Microbes are organisms that are too small to be seen with the unaided

eye.
Current estimates suggest there could be at least 1 billion different species of
microbe on Earth, possibly more. Microbial diversity is truly staggering, yet all
these microbes can be grouped into five major types: Viruses, Bacteria,
Archaea, Fungi, and Protists

Viruses
Viruses are the smallest of all the microbes. Their genome is made of either
DNA or RNA (not both), and this is packaged inside a protein shell called
a capsid. They are not made of cells (acellular), cannot make their own
proteins and don’t grow. Instead, they must infect a host cell and hijack its
machinery to assemble new viruses.

Bacteria
Bacterial cells are mostly circular (coccus, plural cocci) or rod-shaped
(bacillus, plural bacilli), but a few have spiral or corkscrew shapes. Another
defining features is the use of peptidoglycan as a component of their cell
walls. You almost certainly have millions of Escherichia coli bacteria (Figure 4)
in your lower intestine. Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but a few can
cause serious food poisoning that can be fatal.

Archaea
Archaea look similar in size and structure to bacteria but come in a wider
variety of cell shapes. Many archaea live in hostile environments, some
interact with other organisms, but no archaea are known to cause disease.
Unlike bacteria, they do not have peptidoglycan in their cell walls. Many
archaea live in extreme environments, including Haloquadratum (Figure 5)
which has ultra-thin (0.25 u μμm), square-shaped cells. It is found all over the
world in salt lakes that are up to ten times saltier than sea water due to
evaporation; so salty in fact, it would kill you if you were to drink it! 
MICROBES EFFECTS ON HUMAN HEALTH
A few harmful microbes, for example less than 1% of bacteria, can invade our body (the
host) and make us ill. Microbes cause infectious diseases such as flu and measles.

There is also strong evidence that microbes may contribute to many non–infectious chronic
diseases such as some forms of cancer and coronary heart disease. Different diseases are
caused by different types of micro-organisms. Microbes that cause disease are called
pathogens
Infectious disease Microbe that causes the diseaseType of microbe

Cold Rhinovirus Virus

Chickenpox Varicella zoster Virus

German measles Rubella Virus

Whooping cough Bordatella pertussis Bacterium

Bubonic plague Yersinia pestis Bacterium

TB (Tuberculosis) Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacterium

Malaria Plasmodium falciparum Protozoan

Ringworm Trichophyton rubrum Fungus

Athletes’ foot Trichophyton mentagrophytes

It is important to remember that:

 A pathogen is a micro-organism that has the potential to cause disease.

 An infection is the invasion and multiplication of pathogenic microbes in an individual
or population.
 Disease is when the infection causes damage to the individual’s vital functions or
systems.
 An infection does not always result in disease!
To cause an infection, microbes must enter our bodies. The site at which they enter is
known as the portal of entry.

Microbes can enter the body through the four sites listed below:

 Respiratory tract (mouth and nose) e.g. influenza virus which causes the flu.
 Gastrointestinal tract (mouth oral cavity) e.g. Vibrio cholerae which causes cholera.
 Urogenital tract e.g. Escherichia coli which causes cystitis.
 Breaks in the skin surface e.g. Clostridium tetani which causes tetanus.
To make us ill microbes have to:

 reach their target site in the body;

 attach to the target site they are trying to infect so that they are not dislodged;
 multiply rapidly;
 obtain their nutrients from the host;
 avoid and survive attack by the host’s immune system.

Methods to control microbial growth

The control of microbial growth is necessary in many practical situations, and significant advances in agriculture, medicine, and food
science have been made through study of this area of microbiology.

"Control of microbial growth", as used here, means to inhibit or prevent growth of microorganisms. This control is affected in two basic
ways: (1) by killing microorganisms or (2) by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Control of growth usually involves the use of
physical or chemical agents which either kill or prevent the growth of microorganisms. Agents which kill cells are called cidal agents;
agents which inhibit the growth of cells (without killing them) are referred to as static agents. Thus, the term bactericidal refers to
killing bacteria, and bacteriostatic refers to inhibiting the growth of bacterial cells. A bactericide kills bacteria, a fungicide kills fungi,
and so on.

In microbiology, sterilization refers to the complete destruction or elimination of all viable

organisms in or on a substance being sterilized. There are no degrees of sterilization: an object or
substance is either sterile or not. Sterilization procedures involve the use of heat, radiation or
chemicals, or physical removal of cells.

Methods of Sterilization

Heat: most important and widely used. For sterilization one must consider the type of heat, and most importantly, the time of
application and temperature to ensure destruction of all microorganisms. Endospores of bacteria are considered the most thermoduric
of all cells so their destruction guarantees sterility.

Incineration: burns organisms and physically destroys them. Used for needles, inoculating wires, glassware, etc. and objects not
destroyed in the incineration process.

Boiling: 100o for 30 minutes. Kills everything except some endospores. To kill endospores, and therefore sterilize a solution, very long
(>6 hours) boiling, or intermittent boiling is required (See Table 1 below).

Autoclaving (steam under pressure or pressure cooker)

Autoclaving is the most effective and most efficient means of sterilization. All autoclaves
operate on a time/temperature relationship. These two variables are extremely important. Higher
temperatures ensure more rapid killing. The usual standard temperature/pressure employed is
121ºC/15 psi for 15 minutes. Longer times are needed for larger loads, large volumes of liquid,
and more dense materials. Autoclaving is ideal for sterilizing biohazardous waste, surgical
dressings, glassware, many types of microbiologic media, liquids, and many other things.
However, certain items, such as plastics and certain medical instruments (e.g. fiber-optic
endoscopes), cannot withstand autoclaving and should be sterilized with chemical or gas
sterilants. When proper conditions and time are employed, no living organisms will survive a trip
through an autoclave.

What Is Flora?
In any given city there are those who live there permanently and those that are just
passing through. It's interesting to note that on the human body, the same basic concept
occurs with respect to flora, the collection of microorganisms inhabiting a person. There
are two types of flora, normal flora and transient flora. Let's distinguish between the two
and showcase some examples of each.
Normal Flora
Normal (resident) flora are microorganisms that are always present on or in a person
and usually do not cause any disease. These are like the permanent residents of a city;
they're not just passing through! Depending on what part of the body we're talking
about, the normal flora can vary. For instance, on the skin, normal flora is made up of
bacteria such as staphylococci. In the mouth, bacteria called streptococci can be found.
Just like the normal residents of a city like to keep their city in order, resident flora
typically do not cause problems to the person. However, just like some people take
advantage of a city and its residents when it's weak by committing crimes, some
resident flora are potential opportunistic pathogens. What that big term means is that
these microorganisms lay low and cause no trouble when the person is healthy.
However, as soon as they sense the person is sick with another serious problem, they
strike to cause a disease of their own.

Transient Flora
While cities have permanent residents, they also have visitors. This is like transient
flora, episodic microorganisms found on or in a person. Some of these guys cause no
trouble, like tourists passing through a city, while others are most definitely trouble, like
terrorists coming into a city to wreak havoc.
Let me give you some concrete examples.
Transient microorgamism, like the yeast , candida can cause vaginitis. While norovirus is a contagious
virus that can upset stomach