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What is microbiology?
study of organisms and agents too small to be seen by the naked eye (<1mm)
study of organisms that can exist as single cells, contain a nucleic acid genome for at
least some part of their life cycle, and are capable of replicating that genome
- includes recently discovered microorganisms such as Epulopiscium and Thiomargarita
- also include viruses, which microbiology texts traditionally discuss along
with living organisms

Importance of microorganisms:
first living organisms on planet
live everywhere life is possible
more numerous than any other kind of organisms
global ecosystem depends on their activities
influence human society in many ways

Basic Microbiology
Interest on the microorganisms and their biology
Fields: Virology - viruses
Bacteriology - bacteria
Phycology - algae
Mycology - fungi
Protozoology - protozoa

Morphology/particular functional process
Microbial physiology/biochemistry
Microbial genetics/molecular biology

Applied Microbiology
Medical microbiology
Immunology
Public health microbiolog
Food and dairy microbiology
Industrial microbiology
Agricultural microbiology
Microbial ecology

The Future of Microbiology
infectious diseases
new and improved industrial processes
microbial diversity and microbial ecology

More challenges and opportunities:
biofilms
microbes as model systems
genome analysis
assessment


Discovery of Microorganisms

Zaccharias Jansen first compound microscope

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Robert Hooke - simple compound microscope (30x); cells in cork, elongated stalks (fungi)

Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovered wee animalcules

Spontaneous Generation (Abiogenesis) vs. Biogenesis Theory

Francesco Redi experiments on decaying meat and maggots

John Needham boiled mutton broth and sealed flask after boiling (result: microbial growth);
Spontaneous generation - thought that organic matter contained a vital force that
could confer life on non-living matter

Lazzaro Spallanzani improved on Needhams experiment (two sets: one left uncovered, the
other covered); proposed that air carried germs to the culture medium
(SG supporters: heating the air destroyed its ability to support life)

Franz Schulze passed air through strong acids (result: no microbial growth)

Theodor Schwann passed air through red-hot tubes (result: no microbial growth)
Conclusion:strong acid and heat altered the air so it cannot support microbial growth

Georg Friedrich Schroder and Theodor von Dusch filtered air through sterile
cotton wool (result: no microbial growth)
Louis Pasteur used swan-necked flasks
his experiments:
placed nutrient solution in flasks
created flasks with long, curved necks
boiled the solutions
left flasks exposed to air
(Results: no microbial growth)

John Tyndall demonstrated that dust carries microorganisms (final blow to the
Spontaneous Generation Theory); also provided evidence for the existence of exceptionally
heat-resistant forms of bacteria

Ferdinand Cohn - discovered the existence of heat-resistant bacterial endospores

The Role of Microorganisms in Disease

Germ Theory of Disease diseases are caused by specific agents called germs

Girolamo Fracastoro disease was caused by invisible living creatures

Agostino Bassi silkworm disease was due to a fungal infection

M.J. Berkeley proved that Potato Blight of Ireland was caused by a fungus

Heinrich de Bary showed that smut and rust fungi caused cereal crop diseases

Ignaz Semmelweis - asepsis in obstetrical wards could prevent the transmission of childbirth fever
from patient to patient; instigated a policy for all attending physicians to wash their hands
with chloride of lime between patients
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Joseph Lister provided indirect evidence that microorganisms were the causal agents of disease

Louis Pasteur pebrine disease of silkworms was due to a protozoan parasite

Robert Koch gave the first direct demonstration of the role of bacteria in causing disease based
on his study of anthrax; used criteria developed by his teacher Jacob Henle

Kochs Postulates:
1. the microorganism must be present in every case of the disease but absent from
healthy organisms
2. the suspected microorganism must be isolated and grown in a pure culture
3. the same disease must result when the isolated microorganism is inoculated into a
healthy host
4. the same microorganism must be isolated again from the diseased host

Kochs works led to the development of microbiological techniques:
o solid culture medium (boiled potato slices; gelatin; agar)
o aseptic technique
o pure culture maintenance
o the petri plate

The development of vaccines

Edward Jenner used a vaccination procedure to protect individuals from smallpox

Pasteur and his coworkers
developed vaccines for chicken cholera, anthrax, and rabies
discovered that: incubation of cultures for long intervals between transfers caused pathogens to
lose their ability to cause disease; growing the pathogen in an abnormal host also weakens it

The discovery of viruses

Charles Chamberland developed porcelain bacterial filter used to isolate first viruses
studied

Antimicrobial compounds

Paul Ehrlich (in chemotherapy) - developed 606
th
compound SALVARSAN

Alexander Fleming discovered the miracle drug penicillin from Penicillium

Industrial Microbiology and Microbial Ecology

Louis Pasteur fermentations were the result of microbial activity; developed the process
of pasteurization to preserve wine

Eduard Buchner cell-free fermentation

Sergei Winogradsky and Martinus Beijerinck studied soil; enrichment cultures &selective media