Themes in Microbiology

RASHIDA
 Topics Covered

 Scope of Microbiology
 Importance of Microorganisms
 Scope of Microbiology

Microbiology
 study of organisms too small to be seen by
the naked eye.

Microbes or Microorganisms
 commonly referred to as “germs”
 include bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae,
protozoa and helminths.
 Prions (“infectious proteins”) are recent
addition.
 Specializations in Microbiology

 Epidemiology and Public Health Microbiology

distribution and spread of diseases and their control and prevention

 Food Microbiology
use of microbes in the production of food products and drinks

 Agricultural and Veterinary Microbiology

use of microbes to increase crop and livestock yield and control of
plant pests and animal diseases

 Environmental Microbiology
study of the beneficial and harmful effects of microbes on the
environment
 Importance of Microbiology

 First bacteria
 Photosynthesis and decomposition
 Human use of microorganisms
 Infectious diseases
Photosynthetic Microbes

Microbes are involved in photosynthesis and accounts for

>50% of earth’s oxygen.
Also involved in decomposition and nutrient recycling.
Beneficial Uses of Microbes

Extraction of copper from ore

Beneficial Uses of Microbes

Synthesis of drugs, hormones and enzymes

 Beneficial Uses of Microbes

Bioremediation is the use of microbes to degrade organic

matter in sewage and detoxify pollutants such as oil spills.
 Human use of
Microorganisms
• Humans have been using microorganisms
for thousands of years
 Baker’s and brewer’s yeast
 Sugar  Alcohol in wine and beer
 Cheeses
 Moldy bread on wounds
 Extraction of copper from ore (top)
 Synthesis of drugs, hormones and enzymes
(mid)
 Microbes in the Environment
• Microbial photosynthesis (CO2 --- light  organic mat’l)
account for most of the atmospheric oxygen on Earth
 Anoxgyenic, Oxygenic (70% oxygen)

• Microbes are essential for decomposition of dead

organisms into simple compouns

• Many biologically important elements (S, N, P) are cycled

by microbes = nutrient recycling
 Gas production, carbs in cattle
 Modern Uses of Microbes

 Biotechnology, the use of microbes as miniature

biochemical factories to produce food and chemicals is
centuries old.
 Genetic engineering makes use of molecular biology
and recombinant DNA techniques as new tools for
biotechnology.
 Gene therapy replaces missing or defective genes in
human cells through genetic engineering.
 Genetically modified bacteria are used to protect crops
from pests and freezing.
 Ubiquity of Microorganisms

• Found nearly everywhere

• Occur in large numbers
• Live in places many other organisms
cannot
 Earths crust, polar ice caps, bodies of plants
and animals
 Human insulin

 Prior to the development of this technique,

insulin was extracted from the pancreas glands
of cattle, pigs, and other farm animals, While
generally efficacious in the treatment of diabetes,
animal-derived insulin is not indistinguishable
from human insulin, and may therefore produce
allergic reactions. .
• Uses of biotechnology in pharmaceutical
manufacturing is the use of recombinant
DNA technology to modify Escherichia coli
bacteria to produce human insulin, which
was performed at Genentech in 1978.
• Thus, the insulin producing genes were
also activated by lactose. The recombinant
plasmids were inserted into Escherichia
coli bacteria, which were “induced to
produce 100,000 molecules
 Production of vitamin:

• Bacteria like E. Coli present in human

colon are involved in synthesis of vitamins
like vitamin b12, folic acid, biotin and K,
which may be used by the host. Such
bacteria are often used for commercial
preparation of vitamins like riboflavin.
 Antibiotics From fungi

• Fungi are well known as a source of

antibiotics but new therapeutic compounds
with novel pharmacological activities have
also been developed in recent years. One
such example are the cyclosporins
 Production of Antiseptic

• Antisepticsare antimicrobial substances

that are applied to living tissue/skin to
reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis.
• Antiseptics are true germicides, capable of
destroying microbes (bactericidal) while
others are bacteriostatic and only prevent
or inhibit their growth. Antibacterial are
antiseptics that only act against bacteria.
Microbicides which kill virus particles are
called viricides.
• Some common examples of antiseptics are
alcohols, Quaternary ammonium
compounds, Boric acid, Chlorhexidine
Gluconate, Hydrogen peroxide, Iodine,
phenol etc.
 Medical Microbiology

• Medical Microbiology helps in the

diagonostic protocol for identification of
causative agents of various human
aliments, alimentes & subsepuents
preventive measures. Some are stated
blew
 Infection control:

• Inaction control using knowledge to control

infection, or prevent the spread of disease.
 Genetic Engineering:

• Microorganisms can now be genetically

engineered to manufacture large amounts
of human hormones and other urgently
needed substance. It is the study of how
genes are organized and regulated in
microbes in relation to their cellular
functions, closely related to the field of
molecular biology.
• . Microorganisms play a central role in
recombinant DNA technology and genetic
engineering
• Important tools of biotechnology are
microbial cells, microbial genes, and
microbial enzymes. This information is a
key step for the pharmacists in their
research and general preparation of
various medications.
 Pharmaceutical
Microbiology
• Pharmaceutical Microbiology is the part
of industrial microbiology that is
responsible for creating medications. The
making of life-saving drugs, antibiotics e.g.
Penicillin’s, ampicillin, chloramphenicol,
ciprofloxacin, tetracyclines, and
streptomycin belong to the sector of
pharmaceutical microbiology. There are
many useful products made by microbes.
 Industrial microbiology:

• Industrial microbiology making of ethanol,

acetic acid lactic acid, citric acid, glucose,
syrup, high-fructose syrup.
 Food Microbiology

Food chain are an important component of

the food chain. They allow for recycling of
nutrients and some microbes are actual
parts of food chain.
Brewing and backing have been carried out
for thousands of years and both are
depend on the conversion of sugar into
alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeasts
 Beverage Microbiology

• Beverage Microbiology making of beer,

sandy, wine, and a variety of alcoholic
beverage e.g. whisky, brandy, rum, gin.
Discipline of Microbiology
• Taxonomic arrangement:-
• Bacteriology: The study of bacteria.
• Mycology: The study of fungi.
• Protozoology: The study of protozoa.
• Phycology (or algology): The study of
algae.
• Parasitology: The study of parasites.
• Immunology: The study of the immune
system.
• Virology: The study of viruses.
• Nematology:The study of the nematodes
• Microbiology:The study of microbes