Introduction to Microbiology

Microbiology- study of microorganisms.

Microorganisms- “micro” means small. Tiny organisms that can be seen under the microscope.
These are unicellular or cell cluster organisms and infections agents too small to be seen with the
naked eye that’s why kailangan ng microscope to observe them. Examples: These include
bacteria, protozoa, viruses, fungi, and algae. They are ubiquitous- they are present
everywhere kahit na we can’t see or feel them.
- Our body is said to contain 100 trillion both good bacteria and bad bacteria.

Why do we need to study microbiology or microorganisms? - microorganisms specifically

bacteria are disease causing. By studying this, we will be able to find out possible cure or
medicines in order to cure those microorganisms. Studying this gives us the idea of their habitat
or growth requirement of these microorganisms such that we will be able to provide cure for
those diseases caused by microorganisms.

We have negative connotations about bacteria, we associate them with diseases with something
kadiri or mabaho. But, despite what they cause to us there are a lot of advantages provided by the
microorganisms. As they say, they are invaders but they are amazing allies. According to Louis
Pasteur, “The role of the infinitely small in nature is infinitely great.

Examples wherein microorganisms could benefit humans:

1. Microorganisms are involved in nutrient cycling and the cycles of elements-
microorganisms in general use elements, they consume elements and as they consume
elements they bring this back to nature to be used by other organisms such as humans,
plants and other species of animals. Specifically, microorganisms recycle primary
elements- these are elements that are essential to life that without them there is no life.
These are elements that you can find in living organisms. We have 11 primary elements:
oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium iron, sodium,
calcium and magnesium- ito yung mga narerecycle at nababalik sa nature.

Example: we have the process of carbon fixation- a process wherein photosynthetic organisms
take up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and convert this carbon dioxide to organic (cellular)
material- basically, carbon dioxide is converted into carbohydrates. Carbon fixation in land is
done by plants that perform carbon fixation in land so basically they provide oxygen for other
living organisms. Paano naman yung mga marine organisms? anong organisms yung
nagpoprovide sa kanila ng oxygen? - Cyanobacteria or the blue green algae. Although they
are beneficial sa marine life there is a condition called the algal bloom – a specific body of
water that has too much algae, if may ganito, it is dangerous because they decrease the supply
of oxygen that should be consumed by other marine organisms. They block the sunlight so
walang resource ng sunlight ang marine organisms. They produce toxins (microspecies
iribinosa). Euro toxin- chemicals toxic for the brain. Hepatotoxin- chemicals toxic for the
liver.

2. They form association of bacteria with plants and animals specifically bacteria-
bacteria forms symbiotic relationship- this refers to close relationship between organism
wherein at least one specie benefits.

Example of the relationship between bacteria and animal: bacteria living inside the
stomach of cow, they help the cow by digesting cellulose so they are involved in the
primary digestion of cellulose. In return, the cow provides the bacteria with chemicals
with minerals in order for them to survive so mutual relationship. Bacteria helps digest,
cow gives them chemicals with minerals.

Example of the relationship between bacteria and plant: the mutualistic association
between nitrogen fixing bacteria and legumes… the roots of the clover plant may nodes
doon if i-cut mo yung nodes sa half and observe it sa microscope it will be filled with
bacteria specifically the Rhizobume sp. Rhizobume will provide nitrogen for the plant as a
nitrogen fixing bacteria and in return the plant will provide vitamins and minerals for the
bacteria to survive.

Example for humans: may bacteria sa stomach natin called e-coli (Escherichia coli),
beneficial for digestion also. There are bacteria which protect the hosts from infections
and promote nutrition and health- the lactobacillus acidophilus. Anong benefit binibigay
niya sa host? It produces lactic acid, this then decreases ph. Can be seen sa vagina ng
pregnant woman.
3. Production of food and fuel- microorganisms produce these. Like Saccharomyces
cerevisiae or the yeast are used for the production of food or beverage like wine, beer,
and bread. Yogurt and yakult are also produced by the hep of lactobacillus. Common sa
taste nito ay sour because lactobacillus produces lactic acid.
4. Production of Antibiotics- antibiotics are substances produced by microorganisms that
kill or inhibit other microbes which are used in the treatment of infectious diseases. May
hierarchy din sa mga organisms like stronger ones that could kill also other
microorganisms; using that idea nakagawa tayo ng antibiotics which those stronger
bacteria kill pathogenic disease causing bacteria. Example: penicillin, streptomyces,
bacillus.
 Brief History of Microbiology
Study of microorganisms started with Robert Hooke, Persian- he observed the first cell using
his microscope. Using this, the first ever, microscope, he was able to see small structural units
which compose of living organisms and he called that little boxes na when he observed these
little boxes or cells he was able to formulate the cell theory which states that, “All living things
are composed of cells.” Even though Hooke was able to see cells under his microscope he wasn’t
able to see microorganisms because these are too small and his microscope is not that powerful
in order to see those tiny organisms.

Another person who was able to observe the first microorganism under a microscope, Anton
Van Leeuwenhoek, Deutsch - his microscope was that powerful to see the microorganisms and
he called those organisms as animalcules. From three samples he was able to see the
microorganisms: rain water, feces, materials scraped from the tooth of a person. With his
discovery with the secret world of microorganisms that became the start where scientist became
curious of the origin of these living organisms. Before they knew about microorganisms there is
this one hypothetical process in which it is a belief called the Spontaneous generation- states
that living things can arise from non-living things. This process was made by Aristotle and he
believes, “It is readily observable that aphids arise from the dew which falls on plants, fleas that
arise from putrid matter, and that mice can arise or be produced from dirty hay.” Spontaneous
generation persisted and remained a challenge. Example: a recipe for mice; dirty clothes + wheat
+ 21 days= mice. It persisted but…

A person, first one, dared to challenge Aristotle and dared to say that the spontaneous generation
is not true. This is Francesco Redi, Italian scientist. Many Scientist believe spontaneous
generation kasi they left a piece of meat then nung bumalik sila may mga maggots growing on
that meat and those maggots where produced for the piece of meat. However, Redi, believes
maggots are the off-springs of plants and that if you provide contact between the meat and the
flies then you would be able to produce maggots. This is not the spontaneous generation say. In
order to prove his hypothesis, he conducted an experiment: may 3 different jar siya. All of the
jars contain meat but the first jar is open, the second one is tight and sealed, and the third one is
covered with gauze. If true ang spontaneous generation, what do you expect for a couple of
days? All set-ups will have maggots kasi all those meats will arise. However, the result of Redi
was not like that. Only the first container had maggots, third one may maggots pero on top of the
gauze lang, and the second one did not produce maggots at all kasi sealed siya. Now, he was able
to prove that the maggots are off spring of flies.

Despite this experiment by Redi, spontaneous generation continued to persist. Other Scientist
tried to conduct experiment by an English Scientist, John Needham- he believes that
spontaneous generation is true. To prove this, he boiled broth infused with plant or animal
matter. He boiled then let it cool down for a couple of days and after that he observed the broth
under the microscope. He saw living organisms. Therefore, he claimed spontaneous generation is
true. But, in Italy, Lazaro Spallanzani conducted the same experiment and procedure that
Needham did; he did not see anything. Therefore, spontaneous generation is not true.

The dispute between the spontaneous generation continued because two scientists performed the
same experiment again however they got different results. Bakit same experiments silang lahat
na ginawa pero iba’t ibang results? Si Needham ay may open na jar so may contact between the
external environment and the broth itself while Spallanzani’s was completely covered so walang
contact na nabibigay sa mga airborne organisms. With their result, the debate for the spontaneous
generation continued. People did not know which to believe anymore. To settle the debate, may
prize na for a person na tutuldok sa spontaneous generation. A French chemist tried to do it,
Louis Pasteur, he studied the experiments of Needham and Spallanzani. His hypothesis, there
are microorganisms which are present in the air and thus contaminates sterile solution.
Therefore, he believes, air itself does not create microorganisms. It’s just that microorganisms
are present in the air and it contaminates the solution. He proved it by using the high neck flask.
He boiled broth containing animal and plant matter and then waited for couple of days and then
observed the broth. For his first set-up walang organisms. For the second set-up, the same thing
pero hiwa na yung flask making it exposed sa air then may live organisms nang nakita. He ended
the debate about the spontaneous generation.

The First Golden Age of Microbiology

The first time is from 1857-1940. Why is this time considered as the golden age of
microbiology? Maraming mga inventions and discoveries about microbiology.

Discoveries:
1. Fermentation and Pasteurization- it started with louis Pasteur wherein he was
approached by group of merchants and they asked him kung bakit ang wine at beer
nagiging maasim when they are shipped to long distances. They asked solution para hindi
mag spoil ang mga ito. It is not the air that turns sugar to alcohol pero based sa studies ni
Pasteur he was able to identify that it is not the air which causes sugar to turn into alcohol
but it is the yeast that converts sugar into alcohol. This called fermentation. The
multiplication of bacteria is the one that causes the spoilage. Now, in order to prevent
spoilage, he suggested to heat the beer and wine to kill the existing bacteria that method
is know as pasteurization.
2. Germs theory of diseases- formulated sa first age ng microbiology. Germs are harmful
microorganisms, disease causing microorganism. They are defined as pathogenic
microorganisms that means (pathogenic- disease causing). This theory says that diseases
are caused by pathogenic microorganisms. Before the formulation of this theory, people
believe in another theory and this theory is the Miasma Theory- miasma means
pollution. Diseases can originate to the composition of organic matter specifically
noxious vapor harbors disease causing agents. This theory believes that individuals could
contract disease by inhaling foul smelling air. This theory stopped when the germ theory
of diseases got formulated. During the days of Pasteur may sickness na kumakalat sa
silkworms so people asked Pasteur kung bakit nagkakaganon yung mga worms. Pasteur
reviewed a lot of articles and then he found out that decades ago the same problem hit
Italy, silkworms in Italy.
Agostino Bazzi- that time, he was the first person to prove that a disease was
caused by a microorganism. Pinag-aralan niya yung about sa disease ng
silkworms and during that time he was able to identify that there is a vegetable
parasite which caused a disease in silkworms and that disease he called it as
calcinaccio. In present time, this disease is called Beauveria bassiana or
entomopathogenic fungi- target niyala ay insects, entomo means insects
pathogenic means disease causing.

Joseph Lister- applied the theory of germ diseases to medical procedures so he

was aware that microorganisms can cause diseases and he used that idea when he
is doing medical procedures. During the time of Ignaz Semmelweis, during the
1840, Lister was aware of the absence of the disinfection which transmitted
infections during that time. Ignaz was a physician, was Doctor, during the time of
Ignaz it is very common when doctors will examine cadavers they will
immediately transfer or assist a woman with a giving without washing their hands
so basically they are transferring infections which led to a lot of death.
Lister heard about Pasteur’s work connecting microorganisms to animal diseases
so he was very aware that microorganisms could really cause diseases so he did,
since he know the phenol or carbolic acid could kill bacteria he treated surgical
wounds with a phenol solution and by doing this he was able to find out that
microorganisms could really cause surgical wounds infections. May experiment
siyang ginawa sa mga women like one group has carbolic acid which hindi nagka
sakit and a group of women without the carbolic acid pero nagsuffer.

*the first two Scientists both Bazzi and Lister, they believed the germ theory of
diseases. They believe that microorganisms could really cause diseases pero they
were not yet able to prove or provide a concrete evidence for that one*

The person who was able to produce or to give a complete evidence that the
microorganism could cause infection to animals, plants and humans was Robert
Koch- proved that bacteria actually cause diseases not only on plants and animals
but also to humans. He was able to provide a concrete evidence for this claim
when he did a study to discover the cause of Anthrax disease- disease that is
spreading among cows. This is an infection caused by the bacteria Bacillus
anthracis. These bacteria are found in soil and they can affect domestic and wild
animals through inhalation of spores. Bacillus anthracis destroy the blood cloth in
cells of its host and as a result there is a bleeding that will be observed doon sa
body part na infected yung cow- may bleeding sa nose, ears and eyes. This
disease is an zoonotic disease- it can be transferred to people. Koch conducted an
experiment to prove that microorganisms cause diseases: From infected cows he
got a blood sample from them and he cultured that using the nutrient agar plate
which provides optimum environment for he growth of bacteria. He transferred
the blood there and the microorganism started to grow. He got the bacteria from
there and he injected it sa health cow. So nagkaroon ng Anthrax disease yung
cow. So he proved that microorganism could cause diseases sa animals and to
humans. By that experiment he was able to make Koch’s Postulate- sequence of
experiment, steps which directly relates specific microorganisms to a specific
disease. This tells us that a specific infectious disease is caused by a specific
micro. Example: Tuberculosis- the main cause of this is the infection of the
bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Or, for the Cholera disease, it is caused by
the Vibrio cholerae.

A discovery that is considered as an event that affected the study of microbiology

is the Discovery of Vaccination. Vaccination is a chemical na iniinject sa
katawan natin in order for us to be immuned to a specific disease. This was
discovered by Edward Jenner- discovered this when he conducted an experiment
to protect people from smallpox disease- this is caused by the two types of
viruses Variola major and Variola minor. In his time, humans are infected by
smallpox and cows are infected by cowpox. Cowpox is caused by the virus
Vaccinia sp. He noticed that milkmaids who contracted the cowpox disease are
not affected by the smallpox disease. He thought that there must be something in
the cowpox virus that fights off the smallpox virus. In order to prove his
hypothesis that the cowpox virus could kill the smallpox virus he conducted an
experiment wherein he collected scrapings from the cowpox blisters, from those
people who has cowpox and then he injected these scrapings from the blisters to a
healthy 8 years old boy. The boy got mildly sick for days so he had fever however
after he recovered from the fever they noticed that the boy became immune to the
smallpox virus noong inintroduce siya sa smallpox virus. So from that he was able
to discover the vaccination.

Second Golden Age of Microbiology

Isang mahalagang bagay lang dito sag ae na ito ay ang Discovery of Antibiotics-
referred to as “fortunate accident” kasi it was not really the goal of Alexander
Flemming- was able to discover the antibiotic Penicillin from the fungi
Penicillium chrysogenum. During that time Flemming was doing an experiment
using the Staphylococcus aureus. So he has an agar plate na may Staphylococcus
 aureus and he forgot about that plate, he left it for a couple of days and when he
returned he noticed a growth of a microorganism that was not there initially. He
noticed that around that new growth of microorganism there is a clear area which
means that all staphylococcus aureus on that part are dead. Because of that he
thought that there might be something in these microorganisms which caused the
death of those bacteria surrounding it. Therefore, he was able to discover
antibiotic.

SECOND LECTURE NOTES: MICROORGANISMS – FOR QUIZ 2

Pathology: How microorganisms could cause disease.

Phylogenetic Tree of Life- A diagram which shows the evolutionary relationship among
organisms. This diagram has 3 domains: Domain Bacteria, Domain Archaea, Domain Eucaryota.

Microorganisms are included in the 3 domains: Pwedeng nasa domain bacteria because bacteria
are microorganisms, bacteria are a specific microbial group. Pwede sa domain archaea because
of halophiles, they are examples of microorganism therefore Archaeans are also microorganisms.
Pwede din domain Eucaryota because of the example fungi. To conclude, microorganisms are so
diversed that they can be found in the 3 domains of life.

Microorganisms are ubiquitous, present everywhere. In our body, it is said to contain trillions of
species of microorganisms may they be beneficial or disease causing. Microorganisms Are
defined as organisms that are too small to be seen by the naked eye.

Deadliest Microorganisms:
1. Flu- caused by the influenza virus.
2. Bird flu- caused by the virus H5N1.
3. Sars- “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”. Respiratory disease caused by the Sars
COV or the Sars Corona Virus.
4. Anthrax- caused by the bacteria Bacillus Anthracis.
5. H1N1- another strain of the flu virus. Combination of the Avian flu virus and then the
influenza flu virus.
6. Chlamydia- sexually transmitted disease. Caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis.
7. T4- a Bacteriophage virus. A type of virus that infects bacteria. T4 infects e-coli.
8. Mad Cow
9. Salmonella- we can get this from chickens, not properly cooked chicken.
10. Ebola
11. Cholera- disease of the digestive system which is caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae.
12. Influenza- common flu that we experience
13. Smallpox- caused by the viruses Variola Major and Variola Minor.
14. Orf- caused by the Parapox virus. A skin disease of sheeps and goats.
 15. Abnormal WBC- If we have viral infection or bacterial infection, the levels of our WBC
rises up because it fights infections.
16. Rabies

Top 10 Deadliest Infectious Diseases- based of the assumption that the infected individual does
not receive medical treatment.

10. Mad Cow- Caused by Prions- they are not bacteria nor virus nor a Protozoa. They are
misfolded proteins, abnormal proteins attached to nerve cells and alter the composition of cells.
Symptoms of cows that have this: they act as if they are mad, crazy, may involuntary movement
sila, may secretion of methane, they are very sensitive to touch. Mad cow disease could also
affect humans. If humans get infected by Prions by feeding cows, the disease is called the
Creudzfelt Jakob Disease and Kuru, a laughing disease which is also caused by Prions because if
we get affected by Prions it affects our brain, may part sa brain natin na responsible for laughing
na nati-trigger such that the victim outburst from laughter.

9. Rabies- A type of virus that we could get from dogs, cats and bats. We could aso get
this kapag dinidilaan tayo ng mga dogs or cats whenever we have open wounds so the saliva
could be transferred and could go in our body.
8. African Trypanosomiasis- Also called as African Sleeping Sickness- if the protozoa
infect your body, bigla ka na lang mahihimatay or become unconscious and lead to coma and
death. The cause of this disease is the Trypanosoma brucei. This is carried by the Tsetse fly,
makagat ka nito makukuha mo yung sickness. Can be found sa Africa lang.

7. Primary Amoebic Encephalitis- Caused by the protozoa Naegleria fowleri- “brain

eating amoeba” brain lang talaga target, it feeds on the tissues of the brain. We get this from
contaminated fresh water. For example: rivers, lake, or swimming pools that are not properly
chlorinated. If ever we swim tapos pumasok yung water sa mouth yung pathway lang nun is
pababa so matatae natin yung amoeba, hindi tayo magkakaroon nito. But, if it gets in our nose,
that’s the time we get this because it travels to olfactory nerve and will attack the brain

6. Bubonic Plague- Popularly known as the “Black death”. It caused by the bacteria
Yersinia pestis. The symptoms of this is the Necrosis- the tissue death.

5. Visceral Leishmaniasis- Caused by the microorganism Leishmania sp- attacks organs

in our body, digestive organs. This carried by the sand fly. The symptoms of this is the organ
failure and then death. This is also called as the “Kala-azar fever or the black fever”

4. Smallpox- Caused by the variola major and the variola minor. Para siyang blisters na
may tubig- parang choco mucho.

3. Ebola- Di pa alam kung saan nanggaling pero ang sinasabi nila from the chimpanzees
or bats. The symptoms of this is seizure and bleeding found on the different parts of our bodies.
 2. HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It causes AIDS. It weakens our immune
system such that we could easily get different types of infections and then its final stage is
having AIDS- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Men kasi have higher testosterone levels
than women kaya men madalas ang nagkakaroon nito.

1. Anthrax- Deadliest disease. Very dangerous if we inhale the spores because there is a
direct connection between the nose and the brain, it will result to the decrease of oxygen,
shortness of breathing and then death.