INTRODUCTION &

HISTORY
OF MICROBIOLOGY
BY
DR.PRIYADHARSHINI.S
1ST YEAR POSTGRADUATE
DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY
Contents:

 Branches of clinical microbiology

 Classification of microorganisms
 History
 Koch’s postulates and it’s modification
 Bacterial taxonomy
INTRODUCTION:

 Microbiology is the science of living organisms that are only visible under the
microscope.
 MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY: is a branch of medicine that deals with the study of
microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi , which produce disease in
humans called as infectious diseases.
 CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY: deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
infectious diseases.
VARIOUS BRANCHES OF CLINICAL
MICROBIOLOGY:

 GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY: Deals with the study of general properties of

microorganisms – taxonomy, morphology, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis and
treatment for their effective killing.
 IMMUNOLOGY: Deals with the study of immune system, immunological mechanism
of infectious diseases and various immunological methods for diagnosis of infectious
diseases.
 HOSPITAL INFECTION CONTROL: Deals with the study of various control
measures to prevent the transmission of healthcare associated infections.
 SYSTEMIC MICROBIOLOGY: Microorganisms infect various organ systems of Our
body. Accordingly the infectious diseases are classified into various clinical syndromes.
 CLASSIFICATION OF
MICROORGANISMS:
CHARACTERISTICS PROKARYOTES EUKARYOTES

Major groups Bacteria, blue green algae Fungi, parasites, other algae, plants
and animals.
Nucleus Diffuse Well defined

Extrachromosomal DNA Found in plasmid Found in mitochondria

Cell membrane Does not contain sterols expect in Contain sterols

mycoplasma.
Ribosome 70s 80s

Cellular organelles Absent ( except ribosome) Present

HISTORY:

 The credit for having first observed and reported bacteria belongs to ANTONY VAN
LEEUWENHOEK, whose hobby was grinding lenses and observing diverse material
through them. Discovered single lens microscope and named organisms as little
animalcules.

 IGNAZ SEMMELWEIS , (1846), independently concluded that puerperal sepsis was

contagious .
 Also identified it’s mode of transmission by doctors and medical students attending on
women in labour and had prevented It by Simple measure of washing hands in an
antiseptic solution.
 LOUIS PASTEUR(1822-95):

 He is also known as father of microbiology.

 Important contributions of louis pasteur in microbiology:
1. Proposed the principles of fermentation.
2. Describes the method of pasteurization of milk.
3. Postulated the germ theory of disease.
4. Liquid media concept: he used nutrient broth to grow microorganisms.
5. Introduction of sterilization techniques and development of steam sterilizer,autoclave and hot air
oven.
6. Studies on anthrax, chicken cholera and hydrophobia..
7. Contributed for the vaccine development against several diseases such as Anthrax, fowl cholera,
and rabies.
8. Pasteur’s development of vaccine for hydrophobia marked a milestone in development of
immunization in medicine.
 JOSEPH LISTER(1827-1912):

 He is considered to be the 'FATHER OF ANTISEPTIC

SURGERY’
 He observed that post-op infections were greatly reduced by
using disinfectant such as DILUTED CARBOLIC ACID
during surgery.
 ROBERT KOCH(1843-1910):

 He introduced Solid media for culture of bacteria.

 He introduced methods for isolation of bacteria in Pure culture.
 He described Hanging drop method for testing motility.
 He Discovered bacteria such as Anthrax bacillus, tubercle bacillus and cholera
bacillus.
 He introduced staining techniques by using aniline dye.
 Koch’s phenomenon
 KOCH’S POSTULATES:

1.The microorganisms are constantly associated with the lesions of the disease.
2.It should be possible to isolate the organism in pure culture from lesion of disease.
3.The same disease must result when the isolated organism is inoculated into a suitable
lab.animal.
4.It should be possible to re-isolate the organism in pure culture from the lesions produced in
the experimental animals.
5.Antibody to the causative organisms should be demonstrable in the patient’s serum.
EXCEPTIONS OF KOCH’S
POSTULATES:

 Mycobacterium leprae
 Treponema pallidum
 Neisseria gonorrhoeae
MOLECULAR KOCH’S POSTULATES:

 It was a modification of koch’s postulates by Stanley falkow.

 He stated that gene (coding for virulence) of a Microorganisms should satisfy all the
criteria of koch’s postulates rather than the Microorganisms itself.
 PAUL EHRLICH (1854-1915):

 He also known as father of chemotherapy.

 He was the first to report the acid fast nature of tubercle bacillus.
 Developed techniques to stain tissues and blood cells.
 He proposed a toxin – antitoxin interaction called Ehrlich phenomenon
 Also introduced methods of Standardising toxin and antitoxins.
 He proposed the 'side chain theory ’ For antibody production.
 Chemotherapy: he discovered salvarsan , an arsenic compound ( magic
bullet) as the 1st effective treatment for syphilis,
 The bacteria ‘ Ehrlichia’ was named after him
EDWARD JENNER :

 On 1796, he developed the first vaccine for the world , the small pox vaccine.
 He used the cow pox virus ( variolae vaccinae) to immunize children against smallpox
from which the term 'vaccine ’ has been derived.
OTHER IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTORS
IN MICROBIOLOGY:

 HANS CHRISTIAN GRAM: he developed ‘ Gram stain ’.

 ERNST RUSKA : he was the founder of electron microscope.
 ALEXANDER FLEMING : he discovered the antibiotic penicillin.
 ELIE METCHNIKOFF : he described phagocytosis and termed phagocytes .
 KLEINBERGER: he described the existence of L forms of bacteria.
 WALTER GILBERT and FREDERICK SANGER: were the first to develop the method of DNA
sequencing.
 KARRY B MULLIS : discovered polymerase chain reaction.
 GOOD PASTURE: he described the viral culture technique in chick embryo.
 BARBARA MCCLINTOCK: she described the mobile genetic elements in bacteria called transposons.
BACTERIAL TAXONOMY:

 Comprises 3 components:
1. Classification
2. Identification of an unknown with Defined and named unit.
3. Nomenclature or the naming units.
Cavalier- Smith’s

 Six kingdom classification(1998) is the most recent and widely taxonomic classification.
 It divides organisms into 6 kingdom
1. Bacteria
2. Protozoa
3. Chromista
4. Plantae
5. Fungi
6. Animalia.
 PRINCIPLE USED FOR BACTERIAL
CLASSIFICATION:
 PHYLOGENETIC CLASSIFICATION:
Based on weighted characteristics. This is a hierarchical classification representing a branching tree like arrangements.
One characteristic is being employed for division at each node of the tree.
 ADANSONIAN (PHONETIC) CLASSIFICATION:
Based on giving equal weight to every character. To avoid the use of weighted characteristics,
Michel adanson proposed a scheme that classifies organisms based on giving equal weight to every character of the organism.
The principle is used in numeric taxonomy.
 MOLECULAR CLASSIFICATION: based on genetic relatedness ( guanine+ cytosine) of different organisms.
:Reference
• Ananthanarayan and Paniker's Textbook of
Microbiology.
• Essentials of medical microbiology by Apurba s Sastry,
Sandhya bhat.