Chapter 1

The Main Themes of

Microbiology

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Microbiology
The study of organisms too small to be seen
without magnification
Microorganisms include:

Bacteria
Viruses
Fungi
Protozoa
Helminths (worms)
Algae
2

Microbiological Endeavors

James Gathany/CDC

CDC

Photo courtesy of Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Jack Dykinga, USDA/ARS

Origins of Microorganisms
Bacteria-like organisms have existed on earth for
about 3.5 billion years
Prokaryotes (pre-nucleus): Simple cells
Eukaryotes (true nucleus): Complex cells
Humans
appeared.

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display

Mammals
appeared.

Probable
origin of
earth

15 billion
years ago

Cockroaches,
termites
appeared.
Prokaryotes
appeared.

4 billion
years ago

Eukaryotes
appeared.

3 billion
years ago

2 billion
years ago

Reptiles
appeared.

1 billion
years ago

Present
4
time

Microbial Structure

Two cell lines

Prokaryote microscopic, unicellular organisms, lack
nuclei and membrane-bound organelles
Eukaryote unicellular (microscopic) and multicellular,
nucleus and membrane-bound organelles
Viruses - Acellular, parasitic particles composed of a nucleic
acid and protein
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display

(b) Virus Types

(a) Cell Types

Prokaryotic

Eukaryotic
Chromosome

Nucleus

Mitochondria

Ribosomes

Envelope
Capsid

Ribosomes

Nucleic
acid
AIDS virus

Cell wall
Flagellum

Cell
membrane

Flagellum

Cell membrane

Bacterial virus

Microbial Diversity: 6 Types of Microbes

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Reproductive spores

Janice Carr/CDC

Bacteria: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a

rod-shaped cell (15,500x).

Tom Volk

Fungi: Thamnidium, a filamentous

fungus (400x)

Charles Krebs Photography

Algae: desmids, Spirogyra filament, and diatoms

(golden cells) (500x).

A single virus particle

CDC

Virus: Herpes simplex, cause of cold

sores (100,000x).

Yuuji Tsukii, Protist Information Server

Protozoa: A pair of Vorticella (500x), stalked cells

that feed by means of a whirling row of cilia.

CDC

Helminths: Cysts of the parasitic roundworm,

Trichinella spiralis (250x) embedded in muscle.

Microbial Dimensions
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
1 mm
Range
of
human
eye

Reproductive structure
of bread mold

Louse

Macroscopic
Macroscopic

100 m

Nucleus

Colonial alga
(Pediastrum)
Range
of
light microscope

Amoeba

Red blood cell

White blood cell

10 m

1 m

Most bacteria fall between 1 to 10 m

in size
Rod-shaped bacteria
(Escherichia coli)

Rickettsia bacteria

200 nm

Mycoplasma bacteria

100 nm

AIDS virus

Coccus-shaped bacteria
(Staphylococcus)

Poxvirus

Hepatitis B virus
Range
10 nm
of
electron
microscope

Poliovirus
Flagellum
Large protein
Diameter of DNA

1 nm
Require
special
microscopes

Amino acid
(small molecule)

0.1 nm

Hydrogen atom

(1 Angstrom)
Metric Scale

Log 10 of meters

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)
m)
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nm
)
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10 11

12

Microbes in Energy & Nutrient Flow

The flow of energy and food
through the earths
ecosystems
Photosynthesis:
Light fueled conversion of
carbon dioxide to organic
material
Decomposition:
Breakdown of dead matter
and wastes into simple
compounds

Concept Check:
Which of the following does NOT describe a
fungus?

A. Contains a nucleus
B. Has 80S Ribosomes
C. Useful in Decomposition
D. Is photosynthetic

Human Use of Microorganisms

Biotechnology:
Production of foods, drugs,
and vaccines using living
organisms
Genetic engineering:
Manipulating the genes of
organisms to make new
products
Bioremediation:
Using living organisms to
remedy an environmental
problem

10

Lifestyles of Microorganisms
Majority live a free existence, are relatively
harmless and often beneficial
Some microorganisms have close associations
with other organisms
Parasites live on or in the body of another organism
called the host and it damages the host.

11

Microbes & Infectious Diseases

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Pathogens: Microbes
that do harm
sle
s
Me
a

5%

26%

7%
9%

11%

18%

erc
s is
u lo

17.5%
AI
DS

Tub

12 M deaths from
infections/year worldwide

tis
a ti
p
He B

Malaria

10 B new infections/year
worldwide

Miscellaneous 1.5%
ns
io a )
ct z
fe en
in fu
r y in
to a ,
ira ni
sp mo
Re neu
(p

Nearly 2,000 different

microbes cause
diseases

Tetanus 2.5%
Parasitic diseases 2.5%

Diarrh
eal dis
dysen eases (chol
tery, ty
e
phoid) ra,

12

Top Causes of Death in the

United States and Worldwide

13

Historical Foundations of Microbiology

Thousands of microbiologists over 300 years
Prominent discoveries include:
Microscopy
Scientific method
Development of medical microbiology
Microbiology techniques

14

Spontaneous Generation
Spontaneous Generation is an early belief that
some forms of life could arise from vital forces
present in nonliving or decomposing matter (flies
from manure, etc.)
Louis Pasteur eventually disproved spontaneous
generation and proved the Theory of Biogenesis the idea that living things can only arise from other
living things

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

Dutch linen
merchant
First to observe
living microbes
Single-lens
magnified up to
300X
16

Leeuwenhoeks Work
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Lens
Specimen holder

Focus screw

Handle

Kathy Park Talaro/Visuals Unlimited

Kathy Park Talaro/Visuals Unlimited

17

Scientific Method
Approach taken by scientists to explain a certain natural
phenomenon
Form a hypothesis - a tentative explanation that can be
supported or refuted
Deductive approach If, then.

A lengthy process of experimentation, analysis, and testing

either supports or refutes the hypothesis
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.
18

Concept Check:
A Scientific Theory has little or no evidence to
support it and could be best described as a best
guess.

A. True
B. False

19

Discovery of Spores and Sterilization

John Tyndall and Ferdinand Cohn each
demonstrated the presence of heat resistant
forms of some microbes.
Cohn determined these forms to be heatresistant bacterial endospores.
Sterility requires the elimination of all life forms
including endospores and viruses.

20

Using the Scientific Method to

Investigate Bacterial Endospores
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Hypothesis
Bacterial endospores
are the most resistant
of all cells on earth.

Predictions
If hypothesis is true,
endospores can survive
extreme conditions
such as:

Testing

Theory/Principle

Compare endospore formers to non-endospore microbes.

Survival of
endospore former

Survival of
non-endospore former

 temperature (boiling)................................+............................./+*
 radiation (ultraviolet).................................+..............................

Endospores are the only

cells consistently capable of
surviving a wide range of
destructive environmental
conditions. In order to
sterilize, these cells must be
eliminated.

 lack of water (drying)................................+............................./+

 chemicals.................................................+............................./+
(disinfectants)
*Only 1 out of 4 cell types survives.
Endospores
of certain
bacteria
Cells without
endospores are
ordinary bacteria,
fungi, animal cells.

Endospores
Additional tests show that endospores
have thick coverings and protective features
and that endospores are known to survive
over millions of years.

21

Development of Aseptic Techniques

The human body is a source of infection
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes observed that mothers of
home births had fewer infections than those who gave
birth in hospitals
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis correlated infections with
physicians coming directly from the autopsy room to the
maternity ward
Joseph Lister introduced aseptic techniques to reduce
microbes in medical settings and prevent wound infections
Involved disinfection of hands using chemicals prior to surgery
Use of heat for sterilization
22

The Germ Theory of Disease

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

23

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

Showed microbes
caused fermentation and
spoilage
Disproved spontaneous
generation of
microorganisms
Developed pasteurization
Demonstrated what is
now known as Germ
Theory of Disease
24

Robert Koch (1843-1910)

Established Kochs
postulates - a
sequence of
experimental steps that
verified the germ
theory

Identified cause of
anthrax, TB, and
cholera
Developed pure
culture methods25

Taxonomy
Taxonomy: organizing, classifying, and naming
living things
Formal system originated by Carl von Linn

Concerned with:
Classification orderly arrangement of organisms into
groups
Nomenclature assigning names
Identification determining and recording traits of
organisms for placement into taxonomic schemes
26

Levels of Classification

Domain - Archaea, Bacteria, & Eukarya

Kingdom
Phylum or Division
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
27

Sample Taxonomy
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Domain: Eukarya (All eukaryotic organisms)

Domain: Eukarya (All eukaryotic organisms)

Kingdom: Animalia

Kingdom: Protista
Includes
protozoa
and algae

Sea squirt

Lemur

Sea star

Phylum: Chordata

Phylum: Ciliophora
Only protozoa
with cilia

Class: Mammalia

Class: Hymenostomea
Single cells with
regular rows of
cilia; rapid
swimmers

Order: Primates

Order: Hymenostomatida
Elongate oval cells with
cilia in the oral cavity

Family: Hominoidea

Family: Parameciidae
Cells rotate while swimming
and have oral grooves.

Genus: Homo

Genus: Paramecium
Pointed, cigar-shaped cells with
macronuclei and micronuclei

Species: sapiens
(a)

Species: caudatum
Cells cylindrical, long, and pointed
at one end
(b)

28

Concept Check:
Organisms in the same Family must also be in the
same Class.

A. True
B. False

29

Assigning Specific Names

Binomial (scientific) nomenclature
Gives each microbe 2 names:
Genus - capitalized
species - lowercase

Both italicized or underlined

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)

Inspiration for names is extremely varied and

often imaginative!
30

The Origin and Evolution of

Microorganisms
Phylogeny: natural relatedness between groups
of organisms
Evolution
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

31

Three Domains of Life

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Bacteria true bacteria

Angiosperms
Arthropods
Annelids
Ferns

nts
pla
ed
Se

Mosses

PLANTS

Archaea odd bacteria that

live in extreme
environments, high
salt, heat, etc.

Echinoderms

Mollusks

Club
fungi

Nematodes

Yeasts
FUNGI

Kingdom
(Plantae)

Kingdom
(Myceteae)

Molds

Flatworms
ANIMALS
Kingdom
(Animalia)

Red
algae

Green
algae

EUKARYOTES

Brown
algae

PROKARYOTES

Eukarya have a nucleus

and organelles

Chordates

Gymnosperms

Slime
molds

Ciliates

Sponges
First multicellular
organisms appeared
0.6 billion years ago.

Flagellates
Amoebas

Diatoms

Apicomplexans

PROTISTS
Kingdom
(Protista)

Dinofagellates
Early eukaryotes

First eukaryotic
cells appeared
62 billion years ago.

MONERANS
Kingdom
Monera

5 kingdoms
2 cell types

Archaea

Bacteria

Earliest cell

First cells appeared

34 billion years ago.

32

The Evolutionary Relationships

Between Earths Inhabitants
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Kingdoms
Plantae

Domain Bacteria
Cyanobacteria

Chlamydias
Spirochetes

Domain Archaea

Gram-positive Endospore
bacteria
producers

Gram-negative
bacteria

Methane
producers

Prokaryotes
that live in
extreme salt

Animalia

Fungi

Protista

Domain Eukarya
Prokaryotes
that live in
extreme heat

Eukaryotes

33
Ancestral Cell Line (first living cells)

Concept Check:
Organisms in the Domain Archaea have more DNA
sequence similarity to

A. Escherichia coli which is in the Domain Bacteria

B. Humans which are in the Domain Eukarya
C. Archaea have no DNA sequence similarity to any
other organism
34