INTRODUCTION TO MICROBIOLOGY

MICROBIOLOGY
the scientific study of microorganisms/ microbes (minute living things that are too small to be seen with
the naked eye).
Objects less than 1 mm in diameter


Groups of Microorganisms
Bacteria
Algae
Fungi
Protozoa
Helminths
Viruses (acellular)

Some members are larger and visible.

Roger Stanier suggested:
Microbiology is defined not only by the size of its subjects but also in terms of its techniques.
The study of microorganisms
A microbiologist usually first isolates a specific microorganism from a population and then cultures it.
Microbiology employs techniques such as sterilization and the use of culture media that are
necessary for successful isolation and growth of microorganisms.
Aseptic Technique
technique used by microbiologists to prevent microbial contamination of themselves, which may result
in infection, contamination of the environment they are working in (e.g. fomites), and contamination of
the specimen they are working on, which is especially important when a pure culture is desired.


Importance of Microbes
Microbes & Ecology
are producersthey provide energy to ecosystems
Microbes are fixersthey make nutrients available from inorganic sources, e.g., nitrogen
Microbes are decomposersthey free up nutrients from no longer living sources
Microbes form symbioses (such as mycorrhizal fungi associated with plant rootsthough somewhat
macroscopic, the bacteria found in legume root nodules, etc.)
Microbes serve as endosymbionts (e.g.chloroplasts and mitochondria)


Microbes & Industry
Industry: Fermentation products (ethanol, acetone, etc.)
Food: Wine, cheese, yogurt, bread, half-sour pickles, etc.
Biotech: Recombinant products (e.g., human insulin, vaccines)
Environment: Bioremediation




Microbes & Disease
Microbes both cause and prevent diseases
The Germ Theory of Disease = Microbes cause disease!
(yes, it wasnt so long ago that humans didnt know this)
The single most important achievement of modern medicine is the ability to treat or prevent microbial
disease
Microbes produce antibiotics used to treat diseases
Most of this course will consider the physiology of microbes and their role in disease

Negative impact on human health
Microbes cause many infectious diseases.
Vaccines, antibiotics, and many other advances have lessened the impact of infectious disease in the
developed world, but infectious disease in developing countries is high.
New illnesses caused by microorganisms continue to emerge and known pathogens are becoming
resistant to treatment.


Ten Leading Causes of Morbidity in the Philippines
Assignment
Name atleast 10 people whom you consider to have contributed significantly in the development of
microbiology and give their corresponding achievements.
HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY


Man tried to figure out the factors that cause disease.
Early civilizations have realized a connection between sewage and disease.
As evident in Crete, India, Pakistan and Scotland - invented toilets and sewers.

First cities to use water pipes:
Clay - Indus Valley of Pakistan around 2700 BC.
Metal - Egypt (2450 BC)
Clay - Palace of Knossos in Crete ~ 2000 BC
Lead Rome (subsequent fall of the Roman empire has been related by some to the effects of lead on
the Roman brain.)
Rome built elaborate aqueducts and public fountains


Even before microorganisms were seen, some investigators suspected their existence and responsibility
for disease.
Roman philosopher Lucretius (~98-55 BC) and
Physician Girolamo Fracastoro (1478-1553),
Suggested that disease was caused by invisible living creatures.
Ancient people had certainly seen masses of microbes
Mold and bacterial colonies, on spoiled food
but it is doubtful if anyone considered that they were VIEWING living organisms.
Upon staring into a clear pond, they must have seen tiny specks moving rapidly about
To say that they are living creatures to other people would be equivalent to us telling our friends that
we'd seen a flying saucer!
Spontaneous generation conflict
Spontaneous generation a belief from the earliest times that living organisms develop from nonliving
matter.
Hypothesis: some vital force contained in or given to organic matter can create living organisms from
inanimate objects.

Spontaneous generation recipes
Snakes from horse hairs in stagnant water
Mice from grain and cheese wrapped in a sweater
Maggots from rotting meat
Fleas from hair
Flies from fresh and rotting fruit
Mosquitoes from stagnant pondwater
Eels from slimy mud at the bottom of the ocean
Locusts from green leaves
Raccoons from hollow tree trunks
Termites are generated from rotting wood
Francesco Redi (1626-1697)
Italian physician who challenged the spontaneous generation view.
Carried out a series of experiments on decaying meat and its ability to produce maggots spontaneously.
Demonstrated that animals do not arise spontaneously from dead organic matter

Francesco Redis experiment (1688)
Proponents of spontaneous generation
Absence of air prevented spontaneous generation
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
(1632-1723)
Amateur microscopist, the first person to observe and describe microorganisms accurately.
His best lens could magnify ~300-500 fold
Observations made on: pond water, scum on his teeth, his semen
He wrote of his observations to the Royal Society of London in1676 and included numerous drawings.
John Needham (1713-1781)
English priest, a proponent of spontaneous generation theory.
He revived the concept and the debate were revived in 1745 by his experiments.
Found that even if he heated nutrient fluid (chicken broth and corn broth), the cooled solution were
soon teemed with microorganism
A strong proof to Needham of the existence of spontaneous generation.



Lazzaro (Abbe) Spallanzani
1729-1799
Repeated Needham's experiment, but removes all the air from the flask. No growth occurs. (1770)
Demonstrated that heated broth, in the absence of air, did not support spontaneous generation.
GOLDEN AGE OF MICROBIOLOGY
(1857-1914)
This period saw the discovery of the causes of many diseases, advances in the understanding of
immunity, advances in the understanding of microbial metabolism, etc.
John Tyndall
1860
Demonstrated that open tubes of broth remained free of bacteria if air was free of dust. Developed
tyndallization to destroy spores
Louis Pasteur
1861

Disproved the theory of spontaneous generation
Pasteurs experiment
famous experiments with swan-necked flasks finally proved that microorganisms do not arise by
spontaneous generation.

Louis Pasteur
1858

Biological Theory of Fermentation specific microbes produces specific fermentation product
Fermentation
The anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol by yeast.
Pasteurization
The process of heating liquids for the purpose of destroying viruses and harmful organisms such as
bacteria, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.
Does not intend to kill all micro-organisms (pathogenic) in the food. Instead, aims to achieve a "log
reduction" in the number of viable organisms, reducing their number so they are unlikely to cause
disease (assuming the pasteurized product is refrigerated and consumed before its expiration date).

Louis Pasteur
1866
Developed techniques for selective destruction of microorganisms (pasteurization).
Study of bacterial contamination of wine
Louis Pasteur
1868
Studied diseases of silkworms

1881
Attenuated vaccines for anthrax and chicken cholera
Louis Pasteur
1885

Immunization against rabies

GERM THEORY OF DISEASE
Germ theory of disease
Many diseases are caused by the growth of microbes in the body and not by sins, bad character, or
poverty, etc.
Germ Theory of Disease
A theory that proposes that microorganisms are the cause of many diseases.
Contributors:
Girolamo Fracastoro
Agostino Bassi
John Snow
Louis Pasteur
Robert Koch
Joseph Lister
1860
Applied germ theory to medical procedure
- use of chemical antimicrobials for the "sanitization" of objects that come into contact with surgical
wounds.

Robert Koch
1884

Developed postulates in proving the cause of infectious diseases
Kochs Postulates
1. The causative agent must be present in every case of the disease and must not be present in healthy
animals.

2. The pathogen must be isolated from the diseased host animal and must be grown in pure culture.
Kochs Postulates
3. The same disease must be produced when microbes from the pure culture are inoculated into healthy
susceptible animals.

4. The same pathogen must be recoverable once again from this artificially infected host animal, and it
must be able to be grown again in pure culture.

Robert Koch
1876
Observed anthrax bacilli

1882
Developed solid culture media
Discovered pathogen of tuberculosis

Aseptic Technique
technique used by microbiologists to prevent microbial contamination of themselves, which may result
in infection, contamination of the environment they are working in (e.g. fomites), and contamination of
the specimen they are working on, which is especially important when a pure culture is desired.
Aseptic Technique..
Contributors:
Ignaz Semmelweis (hand washing as a means of minimizing surgical infection)
Joseph Lister (use of chemical antimicrobials for the "sanitization" of objects that come into contact with
surgical wounds)

Florence Nightingale
19th Century

An English nurse developed modern nursing technique and procedures for organizing hospitals to
reduce the spread of diseases

Paul Ehrlich
1890-1900

Formulated humoral theory of resistance, developed new staining technique, and developed first
chemotherapeutic agent (Salvarsan)
Emil von Behring
1890s

Developed method for producing immunity by using antitoxin against diptheria
Vaccination (1796)
The process of administering pathogens that can not reproduce (due to being weakened or dead) to a
healthy person or animal, with the intent of conferring immunity against a targeted form of a related
disease agent.
Contributor:
Edward Jenner (use of cowpox virus to vaccinate against smallpox virus)

Chemotherapy
the use of substances (natural or synthetic) to treat disease.
In its non-oncological use, the term may also refer to antibiotics (antibacterial chemotherapy).
Contributors:
Paul Ehrlich (arsphenamine)
Domagk (sulfonamides)
Alexander Fleming (penicillin)

SECOND GOLDEN AGE OF MICROBIOLOGY (1943-1970)
Microbial genetics era.





MODERN DEVELOPMENTS
Advancement in Molecular microbiology and Immunology
Microbial Genetics
Microorganisms have served as important biochemical and genetic model systems
Understanding the molecular role of DNA in the hereditary process occurred as a consequence of
studies employing microorganisms.
Recombinant DNA and engineering, DNA technology