EVOLUTION OF MICROBIOLOGY

Earliest Known Infectious Diseases

• Tuberculosis (about • Malaria
1500BC) • Pneumonia
• Leprosy (about 1500 • Trachoma (800 BC)
BC) • Influenza
• Cholera ( • Measles
• Smallpox • Black plague (430
• Rabies BC)
6 century BC
th

• Jainism – postulated the existence of unseen

microbiological life.
• Marcus Terentius Varro – was the first to
suggest the possibility of disease spreading by
unseen organisms.

But microorganisms were neither proven, observed nor

accurately described because there were no evidences of
actually seeing these things.
17th Century
The Development of the first microscopes
• Antoine Van
Leeuwenhoek (1632-
1723)
• A Dutch merchant
• Was one of the first
people to observe
microorganisms using
a microscope of his
own design
Leeuwenhoek’s microscope
17th Century
The Development of the first microscopes
• Robert Hooke
• An English Scientist
and the first to use a
microscope to observe
living things.
• Discovered the cell,
which is the basic unit
of living organisms
( cell theory)
Hooke’s microscope
Late 1800
• Louis Pasteur
• Determined why wine and dairy
products became sour and found
out that bacteria are to blame
• Postulated the germ theory of
disease but his attempts were
unsuccessful
• Developed the process of
pasteurization, which kills
microorganisms in different types of
liquids, which became the basis for
aseptic techniques.
• Introduced the terms AEROBES and
ANAEROBES and developed the
fermentation process
Evolution of microscopes
Late 1800
• Ferdinand Julius Cohn
(Jan. 24, 1828-June 25,
1898)
• German biologist
• Classified bacteria to
four groups based on
shapes: spherical,
short rods, threads,
and spirals
Cohn’s discovery
Late 1800
• Robert Koch (1876)
• Established that microbes can
cause diseases.
• He discovered that a cow with
Anthrax has a large amount of a
microorganism (which was later
known as Bacillus anthracis)
• Developed the Koch’s postulate a
series of scientific steps that
helps in identifying the causative
agent of a certain disease ( Germ
Theory)
Koch’s postulate
(a)Microorganisms are
observed in a sick
animal
(b)cultivated in the lab.
(c) The organisms are
injected into a healthy
animal,
(d)the animal develops
the disease.
(e)The organisms are
observed in the sick
animal
(f) reisolated in the lab.
1900
The Development of Microbiology
• Scientists seized the opportunity to develop
the germ theory of disease as enunciated by
Pasteur and proved by Koch.
• The Golden age of Microbiology
• After World War II, antibiotics were
introduced to medicine.
• 1940 – electron microscopes were developed
and perfected.
 Other microbiologists
• Edward Jenner – discovered the vaccine for smallpox
• Joseph Lister – applied the germ theory to medical
procedures, hence the start of aseptic surgery
• Paul Ehrlich – discovered Salvarsan for the treatment of
syphilis. The drug is heralded the magic bullet of
chemotherapy
• Alexander Flemming – discovered the antibiotic
penicillin from a mold called penicillium notatum
• Hans Christian Gram – developed the gram – staining
procedure.
 Microscope

• A microscope is an optical instrument that can

magnify microorganisms a hundredfold or
even a thousandfold
 Types of Microscope
• Compound microscope – is a type of microscope that
contains more than one magnifying objects
approximately 1000 times. Visible light is its main source
of illumination ( compound light microscope )
• Compound microscope utilized today consists of 2
magnifying lens systems.
• The eyepiece or ocular contains what is called the ocular
lens ( has a magnifying power of 10x). The second lens
system is located in the objective, which is positioned
immediately above the organisms to be visualized
COMPONENT LOCATION FUNCTION
Ocular lens or eyepiece Topmost part of the Act as a 10x magnifying
microscope lens
Revolving nose piece Above the stage Holds the objective lenses
Objective lenses Held in place above the Used to magnifying objects
stage by the revolving placed on the stage
nosepiece
Stage Beneath the revolving Flat surface on which the
nosepiece specimen is placed
Stage adjustment knob Beneath the stage Used to move the
microscope slide around
the stage
Condenser Beneath the stage Contains a lens system that
focuses light coming
through the condenser
Iris diaphragm control arm On the condenser Used to adjust the amount
of light coming through the
condenser
Coarse and fine adjustment On the arm of the Used to focus the lenses
knobs microscope, near the base
 Types of Microscope
• Brightfield microscope – this is made up of a
series of lenses and utilizes visible light as its
source of illumination. It can magnify an
object 1000 to 1500 times
• Used to visualized fungi and bacteria
 Types of Microscope
• Darkfield microscope – this utilizes reflected light,
instead of transmitted light, through a special
condenser with an opaque disc that blocks the light,
such that only the object is illuminated
• The object under study appears bright against a dark
background .
• This is used for examining living microorganisms that
are either invisible under the ordinary light microscope
or cannot be stained by standard staining methods.
• This type of microscope is used to view spirochetes
 Types of Microscope
• Phase-contrast microscope – is based on
principle that differences in refractive indices
and light waves passing through transparent
objects assume different phases
• Permit detailed examination of the internal
structures of the microorganisms, such us the
endospores.
• Useful in the study of binary fission and motility
 Types of Microscope
• Differential interference contrast microscope –
this is similar to phase contrast microscopy,
but has higher resolution and utilizes two
beams of light instead of one.
• The contrasting colors to the object under
study are due to the prisms that split the light
beam
 Types of Microscope
• Fluorescent microscope – this makes use of
ultraviolet light and fluorescent dye called
fluorochromes.
• The object under study fluoresces against a
dark background. This is useful in the
detection of antigens and antibodies.
Examples are immunofluorescence, or the
fluorescent – antibody technique.
 Types of Microscope
• Confocal microscope – the specimen is stained
with fluorescent dye to make it emit or return
light.
• The object is scanned with laser into planes
and regions.
• This is used, together with computers to
produce a three dimensional image.
• Used to study the physiology of a cell
 Types of Microscope
• Electron microscope – this utilizes a beam of electrons as the
source of illumination and magnets to focus the beam.
• It can magnify an object 10,000 times or more
• Used to visualize viruses and the subcellular structures of cell.
• The microorganisms should be dead (non living)
• 2 types : 1. transmission electron microscope ( TEM) – is based
on the principle that electrons pass through the object and are
scattered. Used to study the ultra – structures of cells and
viruses. It magnifies an object upto 200,000 times. 2. Scanning
electron microscope (SEM) – gives a three – dimensional image
of the object. It can magnify an object 10,000 times.
 Types of Microscope
• Scanned – probe microscope – this is used to
study molecular and atomic shapes of
organisms.
• It can also determine the variations in the
temperature inside the cell, as well as its
chemical properties.
Parts of Microscope