
character, or poverty, etc.

 Two major contributors:

Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch

21
  Showed microbes caused
fermentation and spoilage
 Disproved spontaneous
generation of
microorganisms
Insert figure 1.11  Developed pasteurization
 Demonstrated what is now
known as Germ Theory of
Disease
 Developed a rabies vaccine

22
  Established Koch’s
postulates - a sequence of
experimental steps that
verified the germ theory

Insert figure 1.12  Identified cause of

anthrax, TB, and cholera

 Developed pure culture

methods

23
 Formal system originated by Carl von Linné
(1701-1778)

 Concerned with:
◦ classification – orderly arrangement of organisms
into groups
◦ nomenclature – assigning names
◦ identification – discovering and recording traits of
organisms for placement into taxonomic schemes

24
Domain - Archaea, Bacteria & Eukarya
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus = Chi/Giống
(breed/cultivar)
species

25
 Binomial (scientific) nomenclature

 Gives each microbe 2 names:

◦ Genus - noun, always capitalized
◦ species - adjective, lowercase

 Both italicized or underlined

◦ Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)
◦ Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis)
◦ Escherichia coli (E. coli)

26
 Changes favoring survival are retained and
less beneficial changes are lost.
 All new species originate from preexisting
species.
 Closely related organism have similar
features because they evolved from
common ancestral forms.
 Evolution usually progresses toward greater
complexity.

27
 Bacteria - true bacteria, peptidoglycan

 Archaea - odd bacteria that live in extreme

environments, high salt, heat, etc.

 Eukarya- have a nucleus and organelles

28
Insert figure 1.15
Woese-Fox System

29