Chapter 1: Scope And History Of Microbiology Flashcards
Microbiology
Study of microbes/microorganisms
- they’re ubiquitous (everywhere)
Roles of microbes
- human health
- food chain
- antibiotics
- biotechnology
- digestive
- foods and fermentation
- bioremediation
- disease research
Why microbes are good for research
- size: small, easy to grow quickly
- large populations
- rapid growth rate: multiple gens in one day
- research benefits: vaccines, antibiotics
Domains containing microbes
Eukarya
Bacteria
Archaea
Prokarya
Bacteria
- Bacteriology
- some are pathogens, many are good
- 1/10-1/1000 size of eukaryotic cell
Archaea
- Environmental extremophile (glacial, thermal vents)
- novel biochemistry: different genes and metabolic processes
Algae
- Eukaryote
- phycology
- Some are microbes, some aren’t
- Aquatic photosynthetic
- Some good, occasionally bad
Fungi
- Eukaryote
- Mycology
- Some are microscopic (yeast)
- Decomposes
- Single or multicellular
- Mycoses: disease caused by fungi
Protozoa
- Eukaryote
- Protozoology
- Single celled
- Amoeba, some parasites
- May be pathogenic (many aren’t)
Helminths
- Eukaryote
- Parasitology
- Worms: not technically
microbes but have microscopic life stages
Arthropods
- Eukaryote
- Insects, not microbes
- Can transmit microscopic life stages of helminths and other disease causing microbes
Viruses
- virology
- Acellular (not composed of cells)
- Simple structure: capsid, nucleus acid
- Obligate intracellular parasite
- Relatives: viroids, prions
- 1/10-1/1000 size of bacteria
Obligate intracellular parasite
No signs of life unless inside a host cell
- can not reproduce without host
Viroid
Nucleus acids that cause diseases in plants
Prion
Proteins that cause disease
- mad cow disease
Why’s it hard to treat prions and fungi
Treatment must infect something different than our cells
- prions and fungi have very similar dna
Plagues were due to microbes
Leprosy
Bubonic plague
Robert Hooke
- Created the first compound light microscope
- Looked at nonliving things (cork)
- compared it to cellulae (cells monks live in at the monastery)
Anton can Leeuwenhoek
- First to look at living things
- Didn’t share work
Linnaeus
“Father of modern taxonomy”
Schleiden/Schwann
Cell theory: all living things are composed of cells
- cells come from other preexisting cells
Francisco Redi
Meat experiment, late 1600s
- supported biogenesis
- disproved spontaneous generation
Spallanzani
(Mid-late 1700s)
Boiled and sealed chicken broth
- showed microbes couldn’t grow without previous cells
- supported biogenesis
Pasteur
Boiled broth in a swan neck flask, allowed oxygen to enter without microbes
- supported biogenesis enough to be accepted
- accredited with germ theory