Micro Lectute 1 (Microbiology Introduction & History)

General Microbiology Course
Lecture 1
(Microbiology: Introduction & history)
Dr. Mohammad Odaibat

Department of Microbiology and Pathology
Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University
Objectives
What you should know?
• Some history Highlights.
• What are microbes?
• The classification of microbes.
• The structure of microbes.
• The physiology of microbes.
Distribution of microorganisms
• Omnipresent: nearly everywhere in nature
• Grow where they get food moisture and
temperature suitable for growth
– Air
– Soil
– Oceans
– Food we eat
– Surfaces of our body and inside alimentary canal
Why study Microbiology
• Microbes are related to all life.
– In all environments
– Many beneficial aspects
– Related to life processes (food chains, nutrient
cycling)
– Only a minority are pathogenic.
– Most of our problems are caused by microbes
Branches of microbiology
Field Some Applied Areas
Bacteriology Study of bacteria
Mycology Study of fungi
Protozoology Study of protozoans
Virology Study of viruses and viral diseases.
Algology or Study of algae
Phycology
Parasitology Study of parasitism and parasites (include
pathogenic protozoa, helminthes worms and
certain insects)
Five Kingdom classification of Organisms
Living Organisms
Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
Bacteria Protozoa Molds

Algae Yeasts
Effects on Human beings
Microorganisms
Beneficial Harmful
Agriculture Food Food spoilage

Diseases
Recycling of elements, Bread, Wine, Cheese, Yoghurt,
Nitrifying bacteria Vinegar
Industrial applications
Enzymes, Amino acids, Vitamins, Antibiotics,

Vaccines, Pharmaceutical industries, Sewage
treatment
Bacteria:
• Size: 0.2-1.5 by 3-5 µm
• Important Characteristics:
– Prokaryotic
– Unicellular
– Simple Internal structure
– Grow on artificial laboratory media
– Reproduction asexual (mostly simple cell division)
Viruses
•Size: 0.015-0.2 µm
•Important Characteristics:
• Do not grow on artificial media require living cells within which they
reproduce
• Obligate parasites
• Electron microscopy required to observe
• Practical significance: Cause diseases in humans animals plants, also infect
microorganisms
Viruses
Protein coat
Nucleic acid
RNA/
DNA
RNA/
Tail DNA
Fibers
Membrane envelop
Viruses infects bacterial cells Viruses infects human cells

called Bacteriophage Example: Influenza
Fungi (Yeasts)
•Size: 5.0-10.0 µm
– Eukaryotic
– Unicellular
– Grow on artificial laboratory media
– Reproduction asexual (cell division/ budding) or sexual
– Practical significance: Some cause diseases and some are used as food supplements ,
Manufacture of alcoholic beverages
Fungi (Molds)
• Size: 2.0-10.0 µm by several mm
– Eukaryotic
– Multicellular
– Many distinctive structural features
– Cultivated on artificial laboratory media
– Reproduction asexual or sexual
– Practical significance: Decomposition of many materials, Industrial production of many
chemicals like antibiotics, Can cause diseases
Protozoa
•Size: 2.0-200 µm
– Eukaryotic
– Unicellular
– Some cultivated on laboratory media while some are intracellular parasites
– Reproduction asexual or sexual
– Practical significance: Some cause diseases, Food for aquatic animals.
Algae
•Size: 1.0 µm to several centimeters
– Eukaryotic
– Unicellular or Multicellular
– Photosynthetic
– Most occur in aquatic environments
– Reproduction asexual or Sexual
– Practical significance: Production of food in aquatic environments, Some
produce toxic substances.
Definitions
• Microbiology
Is the study of microorganisms
which are of microscopic
dimensions.
• Microorganisms
Are living organisms that are
usually too small to be seen
clearly with the naked eye
The History of Microbiology
Molecular Biology
period
Golden period
Transition Period
Discovery period
Pioneers of Microbiology 1632-1723
Discovery period
 Dominated by Antony Van
Leeuwenhoek
 As a tailor, used lenses to examine
cloth. It was probably this that led to
his interest in lens making.
He assembled hundreds of microscopes,
some of which magnified objects 50-300
times.
 As he looked at things with his
microscopes, he discovered “micro”
organisms
 He called these tiny living organisms
“animalcules”.
 He first described bacteria and the
protozoans.
Pioneers of Microbiology
Discovery period
• Robert Hooke [1678]:
– Developed Compound
microscope
– 1st to use the term ‘Cell’
– Proposed the Cell Theory
– All living things are composed
of cells
• Ignaz Semmelweis [1846]: Concluded that puerperial sepsis
was transmitted by contaminated hands of obstetricians,
nurses and medical students. This could be prevented by
washing hands in antiseptic solutions.
Transition Period
The scientists disapproved the theory of

spontaneous generation
spontaneous generation:
Is a body of thought on the ordinary formation of
living organisms without descent from similar
organisms
The theory of spontaneous generation
Flies recipe
Aristotle
Meat After several days
Mice recipe
=
Transition Period
The scientists disapproved the theory of spontaneous generation (How)
- Redi's Question: Where do maggots come from?
- Hypothesis: Maggots come from flies.
- Experiment: Redi put meat into three separate jars.
Jar-1
•Left open
• Maggots developed
• Flies were observed laying
eggs on the meat in the open jar
Jar-2 Jar-1
• Sealed
• No maggots developed
Jar-3 Jar-2
• Covered with netting
• Maggots appeared on the netting
• Flies were observed laying eggs on
the netting Jar-3
Golden Period
Began with the work

of Louis Pasteur
and Robert Koch
Golden Period
• Louis Pasteur [1822-1895]: Father of Microbiology
– Demonstrated anaerobic fermentation by both bacteria and yeasts
(bacteria produce acid and yeast produce alcohol)
– Developed pasteurization to prevent spoilage of wine by bacteria
– Introduction of sterilization techniques: development of steam
sterilizer, autoclave and hot-air oven
– Studies on Anthrax and Cholera
– Introduced live attenuated (weakened) vaccines [Accidental
observation: chicken cholera bacillus cultures left for several weeks
lost their pathogenicity but retained their ability to protect the
chickens from infection] Chicken inoculated Pure culture of chicken
Cholera bacteria 8 weeks old Remains Healthy (Vaccine Concept)
Golden Period
• Louis Pasteur [1822-1895]: Father of Microbiology
Golden Period
Robert Koch [1843-1910]:
•Introduced methods for isolation of pure culture
•Use of solid media for isolation of bacteria
Staining techniques.
•He established what is known Kock’s postulates.
•Discovered Anthrax bacillus (1876), Tubercle
bacillus (1882) and cholera vibrios (1883).
Golden Period
Kock’s postulates
"One microbe, one disease“
• Robert Koch was the first who demonstrate that a specific disease was
caused by a specific microorganism.
Four criteria designed to establish a causative relationship between a

microbe and a disease
• The specific causative agent must be found in every case of the disease
• The disease organism must be isolated from the lesions of the infected
case and maintained in pure culture
• The pure culture, inoculated into a susceptible or experimental animal,
should produce the symptoms of the disease
• The same bacterium should be re-isolated in pure culture from the
intentionally infected animal
Timeline (Dmitri Ivanowski 1864-1920)
• Russian Botanist
• 1892: He publishes the first

evidence of the filterability of a
pathogenic agent, the virus of
tobacco mosaic disease, launching
the field of virology.
www.microbeworld.org
Timeline. (Alexander Fleming 1881-1955)
• 1929: Alexander Fleming

publishes the first paper
describing penicillin
(produced from the mold
Penicillium) and its effect
on gram-positive
microorganisms.
Timeline. (Alexander Fleming 1881-1955)
• Fleming kept his cultures 2-3 weeks

before discarding them. When he looked
at one set he noticed that the bacteria
seemed to be dissolving and the mold
was contaminating the culture.
• When penicillin is finally produced in
major quantities in the 1940s, its power
and availability effectively launch the
“Antibiotics Era,” a major revolution in
public health and medicine
mold
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General Microbiology Course

Dr. Mohammad Odaibat

Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

Bacteria Protozoa Molds

Agriculture Food Food spoilage

Enzymes, Amino acids, Vitamins, Antibiotics,

Viruses infects bacterial cells Viruses infects human cells

The scientists disapproved the theory of

Meat After several days

Began with the work

Four criteria designed to establish a causative relationship between a

• 1892: He publishes the first

• 1929: Alexander Fleming

• Fleming kept his cultures 2-3 weeks

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