A brief history of microbiology Chapter 1

Microbes
Plants, animals, ecosystems depend on microbes
Most microbes are benefcial
A few are harmful
History of microbiology
The early years
The olden Age
The modern age
The future
The Early Years
!eeing microbes
Antoni "an #eeuwenhoe$ %1&'()1*('+
,utch merchant and lens)ma$er
-irst to see microbes . bacteria, fungi, proto/oa
Animalcules
Made e0cellent microscopes, but secrets of ma$ing microscopes died
with him, and microbes were considered insignifcant to the a1airs of
man
Who are the microbes?
Carolus #innaeus . a !wedish botanist
,e"eloped a system for classifcation of organisms
2ow, can classify microbes into
3acteria
Archaea
-ungi
Proto/oa
Algae
!mall animals . e4g4, helminths %worms+
5iruses
Bacteria and archaea
3oth are pro$aryotes and unicellular
2o nuclei
3acteria ha"e peptidoglycan cell walls . archaea use other polymers
#i"e anywhere there is moisture
Archaea often found in e0treme en"ironments
#arge ma6ority do not cause disease
Mostly degrade dead plants and animals
Fungi
7u$aryotes
2ot photosynthetic . not plants
Molds and yeasts
Molds . flamentous and multicellular
Penicillium chrysogenum . penicillin
8easts . unicellular, bud
Saccharomyces cerevisiae . ma$es alcohol
Candida albicans . yeast infections
Protozoa
9nicellular eu$aryotes
Most are motile
Pseudopodia, cilia or :agella
Plasmodium ) cause of malaria
Most are free)li"ing; some cause disease
Algae
9nicellular and multicellular
!eaweeds and $elp are large
Photosynthetic
9nicellular algae are found in freshwater ponds, la$es, oceans, soil
Pro"ide most of the world<s o0ygen
Other organisms
Parasitic worms . microscopic to well o"er (' feet long %tapeworms+
5iruses
2ot cellular
=bligatory parasites
Composed of genetic material %,2A or >2A+ surrounded by a protein
coat
The Golden Age
?@ year period in the late 1A@@s and early 1B@@s
-our important Cuestions were being as$ed
Ds spontaneous generation of microbial life possibleE
Fhat causes fermentationE
Fhat causes diseaseE
How can we pre"ent infection and diseaseE
s s!ontaneous generation o" microbial li"e !ossible?
Consider a dry la$ebed in the African sun
2o life "isible until it rains
Philosophers and scientists thought li"ing things arose ' ways
Ase0ual reproduction
!e0ual reproduction
-rom nonli"ing matter
!pontaneous generation
Aristotle came up with the idea
The e#!eriments
There were lots of pre"ious e0perimenters, but they all came to di1erent
conclusions
Pasteur fnally pro"ed that e"en microbes arose from other li"ing microbes
and not from non)li"ing material. 2= spontaneous generation
His famous Gswan)nec$ed :as$sH remained free of microbes for 1A months
9ntil he bro$e o1 the nec$s and let dust fall in or tilted others to that
the liCuid touched the dust in the nec$
What causes "ermentation?
This Cuestion had tremendous practical application for wine)ma$ers because
sometimes the wine spoiled . whyE
Pasteur was hired to fnd out
-irst, he had to fnd out what caused fermentation . he did . yeasts )
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
2e0t, he pro"ed that anaerobic bacteria in the wine made acid out of
grape 6uice, spoiling the wine
!o he de"eloped a method to $ill the spoilage organisms, but not $ill the
:a"or or the wine4 This was pasteuri/ation and the feld of industrial
microbiology was born
What causes disease?
Prior to 1A@@s, disease was belie"ed to be caused by e"il spirits, sin,
imbalances in body :uids %the I humors Jblac$ bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and
bloodK, and foul "apors
Pasteur<s disco"ery that bacteria spoil wine led to his hypothesis in 1A?* that
if microbes made wine Gsic$H maybe they made people sic$
This is the erm Theory of ,isease
$och%s e#!eriments
Loch was another important microbiologist of the time who studied anthra0
and was also in"ol"ed in de"eloping the erm Theory
Dn anthra0)infected animals he found a rod)shaped bacterium in e"ery
case4
He infected healthy animals with the endospores of the bacterium and
caused healthy animals to de"elop the disease
He also de"eloped many important laboratory techniCues
14 !imple staining of bacteria and :agella
(4 TechniCue to estimate number of bacteria in a sample
'4 9se of steam to sterili/e media
I4 9se of Petri dishes to hold solid media for growth
?4 Aseptic transfer of bacteria using a platinum wire
&4 7lucidation of bacteria as distinct species
*4 rowth of bacteria on solid surfaces
$och%s !ostulates
Loch also disco"ered the causati"e agent of tuberculosis by following certain
steps, which are called Loch<s Postulates4 These areM
14 !uspected causati"e agent must be found in e"ery case of the disease
and be absent from healthy indi"iduals
(4 Agent must be isolated and grown in lab
'4 Fhen agent is introduced into a healthy indi"idual, host gets the
disease
I4 !ame agent is reisolated from the new host
Gram%s stain
To fulfll Loch<s postulates, ha"e to see the microbe
3ut they are colorless and hard to see
!o, Hans Christian ram . 1A**
9sed a series of dyes that stain some bacteria purple, others pin$
ram)positi"e and ram)negati"e
This is the most widely used staining techniCue when identifying
bacteria
&o' can 'e !re(ent in"ection and disease?
Dn mid)1A@@s, sewage treatment and hygiene were not practiced
2osocomial infections were rampant
!urgical patients died from gangrene
Fomen gi"ing birth died from puerperal fe"er
-our indi"iduals changed the way health care is deli"ered
!emmelweis, #ister, 2ightingale, !now
)emmel'eis and hand'ashing
Dgna/ !emmelweis %1A1A)1A&?+
Physician in obstetric ward in 5ienna
=bser"ed (@N mortality rate in wing where medical students
were trained than in wing where midwi"es assisted mothers
Hypothesi/ed Gcada"er particlesH were carried to deli"ery room
from autopsy room
Actually was a Streptococcus organism
He reCuired medical students to wash their hands in chlorinated
lime water
>esult ) Mortality dropped from 1A4'O to 14'O
2e"ertheless, !emmelweis was ridiculed and forced to lea"e,
dying in an asylum
*ister%s antise!tic techni+ue
Poseph #ister %1A(*)1B1(+
2oted lots of infections after surgeries
Had assistants spray wounds, incisions, and dressings with carbolic
acid %phenol+
Met with resistance, but reduced deaths by (Q'
,ightingale and nursing
-lorence 2ightingale %1A(@)1B1@+
Dntroduced cleanliness and antiseptic techniCues into nursing practice
!crubbed hospitals, changed patientsR clothing
,ocumented statistical comparisons showing poor food and unsanitary
conditions were responsible for many soldiers< deaths
-ounded the frst nursing school
)no' and e!idemiology
Pohn !now %1A1')1A?A+
!tudied the propagation of cholera in #ondon
Mapped occurrences of cholera
!howed they centered around the 3road !treet pump . had city shut
down pump . cholera le"els dropped
!tarted the felds of epidemiology and infection control
-enner%s (accine
1*AB . 7dward Penner
2oticed that mil$maids who had cowpo0, didn<t get smallpo0, which was a
horrible disease
!o, he tested his hypothesis that cowpo0, a mild disease, pro"ided protection
against smallpo0
He intentionally inoculated a A yr old small boy with cowpo0 . son of his
gardener . and child sur"i"ed
!ubseCuently inoculated the boy with smallpo0
-ortunately, the boy was immune to smallpo0
!o, he in"ented "accination and the feld of immunology, the study of the
body<s specifc defenses against pathogens
Pasteur subseCuently de"eloped "accines for fowl cholera, anthra0, and
rabies
&o' to .ght against these microbes
Paul 7hrlich %1B@A+ had the idea that he wanted to fnd a way to $ill
pathogenic microbes. the pathogens but remain nonto0ic to humans . he
wanted a Gmagic bulletH that could $ill any pathogen and not harm the host
He ne"er found one, but he did fnd a chemical e1ecti"e against
trypanosomes %agent of sleeping sic$ness+ and against Treponema pallidum,
the causati"e agent of syphilis ) !al"arsan
!o, he started the medical branch of microbiology called chemotherapy
The modern age o" microbiology
5ast increase in number of microbiological in"estigation in the olden Age led
to new felds of science
7n"ironmental microbiology
Dmmunology
7pidemiology
Chemotherapy
enetic engineering
Medical microbiology
Dndustrial microbiology
Fhy study microbesE
Microbes are easy to grow, ta$e up little space, and are a"ailable by
the trillions
Fhat you learn applies to other organisms
)tudy o" microbes a!!lied to genetics
Microbial genetics taught usM
That genes are contained in ,2A
That genes and proteins are connected
How genetic information is translated into a protein
Ands we are learning about control of genetic e0pression
,e"eloped into the felds of molecular biology, recombinant ,2A
technology, and gene therapy
Molecular biology
Combines biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics to e0plain cell function at
the molecular le"el
-or e0ample, we now do genome seCuencing
FhyE
To limit disease, repair genetic defects, and enhance agricultural yield
ene seCuences are used to show e"olutionary relationships . has
often replaced #innaeus<s methods of ta0onomy
Carl Foese . 1B*@s . came up with ' domains . abo"e $ingdoms
Archaea, 3acteria and 7u$arya
/ecombinant 0,A technology
enetic engineering . de"eloped using microbial models
Fe can manipulate genes for practical purposes
74g4, ma$e human insulin for diabetics instead of using pig insulin
74g4, insert gene for human blood)clotting factor into E. coli, which
produces the factor in pure form for hemophiliacs
1an 'e re!air de"ecti(e genes?
ene therapy
Dnsert a missing gene or repair a defecti"e gene in human cells so they
are f0ed for life
Dnsert a desired gene into host cells
Dncorporated into the chromosome
3egins to function normally
What roles do microorganisms !lay in the en(ironment?
Fe $now that microbes li"e in communities . often bioflms
!oil, water, the human body, etc4
Produce "itamins, do bioremediation, etc4
They play an essential role in decay of dead organisms and recycling of
nutrients
Con"erting nitrogen gas into a form that plants can use
>ecycling of minerals
The study of this is en"ironmental microbiology
&o' do 'e de"end against disease?
For$ of Penner and Pasteur showed that the body can defend itself
And scientists ha"e showed the e0istence of blood chemicals and cells that
fght infection
#ed to felds of serology and immunology
Chemotherapy
Ale0ander -leming disco"ered penicillin . 1B(B
3ut not in use until 1BI@<s
erhard ,omag$ disco"ered sulfa drugs . 1B'@<s
2uestions "or the "uture?
How can we de"elop programs to eradicate diseases li$e T3, AD,!, and
malariaE
Fhat is it about those bacteria that are $nown only by their genetic
seCuences that pre"ents us from growing them in the labE
Can bacteria and archaea be used in ultraminiature technologies such as
li"ing computer circuit boardsE
How can an understanding of microbial communities help us understand the
positi"e aspects of microbial action in pre"enting disease, recycling nutrients,
degrading pollutants, and moderating climate changesE
What 'ill the "uture hold?
Fhat features of li"ing organisms might allow them to li"e elsewhere in the
uni"erseE
How can we reduce the threat from microbes resistant to antimicrobial drugs
as well as conCuer emerging and reemerging infectious diseasesE
#ots yet to doSS4