Essential Microbiology

Lecture Notes, Study Materials and Important questions answers

Subject : Essential Microbiology

Microbiology
1. What is microbiology? - Answer (click here)
2. Why is microbiology important? - Answer (click here)
3. How do we know? Microbiology in perspective: to the ‘golden age’ and
beyond - Answer (click here)
4. Light microscopy - Answer (click here)
5. Electron microscopy - Answer (click here)

Biochemical Principles
1. Atomic structure - Answer (click here)
2. Isotopes - Answer (click here)
3. Chemical bonds - Answer (click here)
4. Acids, bases, and pH - Answer (click here)
5. Biomacromolecules - Answer (click here)
6. Carbohydrates - Biomacromolecules - Answer (click here)
7. Proteins - Biomacromolecules - Answer (click here)
8. Higher levels of protein structure - Answer (click here)
9. Nucleic acids: Structure of DNA and RNA - Answer (click here)
10. Lipids - Biomacromolecules - Answer (click here)

Cell Structure and Organisation

1. Cell Structure and Organisation - Answer (click here)
2. The procaryotic cell and its structure - Answer (click here)
3. Eucaryotic cell Structure - Answer (click here)
4. Cell division in procaryotes and eucaryotes - Answer (click here)

Microbial Nutrition and Cultivation

 1. Microbial Nutrition and Cultivation - Answer (click here)
2. Microbial Nutritional categories - Answer (click here)
3. How do Microbial nutrients get into the microbial cell? - Answer (click
here)
4. Laboratory cultivation of microorganisms - Answer (click here)

Microbial Growth
1. Estimation of microbial numbers - Answer (click here)
2. Factors affecting microbial growth - Answer (click here)
3. The kinetics of microbial growth - Answer (click here)
4. Growth in multicellular microorganisms - Answer (click here)

Microbial Metabolism
1. Why is energy needed? - Answer (click here)
2. Enzymes - Answer (click here)
3. Principles of energy generation - Answer (click here)
4. Oxidation - reduction reactions - Answer (click here)
5. Glycolysis - Answer (click here)
6. Aerobic respiration - Answer (click here)
7. Oxidative phosphorylation and the electron transport chain - Answer (click
here)
8. Fermentation - Answer (click here)
9. Metabolism of lipids and proteins - Answer (click here)
10. Anaerobic respiration - Answer (click here)
11. Energy may be generated by the oxidation of inorganic molecules -
Answer (click here)
12. Photosynthesis - Answer (click here)
13. Anoxygenic photosynthesis - Answer (click here)
14. Anabolic reactions - Answer (click here)
15. Regulation of metabolism - Answer (click here)

Microbial Diversity
1. A few words about Microbial Classification - Answer (click here)

Procaryote Diversity
1. Procaryote Diversity - Answer (click here)
2. Domain: Archaea : Classification and General features - Answer (click here)
3. Phylum: Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
 4. Photosynthetic Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
5. Nitrifying Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
6. Iron- and sulphur-oxidising Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
7. Hydrogen-oxidising Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
8. Nitrogen-fixing Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
9. Methanotrophic Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
10. Sulphate- and sulphur-reducing Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
11. Enteric Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
12. Vibrio and related genera - Answer (click here)
13. Pseudomonads - Answer (click here)
14. Acetic acid bacteria - Answer (click here)
15. Stalked and budding Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
16. Sheathed Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
17. Predatory Proteobacteria - Answer (click here)
18. Spirilla - Answer (click here)
19. Rickettsia - Answer (click here)
20. Phylum Cyanobacteria: the blue-green bacteria - Answer (click here)
21. Phylum Chlorobi (green sulphur bacteria) and phylum Chloroflexi
(green non-sulphur bacteria) - Answer (click here)
22. Phylum Aquificae and phylum Thermotogae: the deeply branching
bacteria - Answer (click here)
23. Phylum ‘Deinococcus-Thermus’ - Answer (click here)
24. Phylum Planctomycetes - Answer (click here)
25. Phylum Chlamydiae - Answer (click here)
26. Phylum Spirochaetes - Answer (click here)
27. Phylum Bacteroidetes - Answer (click here)
28. Phylum: Verrucomicrobia - Answer (click here)
29. The Gram-positive bacteria: phylum Firmicutes and phylum
Actinobacteria - Answer (click here)
30. Phylum Firmicutes: The low GC Gram-positive bacteria - Answer (click
here)
31. Phylum Actinobacteria: The high GC Gram-positive bacteria - Answer
(click here)
32. Bacteria and human disease - Answer (click here)

Fungi
1. General biology of the Fungi - Answer (click here)
2. Classification of the Fungi - Answer (click here)
3. Fungi and disease - Answer (click here)
Protista
1. The Algae - Answer (click here)
2. Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click here)
3. Euglenophyta - Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click
here)
4. Dinoflagellata - Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click
here)
5. Diatoms - Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click here)
6. Chlorophyta - Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click
here)
7. Phaeophyta - Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click here)
8. Rhodophyta - Structural characteristics of algal protists - Answer (click
here)
9. Protozoa - Answer (click here)
10. Zooflagellates (Mastigophora) - Protozoa - Answer (click here)
11. Ciliates (Ciliophora) - Protozoa - Answer (click here)
12. Amoebas (Sarcodina) - Protozoa - Answer (click here)
13. Sporozoans (Apicomplexa) - Protozoa - Answer (click here)
14. The slime moulds and water moulds (the fungus-like protists) - Answer
(click here)
15. Protistan taxonomy: a modern view - Answer (click here)

Viruses
1. What are viruses? - Answer (click here)
2. Viral structure - Answer (click here)
3. Classification of viruses - Answer (click here)
4. Viral replication cycles - Answer (click here)
5. Replication cycles in bacteriophages - Answer (click here)
6. Replication cycles in animal viruses - Answer (click here)
7. Replication of RNA viruses - Answer (click here)
8. Replication cycles in plant viruses - Answer (click here)
9. Viroids - Answer (click here)
10. Prions - Answer (click here)
11. Cultivating viruses - Answer (click here)
12. Viral diseases in humans - Answer (click here)

Microbial Genetics
1. How do we know genes are made of DNA? - Answer (click here)
2. DNA replication - Answer (click here)
 3. DNA replication in procaryotes - Answer (click here)
4. What happens when replication goes wrong? - Answer (click here)
5. DNA replication in eucaryotes - Answer (click here)
6. What exactly do genes do? - Answer (click here)
7. Regulation of gene expression - Answer (click here)
8. Molecular basis of mutations - Answer (click here)
9. Genetic transfer in microorganisms - Answer (click here)

Microorganisms in Genetic Engineering

1. Microorganisms in Genetic Engineering - Answer (click here)
2. Plasmid cloning vectors - Answer (click here)
3. Bacteriophages as cloning vectors - Answer (click here)
4. Expression vectors - Microorganisms in Genetic Engineering - Answer
(click here)
5. Eucaryotic cloning vectors - Answer (click here)
6. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) - Answer (click here)

The Control of Microorganisms

1. Sterilisation - Control of Microorganisms - Answer (click here)
2. Sterilisation by heat - Control of Microorganisms - Answer (click here)
3. Sterilisation by irradiation - Control of Microorganisms - Answer (click
here)
4. Sterilisation using ethylene oxide - Control of Microorganisms - Answer
(click here)
5. Disinfection - Control of Microorganisms - Answer (click here)
6. Kinetics of cell death - Answer (click here)

Antimicrobial Agents
1. Antimicrobial Agents - Answer (click here)
2. Antibiotics - Answer (click here)
3. What other properties should an antibiotic have? - Answer (click here)
4. How do antibiotics work? - Answer (click here)
5. Resistance to antibiotics - Answer (click here)
6. How does antibiotic resistance work? - Answer (click here)
7. How does antibiotic resistance arise? - Answer (click here)
8. Antibiotic susceptibility testing - Answer (click here)
9. Antifungal and antiviral agents - Answer (click here)

Microbial Associations
 1. Microbial associations with animals - Answer (click here)
2. Microbial associations with plants - Answer (click here)
3. Microbial associations with other microorganisms - Answer (click here)

Microorganisms in the Environment

1. Microorganisms in the Environment - Answer (click here)
2. The carbon cycle - Microorganisms in the Environment - Answer (click
here)
3. The nitrogen cycle - Microorganisms in the Environment - Answer (click
here)
4. The sulphur cycle - Microorganisms in the Environment - Answer (click
here)
5. Phosphorus - Microorganisms in the Environment - Answer (click here)
6. Microbiology of soil - Answer (click here)
7. Microbiology of freshwater - Answer (click here)
8. Microbiology of seawater - Answer (click here)
9. Beneficial effects of microorganisms in the environment - Answer (click
here)
10. Harmful effects of microorganisms in the environment - Answer (click here)

Industrial and Food Microbiology

1. Microorganisms and food - Answer (click here)
2. Microorganisms as food - Answer (click here)
3. Microbial spoilage of food - Answer (click here)
4. Microorganisms in the production of biochemicals - Answer (click here)
5. Products derived from genetically engineered microorganisms - Answer
(click here)
6. Microorganisms in the mining industry - Answer (click here)