The Microbial World and You

The Microbial World and You
What is Microbiology?
Microbes, or microorganisms are minute

living things that are usually unable to be
viewed with the naked eye.
What are some examples of microbes?

Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae, viruses
are examples!
Some are pathogenic

“Germ” refers to a rapidly growing cell.
Microbes:
Decompose organic waste
Are producers in the ecosystem by
photosynthesis
Produce industrial chemicals such as
ethyl alcohol and acetone
Produce fermented foods such as vinegar,
cheese, and bread
: Introduction to Microbiology, History & scope
• Microbiology:
- In the broadest sense, microbiology is the study of all organisms that are invisible to
the naked eye-that is the study of microorganisms.
- Its subjects are viruses, bacteria, many algae and fungi, and protozoa.
- The importance of microbiology and microorganisms can not be overemphasized.
- Microorganisms are necessary for the production of bread, cheese, beer, antibiotics,
vaccines, vitamins, enzymes, etc.
- Modern biotechnology rests upon a microbiological foundation.
• Microorganisms:
- Microorganisms are everywhere; almost every natural surface is colonized by
microbes, from body to ocean. Some microorganisms can live hot springs, and others
in frozen sea ice.
- Most microorganisms are harmless to humans; You swallow millions of microbes
every day with no ill effects. In fact, we are dependent on microbes to help us digest
our food.
- Microbes also keep the biosphere running by carrying out essential functions such as
decomposition of dead animals and plants. They make possible the cycles of carbon,
oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur that take place in terrestrial and aquatic systems.
- Microorganisms have also harmed humans and disrupted society over the millennia.
Knowledge of Microbes allows humans to

Prevent food spoilage
Prevent disease occurrence
Led to aseptic techniques to prevent

contamination in medicine and in
microbiology laboratories.
History of Microbiology
Ancestors of bacteria were the first life on Earth.
The first microbes were observed in 1673.
In 1665, Robert Hooke (Englishman) reported

that living things were composed of little
boxes or cells.
1673-1723, Antoni van

Leeuwenhoek (Dutch)
described live
microorganisms that
he observed in teeth
scrapings, rain water,
and peppercorn
infusions.
Many believed spontaneous generation:

life can arise from non-living matter
In 1668, the Italian physician Francesco

Redi performed an experiment to disprove
spontaneous generation.
Can you think of an experiment that could

disprove spontaneous generation?
Redi filled six jars with decaying meat.

Conditions Results
3 jars covered with fine No maggots
net
3 open jars Maggots appeared
From where did the maggots come?

What was the purpose of the sealed jars?
Spontaneous generation or biogenesis?
 Supported by:
 Aristotle (384-322 BC) – Believed that simple invertebrates
could arise by spontaneous generation
 John Needham (1713-1781) – Boiled mutton broth, then
sealed and still observed growth after a period of time
 Lazarro Spallanzani (1729-1799) No growth in sealed flask
after boiling – proposed that air was needed for growth of
organisms
 Felix Pouchet (1859) – Proved growth without
contamination from air
 Disproved by:
 Francesco Redi (1626-1697) – maggot
unable to grown on meat if meat was
covered with gauze
 Schwann, Friedrich Schroder and von
Dusch (1830s) – Air allowed to enter flask
but only after passing through a heated
tube or sterile wool
 John Tyndall (1820-1893) – Omission of
dust  no growth. Demonstrated heat
resistant forms of bacteria (endospores)
Spontaneous Generation Myths
 Snakes from horse hairs in stagnant water

 Mice from grain and cheese wrapped in a sweater
 Maggots from rotting meat
 Fleas from hair
 Flies from fresh and rotting fruit
 Mosquitoes from stagnant pondwater
 Eels from slimy mud at the bottom of the ocean
 Locusts from green leaves
 Raccoons from hollow tree trunks
 Termites are generated from rotting wood
Rudolf Virchow (German) presented

biogenesis: living cells can arise only from
preexisting cells.
So now there are two hypotheses:

The hypothesis that living organisms arise
from nonliving matter is called spontaneous
generation. According to spontaneous
generation, a “vital force’ Forms life.
The Alternative hypothesis, that the living

organisms arise from preexisting life, is
called biogenesis.
1861: Louis Pasteur demonstrated that

microorganisms are present in the air.
Conditions Results
Nutrient broth placed in Microbial growth
flask, heated, not sealed
Nutrient broth placed in No microbial growth

flask, heated, then
sealed
Spontaneous generation or biogenesis?
Next experiment, Pasteur’s S-shaped flask kept
microbes out but let air in. These experiments
form the basis of aseptic technique
The Golden Age of Microbiology

1857-1914
Beginning with Pasteur’s work, discoveries

included the relationship between microbes
and disease, immunity, and antimicrobial
drugs
Pasteur showed that microbes are

responsible for fermentation.
Fermentation is the conversation of sugar to
alcohol to make beer and wine.
Microbial growth is also responsible for
spoilage of food.
Bacteria that use alcohol and produce acetic
acid spoil wine by turning it to vinegar (acetic
acid).
Pasteur demonstrated that

these spoilage bacteria
could be killed by heat that
was not hot enough to
evaporate the alcohol in
wine. This application of a
high heat for a short time is
called pasteurization.
The Germ Theory of Disease

1835: Agostino Bassi showed a silkworm
disease was caused by a fungus.
1865: Pasteur believed that another silkworm
disease was caused by a protozoan.
1840s: Ignaz Semmelwise advocated
handwashing to prevent transmission of
puerperal fever from one patient to another.
Chapter 1 The Microbial World and You

• 1860s: Joseph Lister used a chemical
disinfectant to prevent surgical wound
infections after looking at Pasteur’s work
showing microbes are in the air, can spoil
food, and cause animal diseases.
1876: Robert Koch provided proof that a
bacterium causes anthrax and provided the
experimental steps, Koch’s postulates, used
to prove that a specific microbe causes a
specific disease.
Koch was a physician and Pasteur’s young
rival
• Koch’s Postulates:
- Microorganism must be present in every case of the disease but absent from healthy
individuals.
- The suspected microorganism must be isolated and grown in pure cultures.
- The disease must result when the isolated microorganism is inoculated into a healthy
host.
- The same microorganism must be isolated from the disease host.
• Isolation of Microorganisms:
- During Koch’s studies, it became necessary to isolate suspected bacterial pathogens.
- He cultured bacteria on the sterile surfaces of cut, boiled potatoes  Not satisfactory.
- Regular liquid medium solidified by adding gelatin  gelatin melted @ T>28°C.
- Fannie Eilshemius suggested use of agar; 100°C to melt, 50 °C to solidify.
- Richard Petri developed petri dish, a container for solid culture media.
• Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895):
- Developed vaccines for Chickenpox, anthrax, rabies
- Demonstrated that all fermentations were due to the
activities of specific yeasts and bacteria.
- Developed Pasteurization to preserve wine during
storage. Important: Foods
- Discovered that fermentative microorganisms were
anaerobic and could live only in absence of oxygen.
• Other Developments…
- Winogradsky made many contributions to soil microbiology; discovered that soil
bacteria could oxidize Fe, S and ammonia to obtain energy.
- Isolated Anaerobic nitrogen-fixing bacteria; studied the decomposition of cellulose.
- Together with Beijerink, developed the enrichment-culture technique and the use of
selective media.
- Early 40’s, Microbiology established closer relationship with Genetics and
Biochemistry; microorganisms are extremely useful experimental subjects.
- e.g. Study of relationship between genes and enzymes; evidence that DNA is the
genetic material;
- Recently, Microbiology been a major contributor to the rise of Molecular Biology.
- Studies on Genetic code; mechanisms of DNA, RNA, and Protein synthesis;
regulation of gene expression; control of enzyme activity.
- Development of Recombinant DNA Technology and Genetic Engineering.
• Scope of Microbiology:
- Microbiology has an impact on medicine, agriculture, food science, ecology,
genetics, biochemistry, immunology, and many other fields.
- Many microbiologists are primarily interested in the biology of
microorganisms, while others focus on specific groups;
- Virologists - viruses
- Bacteriologists - bacteria
- Phycologists – algae
- Mycologist -fungi
- Protozoologists – protozoa
- Medical Microbiology: deals with diseases of humans and animals; identify and plan
measures to eliminate agents causing infectious diseases.
- Immunology: study of the immune system that protects the body from pathogens.
- Agricultural Microbiology: impact of microorganisms on agriculture; combat plant
diseases that attack important food crops.
- Food and Dairy Microbiology: prevent microbial spoilage of food & transmission of
food-borne diseases (e.g. salmonellosis); use microorganisms to make food such as
cheeses, yogurts, pickles, beer, etc.
- Industrial Microbiology: using microorganisms to make products such as
antibiotics, vaccines, steroids, alcohols & other solvents, vitamins, amino acids,
enzymes,
- Genetic etc.
Engineering: Engineered microorganisms used to make hormones,
antibiotics, vaccines and other products.
- Since viruses are acellular and possess both living and nonliving characteristics, they
are considered neither prokaryotic nor eukaryotic. They will be discussed in separate
section of the course.

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The Microbial World and You

Microbes, or microorganisms are minute

What are some examples of microbes?

Some are pathogenic

Knowledge of Microbes allows humans to

Led to aseptic techniques to prevent

The first microbes were observed in 1673.

In 1665, Robert Hooke (Englishman) reported

1673-1723, Antoni van

Many believed spontaneous generation:

In 1668, the Italian physician Francesco

Can you think of an experiment that could

Redi filled six jars with decaying meat.

From where did the maggots come?

 Snakes from horse hairs in stagnant water

Rudolf Virchow (German) presented

So now there are two hypotheses:

The Alternative hypothesis, that the living

1861: Louis Pasteur demonstrated that

Nutrient broth placed in No microbial growth

The Golden Age of Microbiology

Beginning with Pasteur’s work, discoveries

Pasteur showed that microbes are

Pasteur demonstrated that

The Germ Theory of Disease

The Germ Theory of Disease

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