NATURE OF MICROBES

What are microbes and are there different types?

How are they seen?
How can they be grown?
How were their effects first proved?
 Learning outcomes
Know that microbes include bacteria,
viruses and fungi.
know that viruses are smaller than
bacteria.
know that yeasts are fungi.
 Bacteria
A bacterial cell consists of cytoplasm,
cell membrane and a cell wall.
There is no distinct nucleus.
Bacteria reproduce by dividing into two.
 Viruses
Viruses are smaller than bacteria
they consist of a protein coat
surrounding a small number of genes and
can only reproduce inside a host cell.
The production of new viruses results in
the destruction of the host cell and the
release of new viruses which can then
attack new cells.
 Fungi
Yeast are a type of fungi
Yeast cells are larger than bacteria
They have a nucleus, cytoplasm and a
membrane surrounded by a cell wall.
Yeasts reproduce by budding.
 Pupil Activity
Read through the hand out and make a
labelled diagram of
A bacterial cell
A virus
 Learning outcomes
understand the safe use of basic
aseptic techniques
investigate the presence of bacteria in
milk using agar plates.
 Aseptic Techniques
Aseptic techniques are used to safely
inoculate, plate and incubate microbes.
 Culturing micro organisms
Micro organisms can be grown in a
culture medium containing
carbohydrates as an energy source,
mineral ions, and in some cases
supplementary protein and vitamins.
These nutrients are often contained in
an agar medium which can be poured
into a petri dish.
 Aseptic Techniques
For this:
petri dishes and culture media must be sterilised
before use to kill unwanted micro organisms;
inoculating loops used to transfer micro organisms
to the media must be sterilised by passing them
through a flame;
the lid of the petri dish should be sealed with
adhesive tape to prevent micro organisms from the
air contaminating the culture.
 Risk assessment
cultures should be incubated at a
maximum temperature of 25C to
prevent the growth of pathogens that
might be harmful to humans.
In industrial conditions higher
temperatures can produce more rapid
growth.
 Learning outcomes
understand how Pasteur used scientific
method to devise experiments and make
deductions.
 Spontaneous Generation
Read through the worksheet
Spallanzani experiment
What did Spallanzani's experiment show?
Was his hypothesis correct or incorrect?

Proponents of spontaneous generation

argued that Spallanzani had only proven
that spontaneous generation could not
occur without air.
Louis Pasteur
 Pasteur's Experiment Results
What did Pasteur's experiment show?
Was his hypothesis correct or incorrect?
 The theory of spontaneous generation was
finally laid to rest in 1859 by Louis Pasteur.
Pasteur's experiment was a variation of
earlier methods
He boiled meat broth in a flask, heated the
neck of the flask in a flame until it became
pliable, and bent it into the shape of an S.
Air could enter the flask, but airborne
microorganisms could not - they would settle by
gravity in the neck.
As Pasteur had expected, no microorganisms
grew.
 When Pasteur tilted the flask so that
the broth reached the lowest point in
the neck, where any airborne particles
would have settled, the broth rapidly
became cloudy with life.
More Louis Pasteur
 Learning outcomes
explore information about the effect of
temperature on the growth of bacteria
and understand its application in food
storage
 Stages of Growth
In micro-organisms, such as bacteria
and yeast, growth leads to cell division
and consequently an increase in
population size.
 The growth of a population of single-
celled microorganisms grown in a closed
environment typically shows four stages:
lag phase;
exponential phase;
stationary phase;
death phase.
Growth Curve
 The lengths and characteristics of
these phases will depend upon factors
such as the nature of the growth
medium and temperature of incubation.
 In industry, it is important to
understand the factors which affect
the growth rate of a given micro-
organism in order to generate maximum
product by the most economic means.
 Example
If the product is produced when the
organism has stopped growing the
manufacturer will want to provide
optimum conditions for the culture to:
reach maximum numbers in stationary
phase
in the shortest time possible
 Food Storage
food preservation
by canning,
freezing,
drying,
ultra heat treatment,
high solute concentrations)
Temperature and food storage

Freezing

UHT
 Micro-organisms in the food
industry
Micro-organisms are heterotrophic they
take in ready made foods molecules from
their environment.
Examples of Microbes useful in food
production
Acetobacter vinegar production
Lactobacillus - yoghurt and cheese production
ripening bacteria in cheese production
Fusarium and mycoprotein
 Use of micro-organism
process Use of microorganism
Yeast is mixed with flour, sugar and water to make dough. The yeast
respire the sugar and produce pockets of carbon dioxide that makes
Baking the dough rise.
When the bread is baked the yeast is killed.
Yeast respires sugar to form ethanol and carbon dioxide. The ethanol
Brewing makes the drink alcoholic and the carbon dioxide gives the drink its
fizz. The process is called fermentation.
Bacteria are used to ferment milk at 46oC. As a result lactic acid is
Yoghurt produced which makes the milk lumpy (coagulate). The temperature is
making then reduced to 5oC to prevent further bacterial action. The whole
process is carried out in sterile conditions
This is a protein produced by microorgansism such as bacteria. Fungi
or unicellular algae in a fermentation vessel. While the product
Single-cell contains 72% protein it does not taste very nice and is expensive to
protein produce. An alternative is quorn this is a mycoprotein made from a
filamentous FUNGUS, which has 12.2% protein, low fat content and
6% fibre.
 Food Additives
Food Additives are substances with no
nutritional value
They are added to improve the
Appearance
Flavour
Texture
Storage properties of food
 antioxidants
Stop food reacting with oxygen, which
may spoil the taste of the food or
change its colour
 Colourings
Improve the appearance of food
Some colourings can be hazardous
Sunset yellow
Hyperactivity
Allergic reactions and asthma
 Flavourings
Enhance the taste of the food
MSG monosodium glutamate in processed
food
Sugar
Artificial sweetners e.g. aspartame
 Preservatives
Give processed foods a longer shelf life
by preventing the growth of micro-
organisms
Disadvantages of preservatives
Sulphur dioxide - destroys vitamin B1
Sodium nitrite - carcinogen