CHAPTER 1 NAMING & CLASSIFYING

ORGANISMS
THE MICROBIAL WORLD NOMENCLATURE
& YOU  Carolus Linnaeus - The system of
 Germ - the Latin word germen, meaning nomenclature (naming) for organisms in
to spout from, or germinate use today was established in 1735
 Microbes, also called microorganisms,  Latin was the language traditionally
are minute living things that individually are used by scholars.
usually too small to be seen with the unaided  two names—the genus (plural: genera)
eye. is the first name and is always capitalized;
 includes bacteria, fungi (yeasts and the specific epithet (species name) follows
molds), protozoa, and microscopic algae, and is not capitalized
viruses, those noncellular entities sometimes  Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium
regarded as straddling the border between life commonly found on human skin.
and nonlife  Staphylo- describes the clustered
 Soil microbes break down wastes and arrangement of the cells;
incorporate nitrogen gas from the air into  -coccus indicates that they are shaped
organic compounds, thereby recycling like spheres.
chemical elements among soil, water, living  aureus, is Latin for golden, the color of
organisms, and air. many colonies of this bacterium.
 Microorganisms also have many  The genus of the bacterium
commercial applications Escherichia coli is named for a physician,
o synthesis of such chemical Theodor Escherich, whereas its specific
products as vitamins, organic acids, epithet coli, reminds us that E. coli live in
enzymes, alcohols, and many the colon, or large intestine.
drugs.
o produce acetone and butanol, and TYPES OF MICROORGANISMS
the vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B12  Antibiotics can be used to treat
(cobalamin) bacterial infections but have no effect on
o vinegar, sauerkraut, pickles, soy viruses or other microbes
sauce, cheese, yogurt, bread, and
alcoholic beverages. Bacteria
o cellulose, human insulin, and  Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are
proteins for vaccines. relatively simple, single celled (unicellular)
 The process by which microbes produce organisms
acetone and butanol was discovered in 1914  genetic material is not enclosed in a
by Chaim Weizmann, a Russian-born special nuclear membrane
chemist working in England.  bacterial cells are called prokaryotes
from Greek words meaning prenucleus
THE MICROBIOME
 Prokaryotes include both bacteria and
 An adult human is composed of about archaea.
30 trillion body cells and harbors another 40  Bacillus (rodlike),
trillion bacterial cells.  coccus (spherical or ovoid),
 Human Microbiome/Microbiota -  and spiral (corkscrew or curved)
Microbes that live stably in and on the  some bacteria are starshaped or
human body. square
o Bacteria in our intestines,  Bacteria are enclosed in cell walls that
including E. coli, aid digestion are largely composed of a carbohydrate
o even synthesize some vitamins and protein complex called peptidoglycan.
that our bodies require, including B  cellulose is the main substance of plant
vitamins for metabolism and vitamin K and algal cell walls
for blood clotting.  Bacteria generally reproduce by
o They also prevent growth of dividing into two equal cells; this process is
pathogenic (disease-causing) species called binary fission
 Temperature, pH, and the presence or  Many bacteria can “swim” by using
absence of chemical compounds are some moving appendages called flagella
factors that influence what types of
microbes can flourish. Archaea
 archaea consist of prokaryotic cells
  if they have cell walls, the walls lack Viruses
peptidoglycan
 so small that most can be seen
 Archaea, often found in extreme
only with an electron microscope
environments, are divided into three main
 they are acellular (that is, they
groups
are not cells)
o The methanogens produce
 Structurally very simple, a virus
methane as a waste product from
particle
respiration.
 contains a core made of only one
o The extreme halophiles (halo =
type of nucleic acid, either DNA or
salt; philic = loving) live in
RNA
extremely salty environments.
o The extreme thermophiles (therm = core is surrounded by a protein coat,
heat) live in hot sulfurous water which is sometimes encased by a lipid
membrane called an envelope.
Fungi
 Viruses can reproduce only by
 Fungi (singular: fungus) are eukaryotes
using the cellular machinery of other
organisms whose cells have a distinct
organisms
nucleus containing the cell’s genetic
 considered to be living only when
material (DNA)
they multiply within host cells they
 surrounded by a special envelope called
infect.
the nuclear membrane.
 viruses are parasites of other
 Organisms in the Kingdom Fungi may
forms of life.
be unicellular or multicellular
 not considered to be living
 multicellular fungi, such as mushrooms
because they are inert outside living
 cannot carry out photosynthesis hosts.
 True fungi have cell walls composed
primarily of a substance called chitin. Multicellular animal parasites
 The unicellular forms of fungi, yeasts,  Animal parasites are eukaryotes.
are oval microorganisms
 The two major groups of parasitic
 most typical fungi are molds worms are the flatworms and the
o forms visible masses called roundworms, collectively called
mycelia, which are composed of helminths
long filaments (hyphae) that
branch and intertwine CLASSIFICATION OF
 Organisms called slime molds are MICROORGANISMS
actually ameba-like protozoa
 In 1978, Carl Woese devised a
Protozoa system of classification based on the
cellular organization of organisms. It
 Protozoa (singular: protozoan) are
groups all organisms in three
unicellular eukaryotic microbes
domains as follows:
 Protozoa move by pseudopods, flagella,
o Bacteria (cell walls contain a
or cilia
protein–carbohydrate complex
 Amebae move by using extensions of
called peptidoglycan)
their cytoplasm called pseudopods (false
o Archaea (cell walls, if present,
feet).
lack peptidoglycan)
 Other protozoa have long flagella or
o Eukarya, which includes the
numerous shorter appendages for
locomotion called cilia. following:
 Euglena are photosynthetic Protists (slime molds, protozoa,
 Protozoa can reproduce sexually or and algae)
asexually.
Fungi (unicellular yeasts,
Algae multicellular molds, and
mushrooms)
 Algae (singular: alga) are photosynthetic
eukaryotes with a wide variety of shapes Plants (mosses, ferns, conifers,
and both sexual and asexual and flowering plants)
reproductive forms
Animals (sponges, worms,
 usually unicellular
insects, and vertebrates)
 The cell walls of many algae are
composed of a carbohydrate called
cellulose.
  In 1858 Rudolf Virchow challenged the
case for spontaneous generation with the
concept of biogenesis, hypothesizing that
A BRIEF HISTORY OF living cells arise only from preexisting living
cells.
MICROBIOLOGY  In 1861, the issue was finally resolved
 Bacterial ancestors were the first living by the French scientist Louis Pasteur.
cells to appear on Earth.  Pasteur demonstrated that
microorganisms are present in the air and
THE FIRST OBSERVATIONS can contaminate sterile solutions, but that
air itself does not create microbes.
 In 1665, after observing a thin slice of
cork through a crude microscope,  Pasteur showed that microorganisms
Englishman Robert Hooke reported that can be present in nonliving matter—on
life’s smallest structural units were “little solids, in liquids, and in the air.
boxes,” or “cells.”  These discoveries form the basis of
 Hooke later saw individual cells. aseptic techniques, procedures that
prevent contamination by unwanted
 Hooke’s discovery marked the beginning
microorganisms.
of the cell theory— the theory that all living
things are composed of cells. THE FIRST GOLDEN AGE OF
 it lacked the resolution that would have MICROBIOLOGY
allowed him to see microbes clearly.
 Dutch merchant and amateur scientist  The period from 1857 to 1914
Anton van Leeuwenhoek was probably the has been appropriately named the First
first to observe live microorganisms Golden Age of Microbiology. Rapid
 1673 to 1723, wrote about the advances, spearheaded mainly by
“animalcules” he saw through his simple, Pasteur and Robert Koch, led to the
single lens microscopes establishment of microbiology.
 found in rainwater, feces, and material  Pasteur—Fermentation
scraped from teeth.  Pasteur—Disproved spontaneous
generation
THE DEBATE OVER SPONTANEOUS  Pasteur—Pasteurization
GENERATION  Lister—Aseptic surgery
 Until the second half of the nineteenth  Koch*—Germ theory of disease
century, many scientists and philosophers  Neisser—Neisseria gonorrhoeae
believed that some forms of life could arise  Koch*—Pure cultures
spontaneously from nonliving matter; they  Finlay—Yellow fever
called this hypothetical process  Koch*—Mycobacterium
spontaneous generation. tuberculosis
 believed that toads, snakes, and mice  Hess—Agar (solid) media
could be born of moist soil; that flies could  Koch*—Vibrio cholerae
emerge from manure; and that maggots  Metchnikoff*—Phagocytosis
(which we now know are the larvae of flies)  Gram—Gram-staining procedure
could arise from decaying corpses.  Escherich—Escherichia coli
 Physician Francesco Redi set out in  Petri—Petri dish
1668 to demonstrate that maggots did not  Kitasato—Clostridium tetani
arise spontaneously.  von Bering*—Diphtheria antitoxin
 The case for spontaneous generation of  Ehrlich*—Theory of immunity
microorganisms seemed to be  Winogradsky—Sulfur cycle
strengthened in 1745, when John  Shiga—Shigella dysenteriae
Needham found that even after he heated
 Ehrlich*—Syphilis treatment
chicken broth and corn broth before
 Chagas—Trypanosoma cruzi
pouring them into covered flasks, the
 Rous*—Tumor-causing virus
cooled solutions were soon teeming with
microorganisms.  Pasteur found instead that
 Twenty years later, Lazzaro Spallanzani microorganisms called yeasts convert
the sugars to alcohol in the absence of
suggested that microorganisms from the air
air. This process, called fermentation
probably entered Needham’s solutions
after they were boiled.  Souring and spoilage are caused
by different microorganisms, called
The Theory of Biogenesis bacteria
  In the presence of air, bacteria  Pasteur used the term vaccine for
change the alcohol into vinegar (acetic cultures of avirulent microorganisms used
acid). for preventive inoculation.
 Pasteur’s solution to the spoilage  The Latin word vacca means cow
problem was to heat the beer and wine
just enough to kill most of the bacteria
that caused the spoilage. The process,
called pasteurization
THE SECOND GOLDEN AGE OF
The Germ Theory of Disease MICROBIOLOGY
 microorganisms might cause disease.  Treatment of disease by using chemical
This idea was known as the germ theory of substances is called chemotherapy.
disease.  The term also commonly refers to
 amateur microscopist Agostino Bassi chemical treatment of noninfectious
had proved that another silkworm disease diseases, such as cancer
was caused by a fungus.  Chemicals produced naturally by
 In the 1860s, Joseph Lister, an English bacteria and fungi that act against other
surgeon, applied the germ theory to medical microorganisms are called antibiotics.
procedures’  Chemotherapeutic agents prepared from
 the Hungarian physician Ignaz chemicals in the laboratory are called
Semmelweis had demonstrated that synthetic drugs
physicians, who at the time did not disinfect
their hands, routinely transmitted infections The First Synthetic Drugs
(puerperal, or childbirth, fever) from one
 Paul Ehrlich was the imaginative thinker
obstetrical patient to another
who fired the first shot in the chemotherapy
 Disinfectants were not used at the time,
revolution.
but Lister knew that phenol (carbolic acid)
 In 1910, after testing hundreds of
kills bacteria, so he began treating surgical
substances, he found a chemotherapeutic
wounds with a phenol solution.
agent called salvarsan, an arsenic derivative
 His findings proved that microorganisms
effective against syphilis.
cause surgical wound infections.
 In addition, sulfonamides (sulfa drugs)
 The first proof that bacteria actually
were synthesized at about the same time.
cause disease came from Robert Koch in
1876. A Fortunate Accident – Antibiotics
 Koch, a German physician, was
 The first antibiotic was discovered by
Pasteur’s rival in the race to discover the
accident.
cause of anthrax, a disease that was
 Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician
destroying cattle and sheep in Europe.
and bacteriologist, almost tossed out
 Koch discovered rod-shaped bacteria
some culture plates that had been
now known as Bacillus anthracis in the
contaminated by mold.
blood of cattle that had died of anthrax
 Fortunately, he noticed the curious
Vaccination pattern of growth on the plates—a clear
area where bacterial growth had been
 Often a treatment or preventive
inhibited encircled the mold
procedure is developed before scientists
 Fleming was looking at a mold that
know why it works.
inhibited growth of a bacterium.
 The smallpox vaccine is an example
 The mold became known as Penicillium
 Edward Jenner, a young British
chrysogenum and the mold’s active
physician, embarked on an experiment to inhibitor was called penicillin.
find a way to protect people from smallpox.
 The Second Golden Age of Microbiology
 The protection from disease provided by
began in the 1940s, when the enormous
vaccination (or by recovery from the disease usefulness of penicillin became
itself) is called immunity. apparent and the drug came into
 . He found that the bacterium that common use.
causes fowl cholera lost its ability to cause  Drug resistance results from genetic
disease (lost its virulence, or became changes in microbes that enable them to
avirulent) after it was grown in the laboratory tolerate a certain amount of an antibiotic
for long periods. that would normally inhibit them.
 Both cowpox and smallpox are caused  a microbe might produce enzymes that
by viruses. inactivate antibiotics, or a microbe might
undergo changes to its surface that
 prevent an antibiotic from attaching to it namibiensis lives in mud on the African
or entering it. coast.
 vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus  Thiomargarita is unusual because of its
aureus and Enterococcus faecalis has size and its ecological niche
alarmed health care professionals  The bacterium consumes hydrogen
because it indicates that some sulfide, which would be toxic to mud-
previously treatable bacterial infections dwelling animals
may soon be impossible to treat with  Mycology, the study of fungi, includes
antibiotics. medical, agricultural, and ecological
 Fleming, Chain, and Florey—Penicillin branches.
 Waksman—Streptomycin  Climatic and environmental changes
 H. Krebs—Chemical steps of the Krebs (severe drought) are thought to account for
cycle the tenfold increase in Coccidioides
 Enders, Weller, and Robbins— immitis infections in California.
Poliovirus cultured in cell cultures  Parasitology is the study of protozoa
Beadle and and parasitic worms.
 Tatum—Genetic control of biochemical  It has been speculated that the medical
reactions symbol, the rod of Asclepius, represents
 Medawar—Acquired immune tolerance the removal of parasitic guinea worms
 Sanger and Gilbert—Techniques for  Asclepius was a Greek physician who
sequencing DNA practiced about 1200 B.C.E. and was
 Jerne, Köhler, and Milstein—Technique deified as the god of medicine.
for producing monoclonal (single pure)
Immunology
antibodies
 Tonegawa—Genetics of antibody  Immunology is the study of immunity.
production  Vaccines are now available for
 Bishop and Varmus—Cancer-causing numerous diseases, including measles,
genes (oncogenes) rubella (German measles), mumps,
 Murray and Thomas—First successful chickenpox, pneumococcal pneumonia,
transplants using immunosuppressive tetanus, tuberculosis, influenza,
drugs whooping cough, polio, and hepatitis B.
 Fischer and E. Krebs—Enzymes that  A major advance in immunology
regulate cell growth (protein kinases) occurred in 1933, when Rebecca
 Roberts and Sharp—Genes can be Lancefield proposed that streptococci
present in separated segments of DNA be classified according to serotypes
 Mullis—Polymerase chain reactions that (variants within a species) based on
amplify (make multiple copies of) DNA certain components in the cell walls of
 Doherty and Zinkernagel—Cell- the bacteria.
mediated immunity  sore throat (strep throat), streptococcal
 Agre and MacKinnon—Water and ion toxic shock, and septicemia (blood
channels in plasma membranes poisoning).
 Marshall and Warren—Helicobacter  In 1960, interferons, substances
pylori as the cause of peptic ulcers generated by the body’s own immune
 Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier— system, were discovered.
Discovery of HIV  Interferons inhibit replication of viruses
 Ramakrishnan, Steitz, and Yonath—  Rebecca Lancefield (1895–1981), who
Detailed structure and function of discovered differences in the chemical
ribosomes composition of a polysaccharide in the
 Beutler, Hoffmann, and Steinman— cell walls of many pathogenic
Innate immunity; dendritic cells in streptococci
adaptive immunity Virology
 Tu—Treatment for malaria
 The study of viruses, virology, originated
Bacteriology, Mycology & Parasitology during the First Golden Age of
Microbiology.
 Bacteriology, the study of bacteria,
began with van Leeuwenhoek’s first  In 1892, Dmitri Iwanowski reported that
examination of tooth scrapings the organism that caused mosaic disease
of tobacco was so small that it passed
 In 1997, when Heide Schulz discovered
through filters fine enough to stop all
a bacterium large enough to be seen with
known bacteria
the unaided eye (0.2 mm wide). This
bacterium, named Thiomargarita
  In 1935, Wendell Stanley demonstrated Recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology
that the organism, called tobacco mosaic inserts recombinant DNA into bacteria (or
virus (TMV), was fundamentally different other microbes) to make large quantities of
from other microbes and so simple and a desired protein.
homogeneous that it could be crystallized
like a chemical compound. MICROBES & HUMAN WELFARE
 Stanley’s work facilitated the study of  The vast majority of microbes benefit
viral structure and chemistry humans, other animals, and plants in
many ways
 microbes produce methane and ethanol
Molecular Genetics that can be used as alternative fuels to
 Microbial genetics studies the generate electricity and power vehicles.
mechanisms by which microorganisms  Biotechnology companies are using
inherit traits, and molecular biology looks at bacterial enzymes to break down plant
how genetic information is carried in cellulose so that yeast can metabolize
molecules of DNA. the resulting simple sugars and produce
 In the 1940s, George W. Beadle and ethanol.
Edward L. Tatum demonstrated the RECYCLING VITAL ELEMENTS
relationship between genes and enzymes;
 DNA was established as the hereditary  Martinus Beijerinck and Sergei
material by Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, Winogradsky were the first to show how
and Maclyn McCarty. bacteria help recycle vital elements
 Joshua Lederberg and Edward L. between the soil and the atmosphere.
Tatum discovered that genetic material  Microbial ecology, the study of the
could be transferred from one bacterium to relationship between microorganisms and
another by a process called conjugation. their environment, originated with the
 Then in the 1950s, James Watson and work of these scientists.
Francis Crick proposed a model for the  Today, microbial ecology has branched
structure and replication of DNA. out and includes the study of how
 In the early 1960s, François Jacob and microbial populations interact with plants
Jacques Monod discovered messenger and animals in various environments
RNA (ribonucleic acid), a chemical involved  The chemical elements carbon,
in protein synthesis nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus
 Unicellular organisms, primarily bacteria, are essential for life and abundant, but
have several advantages for genetic and not necessarily in forms that organisms
biochemical research. can use
 Bacteria are less complex than plants  Microorganisms, especially bacteria and
and animals, and the life cycles of many fungi, return carbon dioxide to the
bacteria last less than an hour atmosphere when they decompose
organic wastes and dead plants and
THE THIRD GOLDEN AGE OF animals.
MICROBIOLOGY  Algae, cyanobacteria, and higher plants
use the carbon dioxide during
 Stephen Jay Gould said we now live in
photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates
the “age of bacteria.”
for animals, fungi, and bacteria.
 through genomics, the study of all of an
 Nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere
organism’s genes, scientists are able to
but in that form is not usable by plants
classify bacteria and fungi according to
and animals.
their genetic relationships with other
 Only bacteria can naturally convert
bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.
atmospheric nitrogen to a form available
 Microorganisms can now be genetically
to plants and animals
modified to manufacture large amounts of
human hormones and other urgently SEWAGE TREATMENT: USING
needed medical substances. MICROBES TO RECYCLE WATER
 This development had its origins in the
late 1960s, when Paul Berg showed that  One major pollutant is sewage, which
fragments of human or animal DNA consists of human excrement,
(genes) that code for important proteins wastewater, industrial wastes, and
can be attached to bacterial DNA. surface runoff.
 The resulting hybrid was the first  Sewage is about 99.9% water, with a
example of recombinant DNA. few hundredths of 1% suspended solids
  Sewage treatment plants remove the  applications of microbiology are called
undesirable materials and harmful biotechnology
microorganisms.  the advent of recombinant DNA
 Large solids such as paper, wood, technology to expand the potential of
glass, gravel, and plastic are removed bacteria, viruses, and yeast and other fungi
from sewage; left behind are liquid and as miniature biochemical factories.
organic materials that bacteria convert  Cultured plant and animal cells, as well
into such by-products as carbon dioxide, as intact plants and animals, are also used
nitrates, phosphates, sulfates, ammonia, as recombinant cells and organisms
hydrogen sulfide, and methane  Recombinant DNA techniques have
been used thus far to produce a number of
BIOREMEDIATION: USING natural proteins, vaccines, and enzymes.
MICROBES TO CLEAN UP  A very exciting and important outcome
POLLUTANTS of recombinant DNA techniques is gene
therapy—inserting a missing gene or
 In 1988, scientists began using
replacing a defective one in human cells.
microbes to clean up pollutants and toxic
wastes produced by various industrial  This technique uses a harmless virus to
processes. carry the missing or new gene into certain
host cells, where the gene is picked up and
 some bacteria can actually use
inserted into the appropriate chromosome.
pollutants as energy sources;
 Since 1990, gene therapy has been
 others produce enzymes that break
used to treat patients with adenosine
down toxins into less harmful substances.
deaminase (ADA) deficiency, a cause of
 By using bacteria in these ways— a
severe combined immunodeficiency
process known as bioremediation—toxins
disease (SCID), in which cells of the
can be removed from underground wells,
immune system are inactive or missing;
chemical spills, toxic waste sites, and oil
 Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, a
spills
muscle-destroying disease;
 In addition, bacterial enzymes are used
 cystic fibrosis, a disease of the secreting
in drain cleaners to remove clogs without
portions of the respiratory passages,
adding harmful chemicals to the
pancreas, salivary glands, and sweat
environment
glands; and
 Among the most commonly used
 LDL-receptor deficiency, a condition in
microbes are certain species of bacteria of
which low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
the genera Pseudomonas and Bacillus.
receptors are defective and LDL cannot
Bacillus enzymes are also used in
enter cells.
household detergents to remove spots
from clothing  The LDL remains in the blood in high
concentrations and leads to fatty plaque
INSECT PEST CONTROL BY formation in blood vessels, increasing the
MICROORGANIMS risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart
disease.
 Insect pest control is therefore important  Other genetic diseases may also be
for both agriculture and the prevention of treatable by gene therapy in the future,
human disease. including hemophilia, an inability of the
 The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis has blood to clot normally; diabetes, elevated
been used extensively in the United States blood sugar levels; and sickle cell disease,
to control such pests as alfalfa caterpillars, caused by an abnormal kind of
bollworms, corn borers, cabbageworms, hemoglobin.
tobacco budworms, and fruit tree leaf  recombinant DNA techniques have also
rollers been applied to agriculture
 The bacteria produce protein crystals  genetically altered strains of bacteria
that are toxic to the digestive systems of have been developed to protect fruit
the insects. The toxin gene also has been against frost damage, and bacteria are
inserted into some plants to make them being modified to control insects that
insect resistant. damage crops
 many chemical insecticides, such as  Recombinant DNA has also been used
DDT, remain in the soil as toxic pollutants to improve the appearance, flavor, and
and are eventually incorporated into the shelf life of fruits and vegetables.
food chain.  Potential agricultural uses of
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND recombinant DNA include drought
resistance, resistance to insects and
RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY
 microbial diseases, and increased  Some of the factors that have
temperature tolerance in crops. contributed to the development of EIDs are
evolutionary changes in existing organisms
MICROBES & HUMAN DISEASE and the spread of known diseases to new
geographic regions or populations by
 Whether our bodies overcome the
modern transportation.
offensive tactics of a particular microbe
depends on our resistance—the ability to  Some EIDs are the result of increased
ward off diseases human exposure to new, unusual infectious
agents in areas that are undergoing ecologic
 important resistance is provided by the
changes such as deforestation and
barrier of the skin, mucous membranes,
construction
cilia, stomach acid, and anti-microbial
chemicals such as interferons.  EIDs are due to changes in the
pathogen’s ecology.
 Microbes can be destroyed by white
blood cells, by the inflammatory response,  For example, Powassan virus (POWV)
by fever, and by specific responses of our was transmitted by ticks that don’t usually
immune system. bite humans.
 However, the virus recently became
 Sometimes, when our natural defenses established in the same deer ticks that
are not strong enough to overcome an transmit Lyme disease.
invader, they have to be supplemented by Zika Virus Disease
antibiotics or other drugs.
 In 2015, the world became aware of
BIOFILMS Zika virus disease.
 Zika virus is spread by the bite of an
 microorganisms may exist as single
infected Aedes mosquito; sexual
cells that float or swim independently in a
transmission has also occurred.
liquid, or they may attach to each other
and/or some usually solid surface.  Zika is a mild disease usually presenting
with fever, rash, and joint pain.
 This latter mode of behavior is called a
biofilm, a complex aggregation of microbes.  However, Zika infection during
The slime covering a rock in a lake is a pregnancy can cause severe birth defects
biofilm. in a fetus.
 They protect your mucous membranes  The virus was discovered in 1947 in the
from harmful microbes, and biofilms in lakes Zika Forest of Uganda, but until 2007, only
are an important food for aquatic animals. 14 cases of Zika virus disease were known
 They can clog water pipes, and on  Until mid-2016, they were all acquired
medical implants such as joint prostheses during travel to endemic areas (except one
and catheters they can cause such laboratory acquired infection
infections as endocarditis (inflammation of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
the heart).
 Bacteria in biofilms are often resistant to  Since 2014, there have been 1800
antibiotics because the biofilm offers a confirmed human cases and 630 deaths
protective barrier caused by a new virus called Middle East
respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-
INFECTIOUS DISEASES CoV).
 The virus belongs to the same family
 An infectious disease is a disease in
that causes illnesses from the common
which pathogens invade a susceptible host,
cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome
such as a human or an animal.
(SARS).
 In the process, the pathogen carries out
 Because the first reported cases were
at least part of its life cycle inside the host,
linked to the Middle East, this latest
and disease frequently results.
emerging infectious disease is called
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES Middle East respiratory syndrome
(MERS).
 a number of new diseases—emerging
infectious diseases (EIDs)—have cropped Influenza
up in recent years.  H1N1 influenza (flu), also known as
 These are diseases that are new or swine flu, is a type of influenza caused by a
changing and are increasing or have the new virus called influenza H1N1.
potential to increase in incidence in the near  H1N1 was first detected in the United
future. States in 2009, and that same year WHO
declared H1N1 flu to be a pandemic
 disease (a disease that affects large antibiotics isoniazid and rifampicin, the
numbers of individuals in a short period of most effective drugs against tuberculosis.
time and occurs worldwide).  Routine housecleaning and
 Avian influenza A (H5N1), or bird flu, handwashing are necessary, but standard
caught the attention of the public in 2003, soaps and detergents (without added
when it killed millions of poultry and 24 antibacterial) are fine for these task
people in southeast Asia.  quickly evaporating chemicals, such as
 Avian influenza viruses occur in birds chlorine bleach, alcohol, ammonia, and
worldwide. hydrogen peroxide, remove potentially
 In 2013, a different avian influenza, pathogenic bacteria but do not leave
H7N9, sickened 131 people in China. residues that encourage the growth of
 Influenza A viruses are found in many resistant bacteria.
different animals, including ducks,  In 2004, emergence of a new epidemic
chickens, pigs, whales, horses, and seals strain of Clostridium difficile was reported.
 influenza A viruses normally seen in one  The epidemic strain produces more
species sometimes can cross over and toxins than others and is more resistant to
cause illness in another species, and all antibiotics
subtypes of influenza A virus can infect
Ebola Virus Disease
pigs.
 However, because influenza viruses  First detected in 1995, Ebola virus
have the potential to change and gain the disease causes fever, hemorrhaging, and
ability to spread easily between people, blood clotting in vessels.
monitoring for human infection and person  In the first outbreak, 315 people in the
to-person transmission is important Democratic Republic of Congo contracted
the disease, and over 75% of them died.
Antibiotic Resistant Infections
The epidemic was controlled through use
 Years of overuse and misuse of these of protective equipment and educational
drugs have created environments in which measures in the community.
antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive.  Close personal contact with infectious
 Random mutations in bacterial genes blood or other body fluids or tissue (see
can make a bacterium resistant to an Chapter 23) leads to human-to-human
antibiotic. transmission.
 Staphylococcus aureus causes a wide
Marburg Virus
range of human infections from pimples
and boils to pneumonia, food poisoning,  Recorded cases of Marburg virus,
and surgical wound infections, and it is a another hemorrhagic fever virus, are rare.
significant cause of hospital-associated  The first cases were laboratory workers
infections. in Europe who handled African green
 After penicillin’s initial success in monkeys from Uganda
treating S. aureus infection, penicillin-  African fruit bats are the natural
resistant S. aureus became a major threat reservoir for the Marburg virus, and
in hospitals in the 1950s, requiring the use microbiologists suspect that bats are also
of methicillin. the reservoir for Ebola
 In the 1980s, methicillin-resistant S.  Ebolavirus and Influenza virus are
aureus, called MRSA, emerged and examples of viruses that may be changing
became endemic in many hospitals, their abilities to infect different host
leading to increasing use of vancomycin. species.
 In the late 1990s, S. aureus infections  Infectious diseases may reemerge
that were less sensitive to vancomycin because of antibiotic resistance and
(vancomycin- intermediate S. aureus, or through the use of microorganisms as
VISA) were reported. weapons
 In 2002, the first infection caused by
vancomycin resistant S. aureus (VRSA) in
a patient in the United States was reported.
 in Asia and eastern Europe, about 35%
of all individuals with tuberculosis (TB) had
the multidrug-resistant form of the disease
(MDR-TB).
 Multidrug-resistant TB is caused by
bacteria that are resistant to at least the