microbiology: study of microbes what is a microbe? typically microbes are small and most cannot be...
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Microbiology: Study of microbesWhat is a microbe?
• Typically microbes are small and most cannot be seen without the aid of a microscope
• Microbes are comprised of prokaryotes and eukaryotes
• Most microbes classified as bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa or algae
• Is a virus a microbe?
Bacteria and Archaea
• Prokaryotes -- single-celled organisms without nuclei
• Typically very small• Usually have cell walls and
membranes• Live in many different
environments• Many bacteria cause disease
(pathogenic)• Most haploid and reproduce
asexually
Fungi -- Molds and Yeasts
• Eukaryotic organisms either multi- or unicellular, pathogenic or beneficial
• Many are microscopic• Fungi contain cell walls but
are not photosynthetic• Molds are typically multi-
cellular and have sexual and non-sexual reproduction by spores
• Yeasts are unicellular and reproduce asexually by budding or via sexual spores
Protozoa
• Eukaryotic single-celled organisms similar to animal cells
• Most are motile and are classified by means of locomotion (cilia, flagella or pseudopodia)
• Many species are pathogenic
Algae
• Unicellular or multi-cellular eukaryotes
• All are photosynthetic
• Have cell walls
• Classification based on cell wall composition and composition of their photosynthetic proteins
• Large multi-cellular forms include seaweed and kelp
• Diatoms contain silicates (glassy) in cell walls
Highlights of a History of Microbiology
• Leeuwenhoek -- the microscope (1670’s)
• Redi, Needham, Spallanzani and Pasteur -- spontaneous generation debunked
• Germ theory of disease
• Koch’s postulates
• Development of aseptic techniques and vaccination
• Molecular microbiology
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)
• First to view (1674)“animalcules” (protozoa) in drops of water
• Reported the existence of bacteria in 1676
• Spent 50 yrs. observing and reporting on microbes, but didn’t share techniques
The question of spontaneous generation
• Embraced for 1900 yrs. since the time of Aristotle, at least for small organisms
• Late 17th century: Francesco Redi demonstrated that maggots appearing “spontaneously” on old meat required the presence of flies
18th century experiments on spontaneous generation: Needham vs. Spallanzani
• Needham’s experiments used boiled beef gravy and corked vials
• Microbes grew readily• Spontaneous
generation supported
• Spallanzani used boiled infusions and heat-sealed glass vials
• No microbial growth occurred
• Spontaneous generation does not occur
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) Father of Microbiology
• Disproved spontaneous generation by carefully demonstrating under what conditions microbes appear
Other contributions by Pasteur
• Demonstrated anaerobic fermentation by both bacteria and yeasts (bacteria produce acid and yeast produce alcohol)
• Developed pasteurization to prevent spoilage of wine by bacteria
• Began field of industrial microbiology when he added yeast to sterilized grape juice to make wine
• Bacterial spoiling of wine led to Germ theory of Disease (1857)
Koch’s postulates drive search for disease causative agents
• Examined patients blood and identified bacteria associated with different diseases
• Postulates: (1) Disease agent must be present in every patient and absent in others; (2) Agent is isolated and when introduced into healthy person, causes the disease; (3) Disease agent can be reisolated from experimentalhost
Disease preventionCleaner is better
• Nosocomial infections were rampant through mid 19th century
• Semmelweis demonstrated that hand washing could significantly lesson childbirth-related fatalities in mid-1800’s
• Lister demonstrated 2/3 reduction in patient death by sterilizing equipment with phenol in early 20th century
• Florence Nightingale introduced antiseptic techniques into nursing practices in mid 1850’s
Modern microbiology
• Biochemical basis of life
• Microbial genetics
• Recombinant DNA and biotechnology
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