Introduction and

Historical Landmarks in
the Development of
Microbiology
Microbiology is a science that deals with the
study of living organisms and agents that are too
small to be seen clearly by the naked eye.
Greek – ‘Mikros’ means small, ‘Bios‘ means life
and ‘Logos’ means science.
Development of Microscope
In 1590, Zacharias Janssen, developed a
prototype of the present day telescope and the
compound microscope.
Galileo also constructed a microscope
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723)
constructed simple microscope
could magnify up to 300 times
His descriptions of animalcules were made from
1673.
Robert Hooke (1665) compound microscope
Robert Hooke’s compound microscope
Theory of Spontaneous generation
Italian physician Francesco Redi disproved this
theory in 1688 (Maggots over meat)
Italian Priest and naturalist Lazzaro Spallanzani
(1729 – 1799) (Microbes not found in heated
broth)
Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895), a French Chemist
John Tyndall (1820 – 1893) , English Physicist.
swan-neck-flask experiment of Louis Pasteur in
1861 conclusively disproved the theory of
spontaneous generation
Francesco Reddi
Spallanzani ‘s work
Spallanzani put broth into four flasks
 Flask 1 was left open - Microbes found
 Flask 2 was sealed - Microbes found
Flask 3 was boiled and then left open -Microbes found
Flask 4 was boiled and then sealed- Microbes not
found
Pasteur’s Swan neck flask
Germ theory of Disease
Agostino Bassi, in 1835 was the first
demonstrate that microorganism cause disease
1867, Joseph Lister, introduced antibiotic
principles
carbolic acid as antiseptic
Robert Koch - His criteria for providing casual
relationship between a microorganism and a
specific disease are known as Koch’s
postulates
Koch’s postulates
• The microorganism must be present in very
case of the disease but absent from healthy
host
• The suspected microorganism must be isolated
and grown in a pure culture
• The same disease must result when the isolated
microorganism is inoculated into a healthy host
• The same microorganism must be isolated
again from the experimentally diseased host
Other contributions of Koch
• Robert Koch also developed techniques to grow bacteria
on solid media
• On sterile surfaces of cut, boiled potatoes
• Gelatin to solidify liquid medium
• Fannie Eilshemius Hesse suggested the use of agar as a
solidifying agent
• Agar is not digested by most bacteria
• Agar remains solid until temperature reaches above 98 oC
and medium solidifies at around 44oC
• Richard Petri developed the Petridish for cultivation of
bacteria
Robert Koch
• Vaccination was successfully used against
smallpox by Edward Jenner
• Elie Metchnikoff discovered some blood
leucocytes that could engulf disease causing
bacteria
• Phagocytes, phagocytosis
• Winogradsky, Beijerinck ecological role of
microorganisms role of microorganisms in
carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles
• enrichment – culture technique
Other significant developments in
microbiology
• 1796 – Edward Jenner – Vaccination – Smallpox
• 1873 – John Lister - obtained pure culture of
bacteria by serial dilution
• 1881 – Paul Ehrlich - Staining of bacteria with
methylene blue
• 1881 – 1883 – Robert Koch – Simple methods for
isolation and maintenance of microorganisms on
chemically defined solid medium

• 1884 – Hans Christian Gram – differential staining

1884 – Elie Metchnikoff – Phagocytosis – WBC
engulfing foreign particles
1884 – Charle Chamberland – Invention of
bacterial filters for sterilization of liquids.
Invention of autoclave
1892 – Iwanowski – observed filterable particles
(virus)
1929 – Alexander Fleming – Antibiotics -
penicillin
1860 to 1910 - Golden Age of Microbiology.
Grouping and Description of living organisms
Prokaryotic cells
lack a true membrane – delimited nucleus; All
bacteria
Eukaryotic cells
Cells that have a membrane enclosed nucleus
Description of Microorganisms
Bacteria
prokaryotes, unicellular organisms binary fission.
Size 0.1 µ m to 18 µ m
Viruses
infectious agents having a simple organization
protein coat single type nucleic acid (either RNA /
DNA), Size ranges from 20 to 350 nm
Fungi
eukaryotic, spore-bearing organisms absorptive
nutrition
Algae
Algae are eukaryotic lack roots and leaves have
chlorophyll
Protozoa
eucaryotic protist, not multicellular
Classification of Living organisms
All organisms were earlier classified into two
groups
Plants and animals
third kingdom called Protista, Haeckel (1866)
consisting of unicellular organisms
Copeland (1956) created a fourth kingdom
Monera, unicellular prokaryotic bacteria
fifth kingdom Mycetae created by Whittaker
(1969) accommodate fungi
Robert H. Whittaker in 1969, placed organisms
into five kingdom based on three major criteria
Cell type (Procaryotic / Eucaryotic)
Level of organization (Solitary / colonial; Uni or
multicellular)
Nutritional type
Kingdom : Monera or Procaryote
 All procaryotes
Kingdom : Protista
 Unicellular or colonical eucaryotic organisms that lack
Protozoa, lower fungi and smaller algae
Kingdom : Fungi
Kingdom : Animalia
Multicellular animals with ingestive nutrition

Kingdom : Plantae
Multicellular plants with walled eucaryotic cells and
photosynthesis
Cavalier – Smith’s classification
• Empire : Bacteria
• Kingdom – Eubacteria
• Arahaebacteria
• Empire : Eucaryota
• Kingdom - Archaozoa
Protozoa
Chromista
Plantae
Fungi
Animalia
Carl Woese comparison of RNA sequences,
developed a three domain or empire
classification
Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Eucaryotes, which
are placed above kingdom level.
bacterial classification on the basis of similarities
Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology
(1984)
prokaryotes are grouped on basis of
characteristics Gram stain, morphology motility,
structural features distinguishing physiological
features
Nowadays organisms are grouped on a genetic
basis nucleotide sequences of the small subunit
ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
C. Woese developed the phylogenetic tree of
prokaryotes
16S rRNA of 30S ribosomes yield highly
conserved sequences