Introduction to Microbiology

- Microorganisms can be found in every ecosystem and in close

association with every type of multicellular organism. It’s consider
agents of human infectious diseases which
belong to five major groups of organisms:
bacteria, fungi, protozoa, helminths, and viruses.

- Bacteria belong to the prokaryote kingdom, fungi (yeasts and

molds) belong to the kingdom of fungi, and protozoa are members
of the kingdom of protists.
- Helminths (worms) are classified in the animal kingdom
(Table 1–1).
- Protists and fungi are distinguished from animals and plants
by being either unicellular or relatively simple multicellular
organisms.
- In contrast, helminths are complex multicellular organisms. Taken
together, the helminths and the protozoa are commonly called
parasites. Viruses are quite distinct from other organisms—they are
not cells but can replicate only within cells.
TABLE 1–1 Biologic Relationships of Pathogenic
Microorganisms
Microorganisms An organism that can be seen only through a
microscope. Microorganisms include bacteria, protozoa, algae,
and fungi. Although viruses are not considered living organisms,
they are sometimes classified as microorganisms.

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF MICROBES

Many of the essential characteristics of these organisms are
described in Table 1–2.One salient feature is that bacteria, fungi,
protozoa, and helminths are cellular, whereas viruses are not.
This distinction is based primarily on three criteria:
TABLE 1–2 Comparison of Medically Important Organisms
EUKARYOTES & PROKARYOTES

Cells have evolved into two fundamentally different types,

eukaryotic and prokaryotic, which can be distinguished on the
basis of their structure and the complexity of their organization.
Fungi and protozoa are eukaryotic, whereas bacteria are
prokaryotic.
(1) The eukaryotic cell has a true nucleus with multiple
chromosomes surrounded by a nuclear membrane and uses a
mitotic apparatus to ensure equal allocation of the chromosomes
to progeny cells.
(2) The nucleoid of a prokaryotic cell consists of a single
circular molecule of loosely organized DNA, lacking a nuclear
membrane and mitotic apparatus.

In addition to the different types of nuclei, the two classes of

cells are distinguished by several other characteristics:

(1) Eukaryotic cells contain organelles, such as mitochondria

and lysosomes, and larger (80S) ribosomes, whereas
prokaryotes contain no organelles and smaller (70S) ribosomes.

(2) Most prokaryotes have a rigid external cell wall that contains
peptidoglycan, a polymer of amino acids and sugars, as its unique
structural component. Eukaryotes, on the other hand, do not
contain peptidoglycan. Either they are bound by a flexible cell
membrane, or, in the case of fungi, they have a rigid cell wall with
chitin, a homopolymer of N-acetylglucosamine, typically forming
the framework.
(3) The eukaryotic cell membrane contains sterols, whereas no
prokaryote, except the wall-less Mycoplasma, has sterols in its
membranes.

Motility is another characteristic by which these organisms can

be distinguished.
- Most protozoa and some bacteria are motile, whereas fungi and
viruses are nonmotile. The protozoa are a heterogeneous group
that possess three different organs of locomotion: flagella, cilia,
and pseudo-pods. The motile bacteria move only by means of
flagella.

TERMINOLOGY

Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and helminths are named according to

the binomial Linnean system, which uses genus and species, but
viruses are not so named. For example, regarding the name of the
well-known bacteria Escherichia coli, Escherichia is the
genus and coli is the species name. Similarly, the name of the
yeast Candida albicans consists of Candida as the genus and
albicans as the species. But viruses typically have a single name,
such as poliovirus, measles virus, or rabies virus. Some viruses
have names with two words, such as herpes simplex virus, but
those do not represent genus and species.
Bacteriologists: study bacteria, there are medical, agricultural,
biotechnological specializations.

Mycologists: study fungi, there are medical, agricultural,

biotechnological specializations.

Protozoologists: study small “animal - like” single celled

organisms such as amoeba, and various disease causing
parasites.

Phycologists: study algae. The study of lichens can also be

regarded as a sub discipline of microbiology.

Parasitologists: a term generally used to describe those who

study small animals as agents of disease (like some microscopic
worms for instance) but also used to describe those who study
protozoan pathogens.

Immunology: is often taught and researched in microbiology

faculties.
history of microbiology

Key figures in the history of microbiology

- Robert Hooke ( 1635 - 1703 ) was a “polymath” he made many
scientific discoveries in the 17th century, including making one
of the first microscopes and also using a copy of one of
Leeuwenhoek”s microscopes to see and draw details of the
structure of plant cells and some microbes.

- Antony van Leeuwenhoek ( 1632 - 1723) made the first useful

microscopes in the 19th century, they were fiendishly difficult to
make and use, they were essentially a lens held in a metal clip,
the lens was made from a tiny drop of molten glass, and he used
such a microscope to see the first microscopic cells.

- Ilya Metchnikoff ( 1845 - 1916 ) was the first to realize that

animals such as us had a defense system against infection, what
we now call the immune system.

- Paul Ehrlich ( 1854 - 1915), searched for the “magic bullet”

against infectious disease, he synthesized the first successful
(but very toxic) drug against a disease – syphilis, it was an
arsenic derivative he called salvarsan.
- Gerhardt Domagk ( 1895 - 1964 ) developed the first useful
drug against a variety of bacterial infections, the first sulfa drug
–prontosil. Ironically, he died of an infection.

- Sir Alexander Fleming ( 1881 - 1955 ) and Selman Waksman

(1888-1973) discovered the first relatively safe and effective
antibiotics (of natural origin) – isolated from microorganisms.
Fleming discovered penicillin, Waksman discovered
streptomycin and a number of other antibiotics.

- Louis Pasreur ( 1822 - 1895) was a chemist, he made many

great discoveries, and he performed a crucial experiment using a
swan necked flask that proved that new life did not just
spontaneously arise from substances like rotting meat. For
centuries before Pasteur, many people believed in Spontaneous
Generation- the belief that life is generated spontaneously from
dead organic matter.

- Robert Koch ( 1843 - 1910) and his colleagues made many

important discoveries in microbiology, Koch initiated the use of
the seaweed polysaccharide gel called agar as a stable material
for the formation of a gel on which separated and pure (single
species) colonies of bacteria and fungi could be grown (actually
it was the wife of a colleague of his who suggested it), this was
a critical advance, and he also stated and used his Koch”s
postulates required to prove that a given organism caused a
given disease.
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
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