Lecture 1: An Introduction to Microbiology

A History of Microbiology

WHAT IS MICROBIOLOGY?
Microbiology is the study of organisms too small to

be seen with the naked eye.

Organisms/entities included in the study of
microbiology
Viruses (acellular)
Prions (acellular)
Bacteria (procaryote)
Archaea/Archaeobacteria (procaryote)
Fungi (eucaryote)
Protozoa (eucaryote)
Algae (microscopic) (eucaryote)
Helminths/Parasitic worms (eucaryote)

Basic Principles of Microbiology

Listed below are the fields of microbiology

according to the group of organisms studied.

Virology: the study of viruses
Bacteriology: the study of bacteria
Mycology: the study of fungi
Protozoology: the study of protozoa
Phycology/Algology: the study of algae
Parasitology: the study of parasitic
organisms, traditionally identified as
protozoa and parasitic worms

Basic Principles of Microbiology

Microbes are diverse.
Morphology

(size, shape)
Ecology (environment, interactions
with other organisms)
Nutrition (growth requirements)
Genetics
Disease types

Introduction to Microbiology
Microbiology is the basis of more specific

disciplines
microbial genetics
molecular biology/genetic
engineering/recombinant DNA
technology
biotechnology
immunology

Introduction to Microbiology
Microbiologist focus on understanding the

microorganisms encountered daily.

They work to provide cures to major diseases, e.g.
AIDS
Emphasis is placed on improving the quality of
life
Gene therapy
Genetically modified organisms/foods
Vaccines (e.g. flu shoots)

Introduction to Microbiology
Humans support a diverse microbial

community
Normal flora (Resident microbiota)
vs. transient microbiota
Bacteria: Gram positive vs. Gram
negative
Fungi: yeast, dimorphic molds
Microscopic arthropods, e.g mites

Introduction to Microbiology
A balanced normal flora on the skin and other

parts of the body help to protect from infection by

pathogenic (disease-causing) micro-organisms
Bacteria in the intestine aid in digestion and help to
synthesize vitamins that the body needs that it
cannot make itself; e.g. vitamin K and some B
vitamins
Probiotics: living organisms, mostly bacteria
similar to the normal flora typically found in the
digestive tract, that are used to support intestinal
health.

Introduction to Microbiology
Microorganisms are used in the production of food

items:
Yogurt
Cheese
Wine and other alcoholic beverages
Bread
Vinegar
Soy sauce
Applied Microbiology: Food science

Introduction to Microbiology
Microorganisms are used in industrial settings to
produce chemicals
Acetone
Organic acids
Enzyme
Alcohols (e.g. ethanol and butanol)
Antibiotics

Applied Microbiology: industrial microbiology

and biotechnology

Introduction to Microbiology
Certain bacteria and algae are

photosynthetic and provide benefits similar

to plants in replenishing the oxygen supply.

Marine and freshwater microorganisms

form the basis of the food chain in these

environments.

Introduction to Microbiology
Soil microorganisms help to break down

wastes, convert atmospheric nitrogen into

organic compounds, etc.

Bioremediation: microorganisms are used to

clean up pollutants and hazardous materials

(e.g. oil spills, radioactive wastes and
trichloroethylene which is a highly toxic
solvent used in dry cleaning.)

Introduction to Microbiology
Disease
The study of how diseases are caused (etiology)
The study of how diseases are spread

(transmission)
Identification of pathogen
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prophylaxis (prevention)
Applied Microbiology: Infectious Disease Medicine

Introduction to Microbiology
Microbes are important in sewage

treatment.
Organic liquids left behind after
chemical and mechanical treatment are
converted to carbon dioxide, nitrates,
phosphates, etc. by bacteria and
protozoa.

Basic Microbial Principles and Processes

Physiology
Growth
Metabolism
Fermentation
Respiration

Genetics
Replication
Plasmid Biology
Drug Resistance

Pathogenesis
Virulence
Infection and

Disease
Parasitism
Microbial Ecology
Epidemiology
Taxonomy and
Systematics

Introduction to Microbiology
Microbes make a critical contribution to

the welfare of the worlds inhabitants by

helping to maintain the balance of living
organisms and chemicals in our
environment.

A Brief History of
Microbiology
Important Pioneers in the
Development of Microbiology

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Zacharias Jansen (1597): Dutch lens maker
(also Zaccharias Janssen)
Credited with the creation of the first

compound (double lens) microscope; 20-30x

magnification
One lens was close to the eyes (ocular) and
the other was close to the sample (objective)

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Robert Hooke(1665): English scientist

Microscopist
Improved Jansens compound microscope
First to publish drawings of
microorganisms in the publication
Micrographia

Demonstrated the fruiting bodies of

mold

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Robert Hooke (continued)

Observed thin slices of cork and noticed
small, orderly arrangements.
He called the structured, orderly
arrangements he observed under the
microscope cells because they reminded
him of the cells (or small, bare rooms) of
monks.
His observations provided the basis for the
cell theory

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

Also Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Dutch tailor, merchant and lens grinder
Microscope maker: Improved the lens used in
microscopes; 270x magnification
Amateur scientist: First to accurately observe and
describe microorganisms (1674)
Animalcules: bacteria and protozoa
Taken from samples of pond water, rain water, and
material scraped from his teeth

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Carl von Linne (1701-1778)
Commonly known as Linnaeus; also Carolus
Linnaeus
Swedish botanist
Created the binomial system

Binomial system
Is a two-word naming system
Genus name, then specific epithet (species
name)
E.g. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Binomial System
Latin or Greek words are used for the names
Name is either descriptive or credits the

discoverer
Escherichia: named after Theodore
Escherich
Staphylococcus: From the Greek word,
staphyle, for grapelike cluster.

History of Microbiology
Ferdinand Cohn (1828-1898)
German botanist, and microscopist
Studied algae and bacteria
Is known as the father of bacteriology

Best known for discovering endospores, based on

his studies of Bacillus

Is credited with devising simple, but effective
methods to prevent contamination of culture media
Use of cotton to stopper culture flasks

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Spontaneous generation/Abiogenesis Theory
Belief that living things arise

spontaneously from non-living matter

People believed that:
moist grain gave rise to rodents
dust gave rise to beetles
mud gave rise to worms and frogs
rotten meat gave rise to worms, i.e.
maggots.

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Spontaneous generation
Proponents of the theory believed that all
previously living organic matter contained a
vital force that allowed life to arise from
non-life.
Oxygen was also important for growth.
Important contributor: John Needham (English
clergyman)

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Biogenesis theory
Opposing theory to spontaneous

generation that claims that living

cells can only arise from preexisting living cells

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Important contributors to support the

theory of Biogenesis
Francesco Redi (1626-1697)
Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799)
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
John Tyndall (1820-1893)

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Francesco Redi: Italian physician

Devised a set of experiments to demonstrate
that rotting meat did not give rise to
worms i.e. maggots (1688).
Lazzaro Spallanzani: Italian cleric and scientist
Performed a set of experiments to show that
living organisms did not spontaneously
appear in boiled broth of meat infusions
(1765-1776)

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Louis Pasteur: French chemist

Conducted experiments with swan-necked
flasks and boiled infusions that helped to
support the theory that life can only come
from life.
John Tyndall: English physicist
A contemporary of Pasteur who performed
experiments of boiled infusions and sealed
flasks that were later opened to the air

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
The debate between spontaneous generation
and the biogenesis theory finally ended in the
19th century with the formulation of the Germ
theory of Disease
Germ theory of Disease
the concept that human disease is caused by
microorganisms
Important Contributors
Louis Pasteur
Robert Koch

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Louis Pasteur: French chemist and scientist

(1822-1895)
Pasteurization
Important work with fermentation and
putrefaction
Produced vaccines using attenuated strains of
disease causing organisms
Created vaccines for rabies and anthrax.

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Robert Koch: German physician (1843-1910)

Derived techniques for studying bacteria in vitro
The creation of nutrient broth and nutrient
agar, media suitable for the culture and
isolation of microorganisms obtained from
human diseases
Especially ways to grow bacteria in pure
culture (i.e. cultures that only contain one
species of microorganisms).

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY

Robert Koch (1876)

Agar: used as a substitute for potato slices and
gelatin.
Introduced to him through Fanny Angelina
Hesse, the wife of Walther Hesse, one of
Kochs colleagues.
Petri dish: a container to hold the agar
medium
An invention by Julius Richard Petri

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Introduced the concept of one organism-one

disease
Started the field of etiology: the study of
disease causation
Koch formulated a series proofs to verify that a
disease is directly caused by a specific
microorganism

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Kochs Postulates:

1.The microorganism must be present in every

case of the disease but absent from healthy
organisms
2. The suspected microorganism must be isolated
and grown in a pure culture
3. The same disease must result when the isolated
microorganism is inoculated in a healthy host
4. The same microorganism must be isolated
again from the diseased host

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann
Formulated the cell theory (1837)that says

The cell is the fundamental unit of life.

All living things are made up of cells.
It is the site for all of the basic functions of
living organisms.
Living organisms are considered cellular
organisms.

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Matthias Schleiden (1804-1881)
German botanist who in 1838 studied plants and

realized that all plants were made from smaller

building blocks or cells.
Theodor Schwann (1810-1882)
German zoologist and physiologist who
discovered the enzyme pepsin in 1836. In 1839, he
extended the tenets of the cell theory to animal
cells. He believed that new cells were derived from
pre-existing cells.

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Edward Jenner: British physician (1749-1823)
The first (in Western culture) to develop a

vaccine (1798)
He provided protection from disease by using a
less virulent or attenuated version of the
disease-causing microorganism: smallpox
From his experiments with smallpox/cowpox,
we get the word vaccination and vaccine;
vacca (latin)= cow

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes: American physician

(1809-1894)
First observed that mothers who gave birth at
home had fewer incidences of peurperal fever
than mothers that gave birth in hospitals. (1843)
Determined that the disease was transmitted
from patient to patient by doctors and nurses
Shares credit with Dr. Semmelweis
His observation pre-dated Semmelweis by
three years

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865)
Hungarian physician working in Vienna, Austria
Observed that many hospitalized women died of a
fever associated with childbirth (puerperal or
childbed fever) (1847)
Showed the disease associated with childbirth was a
result of physicians examining the women after
performing autopsies
Instituted the policy of handwashing and observed a
marked reduction in the number of deaths associated
with this disease

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Joseph Lister: British surgeon (1827-1912)
Known for improving surgical techniques to

prevent wound infection (1865)

Introduced the concepts of:
antiseptic surgery using heat sterilized
tools
the use of phenol which inhibits bacterial
cell growth and kills bacteria
use of carbolic acid on bandages

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Hans Christian Gram (1853-1938)
Published a paper describing the technique for
staining bacteria (1884)
The Gram stain
Is a stain that differentiates bacteria into two

groups based on the composition of their cell

wall
Gram positive and Gram negative
This method is still used in microbiology today

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
British nurse who introduced cleanliness and other
aseptic techniques into nursing practices.
Set standards for hygiene in hospitals

The use of scrubbing brushes for nurses when

washing hands
Separated patient care locations from locations
where clothes and used bandages were cleaned
Worked at removing unsanitary conditions from
hospitals

HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
Alexander Fleming: Scottish physician (1881-1955)
Discovered and described the first antibiotic:
penicillin
The discovery of antibiotics was accidental (1928)
Penicillin is derived from the mold Penicillium

notatum
Antibiotics are substances produced by both
bacteria and fungi to kill other microorganisms