SASN/ Microbiology and Parasitology

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Practical Nursing

Module 1 Introduction to Microbiology

Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify the roles of microorganisms in our ecosystem.
2. Identify the contributions of Leeuwenhoek, Spallanzani, Pasteur, Cohn
and Koch to the field of microbiology.
3. Explain the postulates of Robert Koch.

Microbiology (from Greek μῑκρος, mīkros, "small"; βῑος, bios, "life"; and -λογῑα, -logia) is the
study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony),
or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines
including virology, parasitology, mycology and bacteriology. Microbiology is the study of
microscopic or small organisms that can be seen only with the aid of a microscope. There are a
variety of microscopes that can give various levels of resolution and are used in different clinical
settings
Eukaryotic microorganisms possess membrane-bound organelles and
include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryotic organisms—all of which are microorganisms—are
conventionally classified as lacking membrane-bound organelles and
include Bacteria and Archaea. Microbiologists traditionally relied on culture, staining, and
microscopy. However, less than 1% of the microorganisms present in common environments can
be cultured in isolation using current means.

Parts of a Compound Microscope with Diagram

Credit to: MicroscopeMaster Home; May 2020

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 What Are Microbes?

A microbe, or microorganism, is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell

(unicellular); cell clusters; or multicellular, relatively complex organisms.
The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van
Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design.

A Drawing of Microbes: This is a drawing of what Arthur Hill Hassall saw under a microscope in a
sample of water taken from the River Thames at two locations. Hassall was able to identify many
microscopic organisms not perceptible to the unaided eye.
Credit to: [Link]
microbiology/; May 2020

Microorganisms are very diverse; they include bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa;
microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as rotifers and planarians. Some
microbiologists also include viruses, but others consider these as non-living. Most microorganisms
are unicellular, but this is not universal, since some multicellular organisms are microscopic. Some
unicellular protists and bacteria, like Thiomargarita namibiensis, are macroscopic and visible to
the naked eye.
Microorganisms live in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil,
hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere, and deep inside rocks within the Earth’s
crust. Most importantly, these organisms are vital to humans and the environment, as they
participate in the Earth’s element cycles, such as the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle.
Microorganisms also fulfil other vital roles in virtually all ecosystems, such as recycling
other organisms’ dead remains and waste products through decomposition. Microbes have an
important place in most higher-order multicellular organisms as symbionts, and they are also
exploited by people in biotechnology, both in traditional food and beverage preparation, and in
modern technologies based on genetic engineering. Pathogenic microbes are harmful, however,
since they invade and grow within other organisms, causing diseases that kill humans, animals,
and plants.
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The Pathogenic Ecology of Microbes

Although many microorganisms are beneficial, many others are the cause of infectious
diseases. The organisms involved include pathogenic bacteria, which cause diseases such as
plague, tuberculosis, and anthrax. Biofilms —microbial communities that are very difficult to
destroy—are considered responsible for diseases like bacterial infections in patients with cystic
fibrosis, Legionnaires’ disease, and otitis media (middle ear infection). They produce dental
plaque; colonize catheters, prostheses, transcutaneous, and orthopaedic devices; and infect
contact lenses, open wounds, and burned tissue.
Biofilms also produce foodborne diseases because they colonize the surfaces of food and
food-processing equipment. Biofilms are a large threat because they are resistant to most of the
methods used to control microbial growth. Moreover, the excessive use of antibiotics has resulted
in a major global problem since resistant forms of bacteria have been selected over time. A very
dangerous strain, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has wreaked havoc
recently.
In addition, protozoans are known to cause diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness, and
toxoplasmosis, while fungi can cause diseases such as ringworm, candidiasis, or histoplasmosis.
Other diseases such as influenza, yellow fever, and AIDS are caused by viruses.
Food-borne diseases result from the consumption of contaminated food, pathogenic
bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food. ” Hygiene” is the avoidance of infection or
food spoiling by eliminating microorganisms from the surroundings. As microorganisms (bacteria,
in particular) are found virtually everywhere, the levels of harmful microorganisms can be
reduced to acceptable levels with proper hygiene techniques. In some cases, however, it is
required that an object or substance be completely sterile (i.e., devoid of all living entities and
viruses). A good example of this is a hypodermic needle.

Microorganism Speculation

Pre-microbiology, the possibility that microorganisms existed was discussed for many
centuries before their actual discovery in the 17th century. The existence of unseen microbiological
life was postulated by Jainism, which is based on Mahavira’s teachings as early as 6th century BCE.
In his first century book, On Agriculture, Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro was the first
known to suggest the possibility of disease spreading by yet unseen organisms. In his book, he
warns against locating a homestead near swamps because “there are bred certain minute
creatures that cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the
mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases. ” In The Canon of Medicine (1020), Abū Alī ibn
Sīnā (Avicenna) hypothesized that tuberculosis and other diseases might be contagious. In 1546,
Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by transferable seed-like
entities that could transmit infection by direct or indirect contact or even without contact over
long distances. All these early claims about the existence of microorganisms were speculative and
were not based on any data or science. Microorganisms were neither proven, observed, nor
correctly and accurately described until the 17th century. The reason for this was that all these
early studies lacked the microscope.

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 Roles of microorganisms in our Ecosystem

Microbiology studies all these microorganisms too small to be seen by the naked eye. Given
this nature of the subject, in order to visualize and characterize what is too small to be seen,
microbiologists always apply newly available technologies to their subject. Thru this they gained
knowledge which allows development and immediate application (e.g. cell biology, genetics,
biochemistry, ecology). Aside from this they need other disciplines, and methods like laboratory
culture, sterilization and microscopy, which can be applied and used as tools for other disciplines
such as genetics, biotechnology and ecology.

Contributions of Leeuwenhoek, Spallanzani, Pasteur, Cohn and Koch

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) was one of the first people to observe
microorganisms, using a microscope of his own design, and made one of the most important
contributions to biology. Before Van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of microorganisms in 1675, it had
been a mystery why grapes could be turned into wine, milk into cheese, or why food would spoil.
Van Leeuwenhoek did not make the connection between these processes and microorganisms, but
using a microscope, he did establish that there were forms of life that were not visible to the naked
eye. Van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery, along with subsequent observations by Spallanzani and
Pasteur, ended the long-held belief that life spontaneously appeared from non-living substances
during the process of spoilage.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: A drawing of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, one of the first scientists to use a
microscope and identify microbes.
Credit to: [Link]
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Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729–1799) found that boiling broth would sterilize it and kill any
microorganisms in it. He also found that new microorganisms could settle only in a broth if the
broth was exposed to the air. Spallanzani's experiment showed that it is not an inherent feature of
matter, and that it can be destroyed by an hour of boiling. As the microbes did not re-appear as
long as the material was hermetically sealed, he proposed that microbes move through the air and
that they could be killed through boiling. He was the first to explain the process of digestion in
animals. Here he first interpreted the process of digestion, which he proved to be no mere
mechanical process of trituration – that is, of grinding up the food – but one of actual chemical
solution, taking place primarily in the stomach, by the action of the gastric juice. Spallanzani
studied and made important descriptions on blood circulation and respiration.

Lazzaro Spallanzani: A drawing of Lazzaro Spallanzani, found that boiling broth would sterilize it and
kill any microorganisms in it.
Credit to: [Link]

Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) expanded upon Spallanzani’s findings by exposing boiled

broths to the air in vessels that contained a filter to prevent all particles from passing through to
the growth medium. He also did this in vessels with no filter at all, with air being admitted via a
curved tube that prevented dust particles from coming in contact with the broth. By boiling the
broth beforehand, Pasteur ensured that no microorganisms survived within the broths at the
beginning of his experiment. Nothing grew in the broths in the course of Pasteur’s experiment.
This meant that the living organisms that grew in such broths came from outside, as spores on
dust, rather than spontaneously generated within the broth. Thus, Pasteur dealt the death blow to
the theory of spontaneous generation and supported germ theory instead.

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 Louis Pasteur: The famous scientist Louis Pasteur, one of the founders of microbiology.
Credit to: [Link]

Pasteur and Spontaneous Generation

Pasteur’s experiments revealed that spontaneous generation does not occur.

Spontaneous generation is an obsolete body of thought on the ordinary formation of living

organisms without descent from similar organisms. Typically, the idea was that certain forms such
as fleas could arise from inanimate matter such as dust or that maggots could arise from dead
flesh. A variant idea was that of equivocal generation, in which species such as tapeworms arose
from unrelated living organisms, now understood to be their hosts.
Doctrines held that these processes were commonplace and regular. Such ideas were in
contradiction to that of univocal generation: effectively exclusive reproduction from genetically
related parent(s), generally of the same species. The doctrine of spontaneous generation was
coherently synthesized by Aristotle, who compiled and expanded the work of prior natural
philosophers and the various ancient explanations of the appearance of organisms; it held sway
for two millennia.
Today spontaneous generation is generally accepted to have been decisively dispelled
during the 19th century by the experiments of Louis Pasteur. He expanded upon the investigations
of predecessors, such as Francesco Redi who, in the 17th century, had performed experiments
based on the same principles.
Louis Pasteur’s 1859 experiment is widely seen as having settled the question. In summary,
Pasteur boiled a meat broth in a flask that had a long neck that curved downward, like a goose.
The idea was that the bend in the neck prevented falling particles from reaching the broth, while
still allowing the free flow of air. The flask remained free of growth for an extended period. When
the flask was turned so that particles could fall down the bends, the broth quickly became clouded.
In detail, Pasteur exposed boiled broths to air in vessels that contained a filter to prevent all
particles from passing through to the growth medium, and even in vessels with no filter at all, with
air being admitted via a long tortuous tube that would not allow dust particles to pass. Nothing
grew in the broths unless the flasks were broken open, showing that the living organisms that
grew in such broths came from outside, as spores on dust, rather than spontaneously generated
within the broth. This was one of the last and most important experiments disproving the theory
of spontaneous generation.
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Pasteur’s test of spontaneous generation: By sterilizing a food source and keeping it isolated from the
outside, Pasteur observed no putrefaction of the food source (top panel). Upon exposure to the outside
environment, Pasteur observed the putrefaction of the food source (bottom panel). This strongly
suggested that the components needed to create life do not spontaneously arise.
Credit to: [Link]
microbiology/

Despite his experiment, objections from persons holding the traditional views persisted.
Many of these residual objections were routed by the work of John Tyndall, succeeding the work
of Pasteur. Ultimately, the ideas of spontaneous generation were displaced by advances in germ
theory and cell theory. Disproof of the traditional ideas of spontaneous generation is no longer
controversial among professional biologists. Objections and doubts have been dispelled by studies
and documentation of the life cycles of various life forms. However, the principles of the very
different matter of the original abiogenesis on this planet — of living from non-living material —
are still under investigation.

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 Ferdinand Julius Cohn (January 24, 1828 – June 25, 1898) was a German biologist. His
classification of bacteria into four groups based on shape (sphericals, short rods, threads, and
spirals) is still in use today. Among other things Cohn is remembered for being the first to show
that Bacillus can change from a vegetative state to an endospore state when subjected to an
environment deleterious to the vegetative state. His studies would lay the foundation for the
classification of microbes and gave some of the first insights into the incredible complexity and
diversity of microbial life.

Ferdinand Julius Cohn, His classification of bacteria into four groups based on shape (sphericals, short
rods, threads, and spirals)
Credit to: [Link]
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In 1876, Robert Koch (1843–1910) established that microbes can cause disease. He found
that the blood of cattle that were infected with anthrax always had large numbers of Bacillus
anthracis. Koch found that he could transmit anthrax from one animal to another by taking a small
sample of blood from the infected animal and injecting it into a healthy one, and this caused the
healthy animal to become sick. He also found that he could grow the bacteria in a nutrient broth,
and then inject it into a healthy animal, and cause illness. Based on these experiments, he devised
criteria for establishing a causal link between a microbe and a disease and these are now known
as Koch’s postulates. Although these postulates cannot be applied in all cases, they do retain
historical importance to the development of scientific thought and are still being used today.

Robert Koch, established that microbes can cause disease.

Credit to: [Link]

Postulates of Robert Koch:

Koch's postulates: In 1890 the German physician and bacteriologist Robert Koch set out his
celebrated criteria for judging whether a given bacteria is the cause of a given disease. Koch's
criteria brought some much-needed scientific clarity to what was then a very confused field.

Koch's postulates are as follows:

 The bacteria must be present in every case of the disease.

 The bacteria must be isolated from the host with the disease and grown in pure culture.
 The specific disease must be reproduced when a pure culture of the bacteria is inoculated
into a healthy susceptible host.
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  The bacteria must be recoverable from the experimentally infected host.

However, Koch's postulates have their limitations and so may not always be the last word. They
may not hold if:
 The particular bacteria (such as the one that causes leprosy) cannot be "grown in pure
culture" in the laboratory.
 There is no animal model of infection with that particular bacteria.

A harmless bacteria may cause disease if:

 It has acquired extra virulence factors making it pathogenic.

 It gains access to deep tissues via trauma, surgery, an IV line, etc.
 It infects an immune compromised patient.
 Not all people infected by a bacteria may develop disease-subclinical infection is usually
more common than clinically obvious infection.

Despite such limitations, Koch's postulates are still a useful benchmark in judging whether
there is a cause-and-effect relationship between a bacteria (or any other type of microorganism)
and a clinical disease.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

1. Thomas M. Terry; Copyright 2000; Introduction to Microbiology Reading: Ch. 1 in

Prescott et al, Microbiology, 4th Ed ; MCB 229 Spring 2000
2. Beatrix Fahnert; 2010; BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE FUNDAMENTALS AND SYSTEMATICS –
Introduction To Microbiology; Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University,
Museum Avenue, PO Box 911, Cardiff CF10 3AX, Wales, UK

Online Supplementary Reading Materials

1. [Link] March 10, 2020

2. [Link] March 10, 2020
3. [Link] March 10, 2020
4. [Link] March 10, 2020
5. [Link] March 10, 2020
6. [Link]
dless)/1%3A_Introduction_to_Microbiology/1.1%3A_Introduction_to_Microbiology/1
.1B%3A_History_of_Microbiology_-_Hooke%2C_van_Leeuwenhoek%2C_and_Cohn;
March 11, 2020
7. [Link] March 11,
2020
8. [Link]
to-microbiology/ April 29, 2020

Online Instructional Videos

1. Introduction to Microbiology; [Link] March 16, 2020

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