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    Introduction To Microbes

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    Angela Weasly
    Micro-organisms, also known as microbes, are single-celled organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. They are found everywhere on Earth and are generally divided into bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria can help or harm humans, reproduce inside or outside the body, and have different shapes. Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and infect cells to reproduce. Fungi are the largest microbes and can be helpful or harmful depending on if they are absorbing nutrients from a living organism.

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    Introduction To Microbes

    Uploaded by

    Angela Weasly
    54 views10 pages
    Micro-organisms, also known as microbes, are single-celled organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. They are found everywhere on Earth and are generally divided into bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria can help or harm humans, reproduce inside or outside the body, and have different shapes. Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and infect cells to reproduce. Fungi are the largest microbes and can be helpful or harmful depending on if they are absorbing nutrients from a living organism.

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    1. Introduction to Microbes

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    Micro-organisms, also known as microbes, are single-celled organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. They are found everywhere on Earth and are generally divided into bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria can help or harm humans, reproduce inside or outside the body, and have different shapes. Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and infect cells to reproduce. Fungi are the largest microbes and can be helpful or harmful depending on if they are absorbing nutrients from a living organism.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    54 views10 pages

    Introduction To Microbes

    Uploaded by

    Angela Weasly
    Micro-organisms, also known as microbes, are single-celled organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. They are found everywhere on Earth and are generally divided into bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Bacteria can help or harm humans, reproduce inside or outside the body, and have different shapes. Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and infect cells to reproduce. Fungi are the largest microbes and can be helpful or harmful depending on if they are absorbing nutrients from a living organism.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 10

    What are micro-organisms?

    Microbes
    – Microbes are single celled organisms

    – Too small to be seen with the naked eye

    – They are found practically EVERYWHERE on earth

    – Also commonly known as bugs, germs and microbes

    – Generally divided into 3 different groups


    • Bacteria

    • Virus

    • Fungi
    Bacteria
    – Obtain nutrients from their environments in order to live. In some cases that
    environment is a human body
    – Most are helpful or harmless. But some cause disease

    – Bacteria can reproduce outside of the body or within the body as they cause
    infections
    – Some bacteria are good for our bodies:
    • Good bacteria live in our intestines and help us use the nutrients in the food we
    eat and make waste from what's left over.

    – They are found everywhere on earth, in the ocean, in rocks, in volcanoes, in


    our bodies and in the soil
    Bacterial Structure
    Cell Membrane
    Chromosome

    Cell wall Cytoplasm

    Chromosome: DNA material of the cell


    Cell wall: Composed of peptidoglycan the cell wall maintains the
    overall shape of a bacterial cell
    Cell membrane: Lining the inside of the cell wall it provides a boundary for
    the contents of the cell and a barrier to substances entering
    and leaving.
    Cytoplasm: Describes the inside of the cell and the contents
    Bacterial Shapes
    There are 3 different shapes of bacteria

    Balls or cocci
    (Staphylococcus)

    Rods
    (Lactobacillus)
    Spirals
    (Campylobacter)
    Viruses
    – Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and can sometimes live INSIDE
    bacteria
    – Most viruses make us ill

    – Diseases like CHICKENPOX and the FLU are caused by viruses.

    – Viruses are easily spread from one person to another.

    – Viruses cannot reproduce by themselves. They infect other cells and take
    over their reproductive machinery in order to reproduce.

    – They multiply inside the ‘host’ cell and when they have used all the cells
    reproductive machinery, thousands viral cells burst out of the cell. The host

    cell is completely destroyed.


    Viral Structure
    Envelope
    • Double lipid layer holding the cells
    Envelope
    genetic material.

    Nucleic acid Glycoproteins


    These serve 2 purposes
    • Anchor the virus to the host cell.
    Glycoproteins • Transport genetic material from the virus
    to the host cell.
     
    Nucleic acid
    • Either DNA or RNA material, but virus
    Complex cells rarely contain both. Most viral
    (Bacteriophage – a virus cells contain RNA material.
    which infects bacteria)
    Viral Shapes
    There are 3 different shapes of Virus

    Icosahedral Helical
    (Influenza) (Tobacco mosaic virus)

    Complex
    (Bacteriophage – a virus which infects
    bacteria)
    Fungi
    – The largest and most versatile of all microbes

    – Large plant like structures which lack chlorophyll

    – Need to absorb nutrients from whatever they are growing on

    – Fungi can be very helpful and humans have used them in


    – The food industry - brewing beer, making bread rise

    – Medicine – making antibiotics

    – They can also be harmful if they steal nutrients from another living
    organism. Examples include, mould on bread and athletes foot which is
    caused by a group of fungi known as dermatophytes
    – Fungi can be found in the air, on plants and in water
    Fungal Structure
    Sporangia

    Sporangiophore

    Rhizoids

    Sporangia:
    Spore producing body. 
    Sporangiophore:
    Filamentous stalk on which the sporangium forms.
    Rhizoids:
    The sub-surface hyphae are specialized for food absorption.

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