CHAPTER 1

Scope of Microbiology
Different organisms that comprise the
microbial world

 PROKARYOTES
EUKARYOTES
 Prokaryotes –are bacteria (simple organisms
having no nucleus or organelles).

 Eukaryotes- are fungi, protozoa and unicellular

algae (more complex organisms
whose cells have a nucleus and
organelles).

Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes – viruses ( because of

their simplicity and
unique characteristics).
 Five Kingdom Classification
1. Monera- includes Prokaryotes, such as bacteria and
cyanobacteria.
2. Protista- includes protozoa, unicellular algae, and slime
molds, all of which are eukaryotes and single-
celled.
3. Fungi- includes the molds, mushrooms and yeasts
(organisms that are eukaryotes that absorb single
nutrients from the soil).
4. Plantae- includes plants.

5. Animalia- includes animals.

 The Development of Microbiology
• Microscope was available during the mid-1600s, and an English scientist
named Robert Hooke made key observations (Barbaree, 1993).

• In the 1670s and the decades thereafter, a Dutch merchant named

Anton van Leeuwenhoek made careful observations of microscopic
organism, which he called animalcules.

• Until his death in 1723, van Leeuwenhoek revealed the microscopic

world to scientist of the day and is regarded as one of the first to
provide accurate description of protozoa, fungi, and bacteria (
Wachsmuth, Blake, & Olisvik, 1994).
Germ Theory
• Louis Pasteur performed numerous experiments in the middle
and late 1800s to discover that bacteria are the cause why wine
and dairy products became sour.
• He emphasized the importance of microorganisms in everyday
life and forwarded the nation that if bacteria could make the
wine “sick”, then perhaps they could cause human illness.
Koch’s Postulates
• German scientist Robert Koch provided the proof by cultivating
anthrax bacteria apart from any other type of organism.

Golden Age of Microbiology

• 1800s and the first decade of the 1900s saw great strides in the
further development of the germ theory of disease as enunciated by
Pasteur and proved by Koch.
• different disease are modified
• many of the etiologic agents of microbial disease were discovered
that period.
 MICROORGANISMS

Microorganisms-are a collection of
organisms that share
the characteristics of
being visible only with
a microscope.
 Major groups of Microorganisms
 Bacteria- relatively simple, prokaryotic
organisms whose cells lack a nucleus or clear
membrane.
- may appear as rods (bacilli) spheres
(cocci), or spirals (spirilla or spirochetes).
- reproduce by bianry fimission, have unique
constituents in their cell walls, and exist in most
environments on earth.
 Viruses – are ultramicroscopic bits of genetic
material (DNA or RNA) enclosed in a
protein shell and sometimes, a membranous
envelope.
- have no metabolism, it is difficult to use drugs to
interfere with there structures or activities.
- multiply in living things and use the chemical
machinery of the cells for their own purpose.
 Protozoa- are eukaryotic, unicellular organisms.
- some protozoa used flagella, other use cilia, and others use
pseudopodia.
- exist in an infinite variety of shapes because they have no
cell walls.
 Fungi - are eukaryotic microorganisms that include multicellular
molds and unicellular (single-celled) yeasts.
- prefer acidic environments, and most live at room temperature
under oxygen-rich conditions.
- the common mushrooms is a fungus.
 Algae - implies a variety of plantlike organisms.
- most algae capture sunlight and transform it to
the chemical energy of carbohydrates in the
process of photosynthesis.
 Divisions of Microbiology
1. BACTERIOLOG - the study of bacteria.

2. VIROLOGY – study of viruses.

3. MYCOLOGY – study of fungi.

4. PHYCOLOGY – study of algae.

5. PROTOZOOLOGY – study of protozoa.

 Significance and Practical Applications of
Microbiology
 Human Health
 Agriculture
1. Soil fertility- microbes are being exploited in two important
ways—bio-fertilizers, and creating new nitrogen-fixing organisms.

2. Nitrogen-fixers- through recombinant DNA technology efforts

have been made to introduce nitrogen-fixing genes (nif genes) into
wheat, corn and rice, among others.
3. Biopesticides- several microbes (viruses bacteria, and fungi)
are being developed as suitable biopesticides
for management of insect and nematodal pests.

4. Bionematicides- some fungi have good potential of their

use as bionematicides to control nematodal
pests of vegetables, fruit and cereal crops.
5. Bioweedicides- several fungi have been found very useful
in the control of troublesome weeds of crop
fields.
 Industrial Application
Microorganisms are used for commercial
production of alcohols, acids, fermented foods,
vitamins, medicines, and enzymes, among others.

 Environmental Conservation and Protection

1. Bioremediation- inexpensive and increasingly effective way of
cleaning up pollution such as those environments contaminated
with crude oil, polychlorinated biphenyls, and many other industrial
wastes.
2. Treatment and recycling of large-volume sewage and waste-water in
metropolitan cities.
3. Valuable source of alternative energy from methane-producing
bacteria.

4. Necessary for the fermentation of biomass into biofuels.

5. Environmental monitoring and biomonitoring-environmental

pollutants can be detected by use of appropriate strains of microbes as
biosensors.

6. Replenishment of the world’s oxygen supply and control of global

warming through the removal of greenhouse gases by cyanobacteria.
Biotechnology Applications

1. Human hormone insulin

2. Human growth factor
3. Antiviral substance interferon
4. Numerous blood-clotting factors and clot-
dissolving enzymes
5. Vaccines
Growth of Molecular Biology

Advances in molecular biology where

complete genome sequencing of any
organism can be determined and
manipulating that DNA in useful ways
can be made possible.
Evolution of
Microbiology
Invention of Microbiology

 Robert Hooke – In 1664, he devised a compound

microscope and used it to observe fleas,
sponges, bird feathers, plants and mold,
among other items.
 Anton van Leeuwenhoek – developed a microscope that,
although considered crude by
modern standard, was able to
magnify samples greater that 200-
fold.
 Ferdinand Julius Cohn – the first who examine the
world of the microbe and made many observations
of eukaryotic microorganisms and bacteria.
 Development of Microbiology Techniques
 Robert Koch – search for the causes of many
diseases.
- adapt the staining methods of Carl
Weigert to begin the process of
distinguishing microbes and
identifying pathogens.
YEAR EVENTS
Robert Hooke is the first to use microscope to describe the fruiting structures of
1664 molds. He also coined the term “cell” when using a microscope to look at cork, as the
dead plant material in cork reminded him of a jail cell.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch tradesman and skilled lens maker, is the first to
1673 describe microbes in detail.
1872 Ferdinand Julius Cohn publishes landmark paper on bacteria and the cycling of
elements. In it is an early classification scheme that uses the name Bacillus.
1872 Oscar Brefeld reports the growth of fungal colonies from single spores on gelatin and
the German botanist Joseph Schroeter grows pigmented bacterial colonies on slices of
potato.
1877 Robert Koch develops methods for staining bacteria, photographing, and prepairing
permanent visual record on slides.
1881 Koch develops solid culture media and the methods for obtaining pure cultures of
bacteria.
1882 Angelina Fannie and Walther Hesse in Koch’s laboratory develop the use of agar as a
support medium for solid culture.
 YEAR EVENTS

1884 Hans Christian Gram develops a dye system for identifying bacteria (the Gram
stain).

1887 First report of the petri plate by Julius R. Petri.

1915 M.H. McGrady establishes a quantitative approach for analyzing water samples
using the most probable number, multi-tube fermentation test.
 Diseases due to Microbes

 Ignaz Semmelweis – made the first breakthrough in the true

nature of disease.
- instituted a policy for all attending
physicians to wash their hands with
chloride of lime, calcium hypochlorite,
and calcium chloride, between patients.
 Louis Pasteur – better known for “pasteurization”
- observe that the process of converting sugar to
alcohol is actually performed by various yeast strains.
 Joseph Lister – was the first to greatly reduce the number of
microorganisms on surgical wounds and incisions by
using bandages treated with phenic acid, a compound
that killed microorganisms.
 Robert Koch – In 1876, provided the definitive proof of the germ
theory by isolating the cause of anthrax and showing it
to be the bacterium.
 Vaccination as Effective Means of
Protection
 Lady Mary Wortley Montgue – wife of ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire, introduced variolation to England in
1721 and it became a popular practice throughout Europe.

 Edward Jenner – searched of a more predictable and safer method of

protection against smallpox.

 Louis Pasteur – developed a method for creating cultures that would

confer immunity, but not cause disease.
Development of Antimicrobials

 Paul Ehrlich
By 1885, it was becoming clear that the causative
agents of many illnesses were microorganisms.
 Alexander Fleming
In September of 1928 Fleming cultured a fungus, a
Penicillium mold, and eventually isolated a soluble extract
that could kill bacteria and treat localized infection.
The Birth of Molecular Biology

 Techniques were developed in the early part of the 20th

century to examine the inner workings of the cell and
much of the work was performed in bacteria due to their
experimental accessibility.
 Basic Microbiology
Equipment and
Procedures in the Study
of Bacteria
1. Eyepiece – it is also known as the ocular, these have a
magnifying power of 10x although some
specialized eyepieces can have 5x to 30x
magnification.
2. Body tube or eyepiece tube - holds the eyepiece in
place above the objective lens.
3. Objective(s) – the primary optical lenses of the
microscope with a magnification power
that can be range from 4x to 100x.
4. Nosepiece – houses the objectives; it is often
revolving to allow selection of different
power objectives.
5. Coarse and fine adjustment knobs
- used to focus the microscope.
6. Stage – area where the specimen to be viewed is
placed.
7. Stage clips – used to hold the specimen slide in place
during magnification.
8. Aperture – hole in the stage through which the base
light is transmitted through the stage.
9. Diaphragm – also known as the iris diaphragm;
conrols the amount of light reaching the
specimen.
10. Condenser – controls the lightning focus on the
specimen.
11. Head or Body – houses the optical parts of the
microscope.
12. Base - supports the microscope and houses the light
source of illumination.
13. Arm – connects the base and supports the microscope
head and also used in the carriage of the
microscope.
TEST TUBE AND HOLDER
➢ These are finger-like length
of glass or clear plastic tubing
which is open in one end and
rounded with a U-shaped bottom.
➢ - used for handling and
culturing all kinds of microorganisms.
MICROSCOPE GLASS SLIDES
 is a thin flat piece of glass
used to hold objects for
examination under the microscope.
INOCULATION LOOP
 Is a simple tool that is used
to retrieve an inoculum from
a culture of microorganisms.
 It is also known as a smear loop,
inoculation wand, or a microsteaker.
 Used in the cultivation of
microbes on Petri dishes.
PIPETTE
 Is an instrument that is used
to transport a measured volume
of liquid.
Pipette accessories:
1. Fillers – used to fill the pipette easily in order to avoid
the need for mouth pipeting;
2. Helpers – battery-operated devices that are used with
disposable pipette tubes;
3. Light-guided pipetting systems – computer- based
pipetting accessories used in the lightning of source and
destination wells in microplates or vials in order to
assure accuracy in well-to-well pipetting; and
4. Pipette tips - enhances precision and accuracy of
pipetting systmes.
BUNSEN BURNER
 Named after Robert Bunsen
 Is a laboratory equipment that
produces a single open gas flame
for heating, sterilization, and
combustion.
PETRI DISH
 Named after Julius R. Petri
 Is a shallow cylindrical covered
container or dish that is often made
of glass or plastic.
➢ It is used to culture cells or small
moss plants.
➢ Reusable through sterilization by autoclaving
Or dry-heating for one hour at 160 C.
MEDICAL AUTOCLAVE
 Is the simplest form of autoclave.
 It uses to sterilize equipment and
other objects in order to inactive
Microorganisms.