History

has had a long, rich history, initially centered in the

M icrobiology
causes of infectious diseases but now including practical
applications of the science. Many individuals have made significant
contributions to the development of microbiology.

Early history of microbiology

istorians are unsure who made the first observations of
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microorganisms, but the microscope was available during the
mid1600s, and an English scientist named Robert Hooke made
key observations. He is reputed to have observed strands of
fungi among the specimens of cells he viewed. In the 1670s and
the decades thereafter, a Dutch
merchant named Anton van
Leeuwenhoek made careful observations
of microscopic organisms, which he
called animalcules. Until his death in
1723, van Leeuwenhoek revealed the
microscopic world to scientists of the
day and is regarded as one of the first to
provide accurate descriptions of
protozoa, fungi, and bacteria.
After van Leeuwenhoek died, the study
of microbiology did not develop rapidly
because microscopes were rare and the interest in
microorganisms was not high. In those years, scientists debated
the theory of spontaneous generation, which stated that
microorganisms arise from lifeless matter such as beef broth.
This theory was disputed by Francesco Redi, who showed that fly
maggots do not arise from decaying meat (as others believed) if
the meat is covered to prevent the entry of flies. An English cleric
named John Needham advanced spontaneous generation,
but Lazzaro Spallanzani disputed the theory by showing that
boiled broth would not give rise to microscopic forms of life.
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Louis Pasteur and the germ theory

ouis Pasteur worked in the middle and late 1800s. He performed
Lnumerous
experiments to discover why wine and dairy products

became sour, and he found that bacteria were to blame. Pasteur

called attention to the importance of microorganisms in everyday
life and stirred scientists to think
that if bacteria could make the
wine sick, then perhaps they
could cause human illness.
Pasteur had to disprove
spontaneous generation to sustain
his theory, and he therefore
devised a series of swannecked
flasks filled with broth. He left the
flasks of broth open to the air, but
the flasks had a curve in the neck
so that microorganisms would fall
into the neck, not the broth. The flasks did not become
contaminated (as he predicted they would not), and Pasteur's
experiments put to rest the notion of spontaneous generation. His
work also encouraged the belief that microorganisms were in the
air and could cause disease. Pasteur postulated the germ theory of
disease, which states that microorganisms are the causes of
infectious disease.
Figure 1 Luis Pasteur and swan-necked flask experiment

Figure 2 Swannecked flasks Louis Pastuer experiment

Pasteur's attempts to prove the germ theory were unsuccessful.

However, the German scientist Robert Koch provided the proof by
cultivating anthrax bacteria apart from any other type of organism.
He then injected pure cultures of the bacilli into mice and showed
that the bacilli invariably caused anthrax. The procedures used by
Koch came to be known as Koch's postulates (Figure). They
provided a set of principles whereby other microorganisms could be
related to other diseases.

The steps of Koch's

postulates used to relate
a specific microorganism
to a specific disease. (a)
Microorganisms are
observed in a sick
animal and (b)
cultivated in the lab. (c)
The organisms are
injected into a healthy
animal, and (d) the
animal develops the
disease. (e) The
organisms are observed
in the sick animal and
(f) reisolated in the lab.

Modern microbiology
odern microbiology reaches into many fields of human
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endeavor, including the development of pharmaceutical products,
the use of qualitycontrol
methods in food and dairy
product production, the
control of diseasecausing
microorganisms in
consumable waters, and
the industrial applications
of microorganisms.
Microorganisms are used
to produce vitamins,
amino acids, enzymes,
and growth supplements. They manufacture many foods, including
fermented dairy products (sour cream, yogurt, and buttermilk), as
well as other fermented foods such as pickles, sauerkraut, breads,
and alcoholic beverages.
One of the major areas of applied microbiology is biotechnology. In
this discipline, microorganisms are used as living factories to
produce
pharmaceuticals
that otherwise
could not be
manufactured.
These substances
include the human
hormone insulin,
the antiviral
substance
interferon,
numerous blood
clotting factors
and clotdissolving
enzymes, and a number of vaccines. Bacteria can be reengineered
to increase plant resistance to insects and frost, and biotechnology
will represent a major application of microorganisms in the next
century.
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The development of microbiology

n the late 1800s and for the first decade of the 1900s, scientists
Iseized
the opportunity to further develop the germ theory of

disease as enunciated by Pasteur and proved by Koch. There

emerged a Golden Age of Microbiology during which many agents of
different infectious diseases were identified. Many of the etiologic
agents of microbial disease were discovered during that period,
leading to the ability to halt epidemics by interrupting the spread of
microorganisms.

Despite the advances in microbiology, it was rarely possible to

render life-saving therapy
to an infected patient.
Then, after World War II,
the antibiotics were
introduced to medicine.
The incidence of
pneumonia, tuberculosis,
meningitis, syphilis, and
many other diseases
declined with the use of
antibiotics.
Work with viruses could not be effectively performed until
instruments were developed to help scientists see these disease
agents. In the 1940s, the electron microscope was developed and
perfected. In that decade, cultivation methods for viruses were also
introduced, and the knowledge of viruses developed rapidly. With
the development of vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s, such viral
diseases as polio, measles, mumps, and rubella came under
control.
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Branches of microbiology
t has been mentioned earlier that microbiology is not a mere
Istudy
of the structural diversity and classification of microbes but
encompasses the whole gamut of microbial life. The knowledge of
the various aspects of microbes has been accumulating since last
century and has become so vast that no microbiologist can claim
familiarity with all aspects of the subject. The various aspects of
microbiological study can be divided basically into the following
branches.
1. Deals with the study of autotrophic eukaryotic organisms.
Members are generally called algae. Algae include both microscopic
as well as macroscopic members. Only the microscopic algae are
studied as a part of microbiology.

Figure 3 Kelp: Brown algae

2. Mycology: The study of eukaryotic, achlorophyllous organisms

generally referred to as Fungi is included in this branch. Some of
the common fungi are yeasts, moulds, mushrooms, puff balls etc.
Fungi are not only harmful but beneficial also.

Figure 4 Fungi

3. Virology: Viruses are neither eukaryotic not prokaryotic. In fact

they are on the border line between living and non-living. Viruses
cause disease to plants and animals including human beings. The
dreaded AIDS is also caused by a virus.

Figure 5 HIV virus

4. Study of Protozoans in all their aspects comes under the perview

of protozoology. Protozoans are known to
cause many diseases like malaria, amoebic
dysentery, sleeping sickness etc.

Figure 6 protozoology

5. Bacteriology: This is the largest group among microbes not only

in number but also in importance. Bacteria of
both kinds Eubacteria and cyanobacteria
(also known as blue green algae) are studied
here. Bacteria have a profound influence on
various human endeavours including health,
industry, agriculture etc.

Figure 7 Bacteriology

6.Medical microbiology: This branch deals with the pathogenic

microbes, their life cycle, physiology, genetics, reproduction etc.,
many of the microbes also provide remedies for microbial diseases.
All these aspects are studied in this branch. Some of the diseases
like tuberculosis, leprosy, typhoid etc are caused by microbes and
cure for them is provided by other microbes in the form of
antibiotics.

Figure 8 Medical microbiology

7. Agricultural microbiology: In this branch the role of microbes in

agriculture is studied from the point of
view of both harm and usefulness. Many
microbes - fungi, bacteria and viruses
cause a number of plant diseases. From
the point of view of benefit - N2 fixing
activity, use of microbes as biofertilizers
and several other aspects are studied.
Figure 9 Agricultral Microbiology

8.Industrial Microbiology: The role of microbes in Industrial

Production is studied. Many microbes produce industrial alcohols
and acids as a part of their metabolism. The study of fermentation
by microbes has contributed a great lot to alcohol manufacturing.
Breweries have greatly benefited by understanding the role of
specific microbes in fermentation.

Figure 10 Industrial Microbiology

9.Food and Dairy microbiology: Various aspects such as food

processing, food preservation, canning, Pasteurization of milk,
study of food borne microbial diseases and their control is studied.

Figure 11 Dairy Microbiology

10. Aquatic microbiology: Microbiological examination of water,

water purification, biological degradation of waste are studied in
this branch.

Figure 12 Aquatic Microbiology

11.Aero microbiology: Dispersal of disease causing microbes

through air microbial population in air, their quality and quantity in
air comes under the perview of this
branch.

Figure 13 Aero Microbiology

12. Environmental microbiology: This is one of the most important

branches of micro biology. The role of microbes in maintaining the
quality of the environment is studied here. Microbial influence in
degradation and decay of natural waste, their
role in biogeochemical cycles are all studied.
Some of the recent researches have shown
that certain bacteria can help in cleaning the oil
spill and this gives added significance to the
study of environmental microbiology.

Figure 14 Environmental Microbiology

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13. Geochemical microbiology: Role of microbes in coal, gas and

mineral formation, prospecting for coal, oil and gas and recovery of
minerals from low grade ores using microbes is included here.

Figure 15 Geochemical microbiology

14. Biotechnology: This is the most significant branch which may

even change the course of life as we know today. Microbes are used
as gene carriers to deliver specific
genes to function in a different
environment. New, genetically
engineered microbes can produce
drugs (human insulin) or in
agriculture N2 fixing ability may be
transferred to all the plants. The
Potentialities of bio-technology are
Figure 14 Biotechnology

immense.

15. Immunology: Studied in this branch are the immune responses

in organisms. How toxins are produced? How the antigens influence
the formation of antibodies? How protective
vaccination helps in combating the diseases?
How immune system collapses (as in AIDS)
are some of the questions for which
immunology as a branch of microbiology is
trying to find out answers.
Figure 15 Immunology

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Top universities

ased on information from NRC Data Based Survey 2010 60 % of top 10

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Microbiology universities are located in United States and other 40 % are located in
United Kingdom.

Top Professors
Jonathan Roger Beckwith
Jonathan Roger Beckwith (born 1935 in Cambridge) is an
American microbiologist and geneticist. He is the American
Cancer Society Professor in the Department of
Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical
School in Boston; Massachusetts.Beckwith led the research
group that in 1969 isolated the first gene from a bacterial
chromosome.
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Now days Prof. Beckwith is working on "The mechanism of protein disulfide bond
formation".

Roberto Kolter
Roberto Kolter is past president of the American
Society for Microbiology and a professor of
microbiology at the Harvard Medical School.
Kolter has been at Harvard Medical School since
1983. Kolter's research has discovered
communication pathways in biofilms.
Among his recent publications are multiple
papers dealing with Bacillus subtilis and he has
done extensive work on both intra and interspecies communication.
Kolter received his bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University and his Ph.D.
from the University of California, San Diego and then did post-doctoral training
at Stanford University.
Kolter was president of the American Society for Microbiology from July 1, 2009
until June 30, 2010.
These days prof. Kolter is working on:
Molecular mechanisms underlying biofilm formation by Bacillus subtilis
Genome diversity of Bacillus subtilis
Microbial community dynamics in clinical and environmental settings
Characterization of interspecies cell-cell signaling molecules

Fereshte Eftekhar
Dr Fereshte Eftekhar is an Iranian Microbiologist. She was graduated from Shahid
Beheshti University in B.S Biology. Afterwards she got a degree in M.S Microbiology
from Virginia state university. She got her PHD in Microbiology from British
Columbia University Vancouver Canada.She is a Microbiology Professor in
Department of Biology at Shahid Beheshti University.

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CONCEPTS OF
MICROBIOLOGY
T

he aim of this component on microbiology is to enable you to understand the

concepts underlying the biology of microbes. We will achieve this aim by examining
aspects of their biology that differentiate microbes from larger organisms. We revise
and build on previous material on the structure and evolution of the cell. This
component finishes with some extension material on competition. By the end of the
unit you will be expected to apply these concepts to any practical situation and
develop a response to a problem or issue that involves microbes. This means you
need to be able to recall, integrate and apply information and concepts from this
part of the unit. Please be aware that the structure of this electronic learning
resource does not strictly follow the lectures, though the underlying concepts are
exactly the same.

The concepts covered are:

The enormous functional diversity within microbes, despite morphological
similarity
The different methods microbes use to acquire energy and oxygen
The potential for microbes to increase the size of their populations and
The mechanisms underlying microbial competition and the consequences of
competition.

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Job opportunities
So you have a microbiology degree and you want a job? Many job
seekers with microbiology degrees know only of a few types of careers such
as industry and academia. However, the employment sphere for
microbiologists is much larger and ever expanding.
In recent years there has been an explosion in the
types of job opportunities that are available to those
with microbiology training since microbes and their
actions pervade all aspects of our increasingly
complex society. To help a prospective candidate
sort through the options available we have compiled
a list of employment types culled from analyzing web
sites, job listing, and career forums. Clearly, some
job opportunities will require certain types of
academic degrees and training but the list below
provides a place to start considering options.

Academic
Microbiology is a core basic science in professional schools that usually maintains
departments in this discipline. Microbiology is also a key discipline of biological
studies in undergraduate colleges. There are
numerous types of positions available for
individuals with microbiology training in
academic institutions that include research and
teaching. Academic jobs are often advertised in
scientific journals, newspapers, and institutional
bulletin boards .
Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Schools
College and University
Institutes and not-for-profit research centers

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 Legal
The biologic revolution has resulted in innumerable discoveries in academic,
government and industry settings that require industrial development and
translation into products. Knowledge about
microbial species, microbial products, and the
application of microbes to industry is essential for
the drafting of patents and technology transfer
agreements. Such positions are found in legal
firms speci
alizing in patent law and technology transfer and
in academic, institutional, and governmental technology transfer offices.
Law firms
Technology transfer
Intellectual property

Government
There are numerous employment opportunities for microbiologists in government
service. Microbiologist can be found working in
many branches of governments. Concerns about
bioterrorism have led to the hiring of
microbiologist in law enforcement and military
services. Government employment positions can
be identified by visiting agency web sites .
Local and State Government
Public Health
Grant management
All branches of the Military
Waste and wastewater management
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Food and Drug Administration

US Department of Agriculture
National Institute of Health
NASA
Environmental Protection Agency

Industry
Industry remains a staple market for employment opportunities. Positions in
industry include management, quality control,
research, and product development. Although
many prospective applicants know of big
pharma and biotechnology there are numerous
other opportunities in cosmetics, breweries,
and oil industries. Identifying an industry
position may require searching job postings in
individual companies.
Industrial Microbiology (production of antibiotics, microbial products)
Vaccines
Cosmetics and toiletries
Food and bevarage production
Biotechnology
Pharmaceutical
Oil industry and mining
Sales or technical representative
Breweries
Dairies

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 Teaching
A microbiology degree combined with instruction in education can lead to career
teaching. Microbiology by its very nature is an
interdisciplinary science that can provide excellent
background for teaching science in all levels of education.
Primary and Secondary Schools
Technical and Specialty Schools

Health Care
The health care industry provides numerous opportunities for microbiologists
working in areas of management, diagnostics, and quality
control.
Medical Technology
Diagnostic Laboratory
Publishing
The growth of science in recent decades has led to a many new journals where
microbiologists can find employment
opportunities in editorial staff activities.
Similarly, general interest in science by the
public opens up possibilities in journalism.
Journal Editor
Journalism

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Salary

ecause microbiologists can choose to enter numerous fields and can have
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varying degrees of education, their salaries range greatly. The highest salaries
typically are awarded to those working in industries such
as research, while those working in educational settings
such as colleges or universities usually make less. Whats
more, those with advanced degrees such as a Ph.D. can
command higher salaries because of their extensive
knowledge and schooling in the subject area.
Salaries for microbiologists can range from $20,000 per year to more than $100,000
per year. Beginning microbiologists with bachelors degrees can expect to be closer
to the $20,000 range, while those with doctoral degrees can expect to earn about
$40,000 per year until they have gained experience in practice. The salaries for
microbiologists usually increase quickly with time, but those with higher degrees
have a better chance of earning a higher salary. The median salary for a beginning
microbiologist with a Ph.D. in 2006 was $38,392 per year, while the median salary
for a microbiologist with five to eight years of experience was $70,567. The median
salary for those with more than eight years experience was $79,952.

Figure 15 Microbiology related job annual salaries

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Contents
History ............................................................................................................. 1
Early history of microbiology ........................................................................... 1
Louis Pasteur and the germ theory ................................................................... 2
Modern microbiology ..................................................................................... 4
The development of microbiology .................................................................... 5
Branches of microbiology ................................................................................... 6
Top universities............................................................................................... 12
Top Professors ................................................................................................ 12
Jonathan Roger Beckwith .............................................................................. 12
Fereshte Eftekhar ......................................................................................... 13
CONCEPTS OF MICROBIOLOGY ......................................................................... 14
Job opportunities ............................................................................................ 15
Salary............................................................................................................. 19

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Shahid Beheshti University

Microbiology: History and

aspects

A REPORT
BY

Mohammad amin Katebsaber

FOR
General English Course

Professor Mostafa Nazari Montazer

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