INTRODUCTION TO MICROBIOLOGY

HISTORY AND TERMINOLOGY

 Bio-life
 Ology- study of
 Micro- to small to be seen with naked eye
 Microbe- a very small living thing which can be only seen by microscope
 Microorganism- microbe an organism that is microscopic
 Microbiology- study of microbe
 Robert Hooke – observed the cell using a microscoe in 1665
 Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s- discovered a microorganism in 1684 using a
microscope of his own design. He is also known as the “Father of microbiology”.
 Edward Jenner 1796 discovered cowpox virus to treat small pox.
 Louis Pasteur introduced fermentation, pasteurization, vaccination and
immunity.
 Joseph Lister 1800, developed antiseptic surgery which included heat-
sterilization of instruments and application of phenols to wounds and dressings
 Robert Koch 1876, provided a critical link between microbes and disease when
he used a series of postulates to uncover the cause of anthrax. Koch's postulates
are still in use today in order to prove the cause of an infectious disease.
 Further contributions of Koch
• isolated the bacteria that cause cholera and tuberculosis
• developed tuberculin, now used in a skin test for TB (originally intended for
use as a vaccine against TB)
• developed acid-fast staining
• identified bacterial endospores
• with colleagues, the first to grow cultures on solid media
• received noble prize for medicine 1905.

 Alexander Fleming 1929 discovered penicillium mold inhibited growth of

Staphylococci growing on a petri plate. Penicillin became widely available and
known as the "wonder-drug".

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Terminology

Bacteriology Study of prokaryotic microbes (bacteria)

Virology Study of acellular, intracellular parasites (viruses)
Mycology Study of fungi including yeasts, molds and mushrooms
Study of parasites. Typically this field has focused on protozoa
Parasitology
and helminths (worms)
Microbial
How microbes produce disease
pathogenesis
An understanding of the body's defense system against infection
Immunology
and disease
Become a 'disease detective' and understand the factors that
Epidemiology
contribute to disease origins and transmission.
The unusual occurrence in a community of disease, specific
Epidemic health related behavior, or other health related events clearly in
excess of expected occurrence”
It refers to the constant presence of a disease or infectious agent
Endemic within a given geographic area or population group. It is the
usual or expected frequency of disease within a population.
An understanding of the body's defense system against infection
Immunology
and disease
Become a 'disease detective' and understand the factors that
Epidemiology
contribute to disease origins and transmission.
Aerobic Requires oxygen to survive
Anaerobic Do not require oxygen to survive
Are substances produced by microorganism and is effective in
Antibiotics
killing or inhibiting the growth of other organisms.
Bacteriacidal Capable of killing bacteria
Bacteriastatic Capable of inhibiting bacterial growth without killing
An infected person or animal that harbors a specific infectious
Carriers agent in the absence of discernible (visible) clinical disease and
serves as a potential source of infection to others.
The presence of an infectious agent on a body surface, on or in
Contamination clothes, beddings, toys, surgical instruments or dressings, or
other articles or substances including water and food
A contagious disease is the one that is transmitted through
Contagious diseases
contact. Examples include scabies, trachoma, STD and leprosy.
An impairment of health or a condition of abnormal
Diseases
functioning.
Is the study of the distribution and determination of diseases in
Epidemiology
a population
Someone who gets the infection/exposed to the pathogen or
Host
infection. (has the symptoms)
Immunity The ability for an organism to resist an infection
Immunization Induction of specific immunity by injecting antigens, antibodies

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 Infection is the entry and development or multiplication of an
Infection
infectious agent in the body of man or animals.
Infectious agent Microorganism that causes diseases and pathogen
Infectious diseases Colonies of the body and causes the diseases
Infestation Colonization of the body by parasites.
Characteristic reaction to foreign particles and noxious stimuli,
Inflammation
resulting in redness, swelling heat and pain.
Organism that resides on the surface and deep layers of the skin,
Normal Flora
in saliva and oral mucosa, GIT.
Nosocomial (hospital acquired) infection is an infection
originating in a patient while in a hospital or another health care
Nosocomial infection facility. It has to be a new disorder unrelated to the patient’s
primary condition. Examples include infection of surgical
wounds, hepatitis B and urinary tract infections.
This is infection by organisms that take the opportunity
provided by a defect in host defense (e.g. immunity) to infect
Opportunistic
the host and thus cause disease. For example, opportunistic
infections
infections are very common in AIDS. Organisms include Herpes
simplex, cytomegalovirus,
Commensal flora Non-pathogenic' commensal organism. Will not cause harm.
Is an organism that lives on or in another organism and getting
Parasite
benefits but provide nothing in return.
Pathogen Is a microorganism that causes diseases
Pathogenicity Is the ability to cause disease
Place where microorganism (infectious agents) thrive and
Reservoir
reproduce
General term for resistant resting structures formed by many
Spores
prokaryotes and fungi
Susceptible host A person who cannot resist an infection.
Is the degree of pathogenicity; the disease evoking power of a
Virulence
micro-organism in a given host.
Time from exposure to development of disease. In other words,
the time interval between invasion by an infectious agent and
Incubation period
the appearance of the first sign or symptom of the disease in
question.
Latent period
The period between exposure and the onset of infectiousness
(this may be shorter or longer than the incubation period).
Material used to induce specific protective immunity to a
Vaccine
pthogen
Inoculation of host with inactive, killed or weakened pathogen
Vaccination
products to stimulate protective immunity
Is a living creature that can transmit infection from one to
Vectors
another
Virulence The power of the pathogens to cause severe disease
Zoonosis Is an animal diseases that can spread to humans

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Types of microorganism

 Microbiology is a broad term that includes bacteriology, virology, mycology,

phycology, parasitology, and other branches of biology.
 There are five kingdoms which are by Robert H. Whittaker (1969).
 (Five-Kingdom System)

• Animals/ animalia- eukaryotic, multicellular

• Plants/ Plantae-eukaryotic, multicellular
• Fungi -eukaryotic, generally multicellular
• Protista- eukaryotic, generally unicellular like algae, protozoa
• Prokaryotic – unicellular

 Microorganisms belong to the group Protista.

 This kingdom has broadly divided into viruses, prokaryotic and eukaryotic.
 Note that viruses, though not always strictly classed as living organisms. It
does not have the cellular structure but exhibits the properties of life.
 All cellular organisms are divided into prokaryotic and eukaryotic.
 The prokaryotic are simpler and smaller, does not posses a distinct nucleus.
 Eukaryotic cells are larger, more complex possessing a distinct nucleus and
subcellular organelles such as plastids and mitochondria cells.

Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell.

 Prokaryotic Cells
 Prokaryotes are evolutionarily ancient
 They were here first and for billions of years were the only form of life.
 And even with the evolution of more complex eukaryotic cells, prokaryotes are
supremely successful.
 All bacteria are prokaryotic organisms.

 Eukaryotic Cells
 Eukaryotic cells are more complex, evolving from a prokaryote-like
predecessor.
 Most of the living things that we are typically familiar with are composed of
eukaryotic cells; animals, plants, fungi and protists.
 Eukaryotic organisms can either be single-celled or multi-celled.

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Gram Stain

 Gram staining reaction is one of the first tests applied in studying bacteria.
 The reaction is either positive or negative, (gram + or gram -).
 Gram + the wall are made up of thick layer of peptidoglycan enclosing the
plasma membrane.
 Gram - the peptidoglycan layer is thin and has outer membrane enclosing the
cell.
 This outer membrane is made up of lipopolysaccarides and lipoproteins.
 Gram positive

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 Gram negative

 High resistance spores are produced in some bacterial genera.

 They are resistant to heat and certain chemicals such as detergents.
 They are also resistant to desiccation and radiation.
 They are called as endospore as the form inside the cell wall.

Bacteria
Shape, size and arrangement of Bacteria

 Spheroidal (coccus)
 Monococcus (Single cells)
 Diplococcus (Occurs in pairs)
 Bacilli/bacillus (rod shapped)
 Spirillar (sphirochaete) long and slender cells twisted or helical shapes

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  Short bacilli are called as coccobacilli.

 Some bacteria consist surface adherents and appendages such as capsule, slim,
flagella and pili.

Techniques to study the morphology

 Microscopy and staining techniques are basic tolls for visualizing and study
bacteria.
 Types of microscope: light microscope, phase contrast microscope, fluorescence
microscopy, dark field microscopy and electron microscopy.
 Most common technique of staining are Gram staining, Ziehl-Neelsen staining,
Romanowsky staining, Sudan staining.

Factors influencing growth and reproduction of organism

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 For optimal growth bacteria require proper nutrients, oxygen, pH and
temperature.
 Oxygen
 Obligate anaerobes: will die when exposed to atmospheric levels of oxygen.
 Facultative anaerobes: can use oxygen when it is present.
 Obligatory aerobes: cannot grow unless oxygen is present
 Temperature
 Optimal growth temperature categories:
 psychrophiles : optimum growth temperature 15°C to 20°C.
 mesophiles: intermediate-temperature
 thermophiles: growth temperature is warmer including the
temperature of water boiling at sea level
 pH
 The growth of the majority of bacteria is limited to a pH range of approximately 2
 pH range classifications include:
• acidophile (pH < 5.4)
• neutrophile (pH 5.4 - 8.5)
• alkaliphile (pH 7.0 - 11.5)

Virus

 Viruses may be defined as acellular organisms whose genomes consist of nucleic

acid, and which replicates inside host cells.
 Uses host metabolic machinery and ribosomes to form a pool of components
which assemble into particles called VIRIONS, which serve to protect the
genome and to transfer it to other cells.
 Properties of viruses
 Consist of either RNA or DNA but never both
 Obligate intracellular parasites
 Divide by replication
 Mostly limited host range
 An outer shell, the capsid, made of protein.
 The capsid is responsible for
 protecting the contents of the core
 establishing what kind of cell the virion can attach to the infecting
cell
 Life cycle
 The virion attaches to the surface of the host cell and penetrates
inside the host cell.
 Once inside the cell, the virions are uncoated.
 Viral genes begin translation, transcription and genome
expression to produce specific protein.
 The synthesis of proteins needed for
 replication of the genome

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  synthesis of new proteins to make new capsids and cores.
 Then followed by virion assembly in cytoplasm and released from
the host cell and start their life cycle.
 Duration of viral replication is around 3 to 30 hours.

 Structure of viruses helical, isohedral/polyhedral, enveloped and complex.

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Helical Enveloped

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 Icosahedral

Complex

Mycology

 Study of fungus.
 Myco means fungus/fungi.
 Fungus is a general term encompassing such as molds and yeast.
 Yeast are oval spherical or elongated cells which reproduce by budding.
 Molds are characterized by tubular branching which consists of a hypa.
 Hypa are divided in may fungi by cross walls known as “septa” into multicellular
septa. Intermingled hypa forms mycelium.
 Most fungus or molds are dimorphic.
 It means they are molds in their normal saprobic growth but are yeast in a tissue
or incubated/enriched in enriched media.
 Fungi do not produce their own food by means of photosynthesis.

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 Reproduce by means of spores (bottom right in the picture).
 Fungi are a kingdom of organisms which share the following characteristics:

 Their main body is in the form of thin (one cell thick) strands called
mycelium (bottom left in the picture).
 They cannot manufacture their own food through photosynthesis; rather,
the mycelium secretes enzymes which digest part of their surroundings (a
log, for example) and this is then absorbed by the mycelium.
 Their cell walls are made mostly of chitin and similar compounds, not
cellulose.
 They reproduce by means of spores.
 The reproduce by both sexual and asexual depending on the species and
condition.

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Parasite

 Study of parasites from four large phyla in the animal kingdom, namely,
o Protozoa (of the kingdom Protista)
o Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
o Nematodes (roundworms),
o Arthropoda (arachnids, crustaceans, insects, etc.)
 The worms and arthropods are multicellular organisms and often large enough
to be seen with the naked eye.
 Parasites, that live outside the body of a host are called Ectoparasites,
 Ecotoparasaite which include fleas, mites, lice, ticks and leeches.
 Endoparasites live inside the body of a host, and include amoebas, worms, and
flukes
 Human are infected to parasites through:

o Via infected food or water (sources of roundworm,

amoebas, and giardia).
o Via such vectors as a mosquito (carriers of dog
heartworm, filaria, and malaria), fleas (carriers of dog
tapeworm), houseflies (carriers of amebic cysts), and
sexual contact with partners transmitting trichomonas,
giardia, and amoebas, to name a few.
o Via the nose and skin. Pinworm eggs and Toxoplasma
gondii can be inhaled from contaminated dust;
hookworms, schistosomes, and strongyloides can
penetrate exposed skin, especially bare feet.
 Symptoms of parasite infections are constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating,
irritable bowel syndrome, joint and muscle aches and pains, anaemia, allergy,
skin conditions, granulomas, sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, immunie
dysfunction.

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Action of microorganisms in causing disease

 A pathogen meets its requirements for life within the human body.
 Depending on the organisms, it meets its own needs and also causes disease by
entering human cells and using them to reproduce.
 Producing substances that are poisonous to the body such as toxins.
 Entering the body as a foreign entity, reproducing and causing disease or response
(inflammatory) within the body .

Chain of infection
 When disease occurs the infection cycle has been successfully completed.
 If a microorganism is pathogenic (capable of causing disease) all elements of the
chain of infection must be present in order for disease or infection to occur.
 Elements of infection chain
A.Infective agent: pathogen such as a bacteria or virus
B.Reservoir
1.Place where causative agent can live
2.Common reservoirs include human body, animals, environment, and
fomites or objects contaminated with infectious material that contains
the pathogens
C.Portal of exit
3.Way for causative agent to escape from the reservoir
4.Pathogens can leave the body through urine, feces, saliva, blood,
tears, mucous discharge, sexual secretions, and draining wounds
D.Means of transmission
5.Pathogen must be transmitted to another reservoir or host where it
can live
6.Can be transmitted in different ways
a.Direct Contact
1.Person-to-person spread by physical contact
2.Contact with the body secretions containing pathogen
b.Indirect contact
3.Pathogen is transmitted from contaminated substances
(i.e. food, air, soil, insects, feces, clothing, instruments,
and equipment)
4.Touching contaminated equipment
5.Breathing in droplets carrying airborne pathogens
6.Receiving the bite of an insect carrying pathogen
E.Portal of entry
7.Way to enter a new reservoir or host
8.Means of entry
c.Breaks in the skin or mucous membrane
d.Respiratory tract
e.Digestive tract
f.Genitourinary tract

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 g.Circulatory system
F.Susceptible host
9.Individual who can contract the disease
10.Humans may fight off causative agents and do not contract disease
if
h.Defense mechanisms of body are intact
i.Immune system functioning
11.Human becomes susceptible host in some instances
j.Large numbers of the pathogen invade the body
k.Body defenses are weak
l.
 The cycle of infection can be broken at any link of the chain
G.The infectious agent can be neutralized or destroyed by treatment
H.The reservoir host must maintain personal hygiene
I.The portal of exit is closed by the use of proper attire (gowns, gloves, other
clothing), control of body secretions, and proper handwashing
J.The route of transmission is minimized through proper handwashing,
disinfection and sterilization and proper disposal of contaminated materials.
K.The portal of entry is blocked by asepsis, disinfection, and sterilization
procedures.
L.Host susceptibility is broken when the health and wellness of an individual
is maintained.

Sites of virus entry:

Immunity

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A. First line of defense
1. Body parts and mechanisms that act to keep microorganisms out of body tissues
and bloodstream. Interrupts the infection chain at the port of entry link
2. Include
a. skin
b. mucus membranes
c. cilia
d. tears
e. coughing or sneezing
f. pH of body areas
B. Second line of defense
1. Microorganisms gain entrance to the body
a. Body forms White Blood Cells that kill the invader by phagocytosis.
b. Interrupts the infection chain at the susceptible host link
C. Third line of defense – Immune response
1. Organism multiplies rapidly and cannot be destroyed fast enough by phagocytosis
2. A specialized white blood cell – lymphocyte forms antibodies
a. antibodies are tiny substances that attach to specific pathogens and inactivates
of destroys them.
b. Another form of lymphocyte acts as a memory cell, remembering the
pathogen over time, resisting further future infection.
c. This process of long-term protection is called immunity.
d. Antibodies are specific to disease.
e. Immunity does not prevent pathogens from entering the body, it prevents
Pathogens from doing harm. 3. Interrupts the infection chain at the susceptible host
link.
D. Vaccination
1. A small dose of killed or weakened microorganisms or similar substance that
stimulates the third line of defense (immune response).
2. Antibodies are produced.
3. In time every encounter with the microorganisms will cause memory cells in the
body to quickly produce antibodies. This is active immunity.

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4. Antibodies can also be injected for some diseases, which gives immediate
protection. This is passive immunity.
5. Immunity can be life-long or short term, depending on the disease.

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