Microbiology an Introduction

Thirteenth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 1
The Microbial World and You

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Before we start….
Let us discuss a bit around these questions:

• What do you know about Microbiology?

• What do you know about Microorganisms?
• Can you list some examples on Microorganisms?
• Do all microorganisms cause disease?
• Are microorganisms beneficial?
• Describe some of the destructive and beneficial actions of
microbes.

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The First Observations
• 1665: Robert Hooke reported that living things are
composed of little boxes, or “cells”
– Marked the beginning of cell theory: All living
things are composed of cells
• The first microbes were observed from 1623 to 1673
by Anton van Leeuwenhoek
– “Animalcules” viewed through magnifying lenses

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Figure 1.3b Anton van Leeuwenhoek's
Microscopic Observations

Lens

Location of
specimen on pin

Specimen-
positioning screw
Focusing control

Stage-
positioning screw

Bacteria in tartar in Leeuwenhoek's

Microscope replica

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The Debate over Spontaneous
Generation
• Spontaneous generation: the hypothesis that life
arises from nonliving matter; a “vital force” is
necessary for life
• Biogenesis: the hypothesis that living cells arise only
from preexisting living cells

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The Theory of Biogenesis
• 1858: Rudolf Virchow said cells arise from preexisting
cells

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The Theory of 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
immediately sealed

Spontaneous generation or biogenesis?

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The Golden Age of Microbiology

• 1857–1914
• Beginning with Pasteur's work, discoveries included
the relationship between microbes and disease,
immunity, and antimicrobial drugs

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The Golden Age of Microbiology

• Pasteur showed that microbes are responsible for

fermentation
• Fermentation is the microbial conversion of sugar to
alcohol in the absence of air
• Microbial growth is also responsible for spoilage of
food and beverages
• Bacteria that use air spoil wine by turning it to vinegar
(acetic acid)

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The Germ Theory of Disease (2 of 3)
• 1860s: Applying Pasteur's work showing that
microbes are in the air, can spoil food, and cause
animal diseases, Joseph Lister used a chemical
antiseptic (phenol) to prevent surgical wound
infections

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The Germ Theory of Disease
• 1876: Robert Koch discovered that a bacterium
causes anthrax and provided the experimental steps,
Koch's postulates, to demonstrate that a specific
microbe causes a specific disease

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Vaccination
• 1796: Edward Jenner inoculated a person with
cowpox virus, who was then immune to smallpox
• Vaccination is derived from the Latin word vacca,
meaning cow
• The protection is called immunity

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The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy:
Dreams of a “Magic Bullet”
• Treatment of disease with chemicals is called
chemotherapy
• Chemotherapeutic agents used to treat infectious
disease can be synthetic drugs or antibiotics
• Antibiotics are chemicals produced by bacteria and
fungi that inhibit or kill other microbes

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The First Synthetic Drugs
• Quinine from tree bark was long used to treat malaria
• Paul Ehrlich speculated about a “magic bullet” that
could destroy a pathogen without harming the host
– 1910: Ehrlich developed a synthetic arsenic drug,
salvarsan, to treat syphilis
• 1930s: Sulfonamides were synthesized

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A Fortunate Accident—Antibiotics
• 1928: Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic
(by accident)
• Fleming observed that Penicillium fungus made an
antibiotic, penicillin, that killed S. aureus
• 1940s: Penicillin was tested clinically and mass-
produced

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Figure 1.6 The Discovery of Penicillin

Normal
bacterial
colony

Area of
inhibited
bacterial
growth

Penicillium
colony

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Microbes in Our Lives
• Microorganisms are organisms that are too small to
be seen with the unaided eye
• Microbes include bacteria, fungi, protozoa,
microscopic algae, and viruses

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Microbes in Our Lives
• A few are pathogenic (disease-producing) (examples
only 3% of bacteria are pathogenic)
• Decompose organic waste
• Generate oxygen by photosynthesis
• Produce chemical products such as ethanol, acetone,
and vitamins
• Produce fermented foods such as vinegar, cheese,
and bread
• Produce products used in manufacturing (e.g.,
cellulose) and disease treatment (e.g., insulin)
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Microbes in Our Live
• Knowledge of microorganisms allows humans to
– Prevent food spoilage
– Prevent disease
– Understand causes and transmission of disease to
prevent epidemics

Can you discuss this?

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Naming and Classifying
Microorganisms
• Carolus Linnaeus established the system of scientific
nomenclature in 1735
• Each organism has two names: the genus and the
specific epithet

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Nomenclature
• Scientific names
– Are italicized or underlined
▪The genus is capitalized; the specific epithet is
lowercase
– Are “Latinized” and used worldwide
– May be descriptive or honor a scientist

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Nomenclature
• Escherichia coli (E. coli)
– Honors the discoverer, Theodor Escherich
– Describes the bacterium's habitat—the large
intestine, or colon
• Staphylococcus aureus
– Describes the clustered (staphylo-) spherical
(coccus) cells
– Describes the gold-colored (aureus) colonies

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Nomenclature
• After the first use, scientific names may be
abbreviated with the first letter of the genus and the
specific epithet:
– Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus
are found in the human body
– E. coli is found in the large intestine, and S.
aureus is on skin

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Types of Microorganisms
• Bacteria
• Archaea
• Fungi
• Protozoa
• Algae
• Viruses and other acellular entities (acellular
infectious agents)
• Multicellular Animal Parasites

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Figure 1.2 Types of Microorganisms

Bacteria Sporangia Nerve cell

Food ZikV
particle

Pseudopod

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Bacteria
• Prokaryotes
– “Prenucleus”
• Single-celled
• Peptidoglycan cell walls
• Divide via binary fission
• Derive nutrition from organic or inorganic chemicals or
photosynthesis
• May “swim” by using moving appendages called flagella

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Figure 1.2a Types of Microorganisms

Bacteria

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Archaea
• Are prokaryotes
• Lack peptidoglycan cell walls
– May lack cell wall entirely
• Often live in extreme environments
• Include:
– Methanogens
– Extreme halophiles
– Extreme thermophiles
• Generally not known to cause disease in humans

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Fungi
• Eukaryotes
– Distinct nucleus surrounding DNA genetic material
• Chitin cell walls
• Absorb organic chemicals for energy
• Yeasts are unicellular
• Molds and mushrooms are multicellular
– Molds consist of masses of mycelia, which are
composed of filaments called hyphae

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Figure 1.2b Types of Microorganisms

Sporangia

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Protozoa
• Eukaryotes
• Absorb or ingest organic chemicals
• May be motile via pseudopods, cilia, or flagella
• Free-living or parasitic (derive nutrients from a living
host)
– Some are photosynthetic
• Reproduce sexually or asexually

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Figure 1.2c Types of Microorganisms

Food
particle

Pseudopod

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Algae
• Eukaryotes
• Cellulose cell walls
• Found in freshwater, saltwater, and soil
• Use photosynthesis for energy
– Produces oxygen and carbohydrates
• Sexual and asexual reproduction possible

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Figure 1.2d Types of Microorganisms

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Viruses
• Acellular
• Consist of DNA or RNA core
• Core is surrounded by a protein coat
– Coat may be enclosed in a lipid envelope
• Are replicated only when they are in a living host cell
– Inert outside living hosts

other acellular entities (acellular

infectious agents) viroids,
virusoids (satalleties) and prions
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Figure 1.2e Types of Microorganisms

Nerve cell ZikV

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Multicellular Animal Parasites
• Eukaryotes
• Multicellular animals
• Not strictly microorganisms
• Parasitic flatworms and roundworms are called
helminths
– Some microscopic stages in their life cycles (ex:
ova)

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 Which groups of microbes are prokaryotes? Which
are eukaryotes?

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Bacteriology, Mycology, and
Parasitology
• Bacteriology is the study of bacteria
• Mycology is the study of fungi
• Parasitology is the study of protozoa and parasitic
worms

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Virology
• Virology is the study of viruses
• Dmitri Iwanowski in 1892 and Wendell Stanley in 1935
discovered the cause of mosaic disease of tobacco to
be a virus
• Electron microscopes have made it possible to study
the structure of viruses in detail

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Microbes and Human Welfare
Learning Objectives
1-15 List at least four beneficial activities of
microorganisms.
1-16 Name two examples of biotechnology that use
recombinant DNA technology and two examples that do
not.

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Recycling Vital Elements
• Microbial ecology is the study of the relationship
between microorganisms and their environment
• Bacteria convert carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and
phosphorus into forms used by plants and animals

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Sewage Treatment: Using Microbes
to Recycle Water
• Sewage is 99.9% water, with a few hundredths of 1%
suspended solids
• Treatment of sewage removes undesirable
components so water can be released or reused
– Large solids are removed physically
– Microbes are used to convert left over liquid and
organic materials into by-products such as carbon
dioxide

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Bioremediation: Using Microbes to
Clean Up Pollutants
• Bacteria degrade organic matter in sewage
• Bacteria degrade or detoxify pollutants such as oil and
mercury

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Insect Pest Control by
Microorganisms
• Microbes that are pathogenic to insects are
alternatives to chemical pesticides
– Prevent insect damage to agricultural crops and
disease transmission
• Bacillus thuringiensis infections are fatal in many
insects but harmless to animals and plants
– The bacteria produce protein crystals toxic to
insects
– The toxin gene has been inserted into some plants
to confer insect resistance
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Normal Microbiota
• Microbes normally present in and on the human body
are called normal microbiota
– Normal microbiota prevent growth of pathogens
– Normal microbiota produce growth factors such as
vitamins B and K
• Resistance is the ability of the body to ward off
disease
• Resistance factors include skin, stomach acid, and
antimicrobial chemicals

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Biofilms
• Microbes attach to solid surfaces and grow into
masses
• They will grow on rocks, pipes, teeth, and medical
implants
• Biofilms can cause infections and are often resistant
to antibiotics

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Figure 1.10 Biofilm on a Piece of
Plastic

Serratia liquefaciens

Capsular material

Plastic

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Emerging Infectious Diseases
• When a pathogen invades a host and overcomes the
host's resistance, disease results
• Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs): new diseases
and diseases increasing in incidence

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Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Zika virus disease
– Virus discovered in 1947 in Uganda
– Human epidemics in Micronesia 2007, then in
French Polynesia and Brazil in 2013–2015
– Spread by bite of an infected Aedes mosquito; also
transmitted by sexual contact
– Infection during pregnancy can result in severe
birth defects

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Emerging Infectious Diseases (3 of 7)
• Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
– Caused by Middle East respiratory syndrome
coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
– Common to SARS
▪Severe acute respiratory syndrome
– 1,800 confirmed human cases and 630 deaths
since 2014

– COVID 19 SARS-2

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Emerging Infectious Diseases (4 of 7)
• H1N1 influenza
– Also known as swine flu
– First detected in the United States in 2009
▪ Declared a pandemic, or worldwide large-scale
outbreak, by WHO in 2009
• Avian influenza A (H5N1)
– Influenza A virus
– Primarily in waterfowl and poultry
– Sustained human-to-human transmission has not yet
occurred

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Figure 13.3b Morphology of an
Enveloped Helical Virus
Spikes

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Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA)
– 1950s: Penicillin resistance developed
– 1980s: Methicillin resistance
– 1990s: MRSA resistance to vancomycin reported
▪VISA: vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus
▪VRSA: vancomycin-resistant S. aureus

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Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF)
– Ebola virus
– Causes fever, hemorrhaging, and blood clotting
– Transmitted via contact with infected blood or body
fluids
– First identified near Ebola River, Congo
– 2014 outbreak in Guinea; over 28,000 infected
over 2 years, with 1/3 of those infected dead

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Figure 23.21 Ebola Hemorrhagic Virus

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Emerging Infectious Diseases (7 of 7)
• Marburg virus
– Causes hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola
– First cases in laboratory workers in Europe who
handled African green monkeys from Uganda
– 13 outbreaks identified in Africa between 1975 and
2016
▪Involving 1 to 252 people, with 57% mortality
– African fruit bats are the natural reservoir for the
virus (and also suspected of being the reservoir for
Ebola virus)

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