INTRODUCTION

To
MICROBIOLOGY
 MICROBIOLOGY
•Derived from the Greek word “mikros” - ‘small’ and “bios” - ‘life’.
•The study of organisms of microscopic size (microorganism), including their
culture, economic importance and pathogenicity etc.
•The study of living things so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye.
•It is concerned with the form, structure, reproduction, physiology, metabolism,
and classification of microbe. It includes the study of their distribution in nature,
their relationship to each other and to other living organisms, their effects on
human beings and on other animals and plants, their abilities to make physical
and chemical changes in our environment, and their reactions to physical and
chemical agents.
Microbes
Any microscopic organism; a microorganism e.g. bacteria, fungi, virus, algae and
protozoa.
 WHY IS MICROBIOLOGY
IMPORTANT?
Microorganisms can be found in every ecosystem and in close association with
every type of multicellular organism.
Microorganisms participates in bodily functions, for example, bacteria play a
role in the degradation of intestinal contents, Microbes in the gut break down
many of the proteins, lipids and carbohydrates in our diet into nutrients that we
can then absorb, microbes produce beneficial compounds, like vitamins(B12
and K) and anti-inflammatories.
Microorganisms have been exploited by humans for our own benefit, for
instance in the manufacture of antibiotics and foodstuffs.
Few species of microorganisms that are harmful to humans, either by
production of toxic compounds or by direct infection, are characterized as
pathogens.
Bacterial species give rise to infections in humans; these are termed pathogens.
A pathogen is an organism with the potential to cause disease.
DISCOVERY ERA
“Spontaneous generation”

Aristotle
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
 DISCOVERY ERA
Aristotle (384-322)
Aristotle and others believed that living organisms could develop from non-living
materials.
In 13th century, Rogen Bacon described that the disease caused by a minute
“seed” or “germ”.
The belief in the spontaneous generation of life from nonliving matter was
introduced by Aristotle, who lived around 350 BC.
According to Aristotle it was, “readily observable that aphids arise from the dew
which falls on plants, fleas from putrid matter, mice from dirty hay.
This belief remained unchallenged for more than 2000 years.
 DISCOVERY ERA
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723)
Microorganisms had been on the Earth for some 4000 million years, when Antoni
van Leeuwenhoek started out on his pioneering microscope work in 1673.
He spend his spare time grinding glass lenses to produce simple microscopes. His
detailed drawings make it clear that the ‘animalcules’ he observed from a variety of
sources included representatives of what later became known as protozoa, bacteria
and fungi.
The term microbe is used by Sedillot in 1878.
 TRANSITION ERA
Francesco Redi
John Needham
Lazzaro spallanzai
 TRANSITION ERA
Italian Francesco Redi (1626 - 1697)
He showed that maggots would not arise from decaying meat, when it
is covered.
The spontaneous generation was controverted by Francesco Redi.
Italian Francesco Redi showed that the larvae found on putrefying meat
arose from eggs deposited by flies, and not spontaneously as a result of
the decay process.
Despite mounting evidence against the theory, as late as 1859, fresh
‘proof’ was still being brought forward in its support.
 TRANSITION ERA
John Needham (1713 – 1781)
Supporter of the spontaneous generation theory.
He proposed that tiny organism(animalcules) arose spontaneously on
the mutton gravy.
He covered the flasks with cork as done by Redi, Still the microbes
appeared on mutton broth.
Lazzaro spallanzani (1729 – 1799)
He demonstrated that air carried germs to the culture medium.
He showed that boiled broth would not give rise to microscopic forms
of life.
improved on Needham's experimental design by first sealing glass
flasks that contained water and seeds. If the sealed flasks were placed
in boiling water for about 45 minutes, no growth took place as long as
the flasks remained sealed. He proposed that air carried germs to the
culture medium but also commented that the external air might be
required for growth of microrganisms already in the medium.
NEEDHAM'S EXPERIMENT
GOLDEN ERA
Louis Pasteur
John Tyndall
Lord Joseph Lister
Robert Koch
Fanne Eilshemius Hesse
Richard Petri
Edward Jenner
Paul Erlich
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), still arguably the most famous figure in the
history of microbiology.
Pasteur is most famous for his series of experiments designed to
disprove then widely held theory of spontaneous generation
Pasteur in 1897 suggested that mild heating at 62.8°C (145°F) for 30
minutes rather than boiling, was enough to destroy the undesirable
organisms without ruining the taste of the product, the process was
called Pasteurization.
Pasteur also designed methods for food preservation (pasteurization)
and vaccines against several diseases such as anthrax, fowl cholera and
rabies.
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur carried out a series of experiments that led to the
acceptance of biogenesis, the idea that life arises only from already
existing life
He placed nutrient solutions in flasks, heated their necks in a flame, and
drew them out into a variety of curves. The swan-neck flasks that he
produced in this way had necks open to the atmosphere. Pasteur then
boiled the solutions for a few minutes and allowed them to cool. No
growth took place even though the contents of the flasks were exposed
to the air. Pasteur pointed out that growth did not occur because dust
and germs had been trapped on the walls of the curved necks. If the
necks were broken, growth commenced immediately. Pasteur had not
only resolved the controversy by 1861 but also had shown how to keep
solutions sterile.
Louis Pasteur
Pasteur’s findings on wine contamination led inevitably to
the idea that microorganisms may be also be responsible for
diseases in humans, animals and plants.
Louis Pasteur therefore supported the germ theory and he
further stated that microorganisms are the causes of
infectious diseases.
He also demonstrated that bacteria could be removed by
boiling and then cooling.
Pasteur demonstrated diseases of silkworm was due to a
protozoan parasite.
The notion that some invisible living creatures were responsible for
certain diseases was not a new one. The Roman philosopher Lucretius
and much later the physician Girolamo Fracastoro (1478–1553) had
supported the idea. Fracastoro wrote ‘Contagion is an infection that
passes from one thing to another’ and recognised three forms of
transmission: by direct contact, through inanimate objects and via the
air.
GOLDEN ERA
John Tyndall (1820 - 1893)
He discovered highly resistant bacterial structure, later known as
endospore.
Prolonged boiling or intermittent heating was necessary to kill these
spores, to make the infusion completely sterilized, a process known as
Tyndallisation.
GOLDEN ERA
Lord Joseph Lister (1827-1912)
He is the father of antiseptic surgery.
He proved that wound infections were due to microorganisms.
He developed a method to destroy microorganisms in the operation theater
by spraying a mist of carbolic acid into the air and the use of heat-treated
instruments and of phenol both on dressings
This dramatically reduced the number of people dying due to surgical sepsis
GOLDEN ERA
During the 19th century, many diseases were shown, one by one, to be
caused by microorganisms.
In 1835, Agostino Bassi showed that a disease of silkworms was due to a
fungal infection, and 10 years later, Miles Berkeley demonstrated that a
fungus was also responsible for the great Irish potato blight.
In the 1860’s, the indefatigable Pasteur had shown that a parasitic
protozoan was the cause of another disease of silkworms called
pebrine, which had devastated the French silk industry.
GOLDEN ERA
Robert Koch(1893-1910)
The first proof of the involvement of bacteria in disease and the definitive
proof of the germ theory of disease came from the German Robert Koch.
In 1876 Koch showed the relationship between the cattle disease anthrax
and a bacillus which we now know as Bacillus anthracis. Koch infected
healthy mice with blood from diseased cattle and sheep, and noted that the
symptoms of the disease appeared in the mice, and that rod shaped
bacteria could be isolated from their blood. These could be grown in
culture, where they multiplied and produced spores. Injection of healthy
mice with these spores (or more bacilli) led them too to develop anthrax
and once again the bacteria were isolated from their blood. These results
led Koch to formalise the criteria necessary to prove a causal relationship
between a specific disease condition and a particular microorganism.
Spores injected into healthy mice

Disease occurred in mice

He demonstrated the role of bacteria in causing disease.
He perfected the technique of isolating bacteria in pure culture.
Robert Koch used gelatin to prepare solid media but it was not an
ideal because,
1. Since gelatin is a protein, it is digested by many bacteria capable of
producing a proteolytic exoenzyme gelatinase that hydrolyses the
protein to amino acids.
2. It melts when the temperature rises above 25°C.
GOLDEN ERA
Koch’s postulates
1. The microorganism must be present in every instance of the disease
and absent from healthy individuals.
2. The microorganism must be capable of being isolated and grown in
pure culture.
3. When the microorganism is inoculated into a healthy host, the
same disease condition must result.
4. The same microorganism must be re-isolated from the
experimentally infected host.
GOLDEN ERA
Robert Koch’s other contributions to science
Staining technique for bacteria
Hanging drop method to detect motility
Method for isolating pure culture of bacteria by planting on solid
medium
Certain agents responsible for causing disease (e.g. viruses) can’t be
grown in vitro, but only in host cells.
Koch developed a staining technique that enabled it to be seen.
A pure or axenic culture contains one type of organism only, and is
completely free from contaminants.
GOLDEN ERA
Fanne Eilshemius Hesse (1850 - 1934)
One of Koch's assistant first proposed the use of agar in culture media.
It was not attacked by most bacteria.
Agar is better than gelatin because of its higher melting pointing (96°c)
and solidifying (40 – 45°c)points.
Richard Petri (1887)
He developed the Petri dish (plate), a container used for solid culture
media.
GOLDEN ERA
Edward Jenner (1749-1823)
Father of vaccination Also known as the ‘Father of immunology’
Edward Jenner was an English scientist and is famous for his discovery
of smallpox vaccine.
This was the first successful vaccine ever to be developed.
Jenner observed that pus from blisters in milkmaids who developed the
less deadly cowpox was somehow protecting these women from the
more virulent smallpox.
In 1796, Jenner tested his theory by injecting pus from cowpox into an
eight year old boy. The boy was inoculated again and later tested, but
showed no signs of disease. This led him to his discovery of smallpox
vaccine
Alexander Flemming
He discovered the penicillin from penicillium notatum that
destroy several pathogenic bacteria.

Paul Erlich (1920)

He discovered the treatment of syphilis by using arsenic
He Studied toxins and antitoxins in quantitative terms &
laid foundation of biological standardization.
Following the discovery of viruses during the last decade of the 19th
century it was soon established that many diseases of plants, animals
and humans were caused by these minute, non-cellular agents.

The major achievement of the first half of the 20th century was the
development of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents
Important Discoveries in 20th
century
George W. Beadle and Edward L. Tatum (ca. 1941)
studied the relationship between genes and enzymes using the bread mold,
Neurospora
Precursor ornithine  citrulline  arginine
Salvadore Luria and Max Delbruck (ca. 1943)
One gene, one polypeptide hypothesis
Demonstrated spontaneous gene mutations in bacteria (not directed by the
environment)
Oswald T. Avery, Colin M. MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty (1944)

Following initial studies by Frederick Griffith (1928) they provided evidence

that deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was the genetic material and carried
genetic information during transformation.
Microorganisms are able to grow rapidly and in large amounts in the lab at
reasonable cost.
In the 1970s new discoveries in microbiology led to the development of
recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering
Elie Metchnikoff:
•Described how Leukocytes ingest disease producing bacteria
in the body
•Called such cells ‘Phagocytes’ & the process ‘Phagocytosis’
•Suggested that Phagocytes are the body’s 1st & most important
line of defense against infection.
Miasma theory
The miasma theory (also called the miasmatic theory) is an obsolete
medical theory that held diseases—such as cholera, chlamydia, or the
black death—were caused by a miasma (μίασμα, ancient greek:
"pollution"), a noxious form of "bad air", also known as night air.
The miasma theory was accepted from ancient times in europe and
china. The theory was eventually given up by scientists and physicians
after 1880, replaced by the germ theory of disease: specific germs, not
miasma, caused specific diseases.
ABIOGENESIS VS BIOGENESIS
ABIOGENESIS THEORY
The early Greeks believed that living things could originate from
nonliving matter (abiogenesis)
Biogenesis
Louis Pasteur finally announced the results of his conclusive
experiments in 1864. Pasteur proved that only preexisting microbes
could give rise to other microbes (biogenesis).
CELL THEORY (1838-1839)
Schleiden and Schwann proposed the cell theory.
GERM THEORY
The germ theory of disease states that some diseases are caused by
microorganisms. These small organisms, too small to see without
magnification, invade humans, animals, and other living hosts. Their
growth and reproduction within their hosts can cause a disease. "Germ"
may refer to a virus, bacterium, protist, fungus, or prion.
Microorganisms that cause disease are called pathogens, and the
diseases they cause are called infectious diseases.
VACCINES
1796 – First vaccine (smallpox) Edward Jenner
1885 - Vaccine against (Rabies) Louis Pasteur