Lecture 1: Exploring the Microbial World/Introduction Flashcards
microorganisms typically live in ___, and their activities are regulated by interactions with each other, with their environments, and with other microorganisms, who they are, how they work, and what they do
complex microbial communities
plants and animals are immersed in a world of microbes, and their evolution and survival are heavily influenced by ___,___, and by ___
- microbial activities
- microbial symbioses
- pathogens
microbiology was born of the ___, and ___ is foundational to microbiology
- microscope
- Microscopy
a collection of cells that have been grown in or on a nutrient medium
microbial culture
a liquid or solid nutrient mixture that contains all of the nutrients required for a microorganism to grow
medium (plural: media)
refer to the increase in cell number as a result of cell division
growth
Etymology of microbiology
- mikros (small)
- bios (life)
- logos (science)
microorganisms can be
- eukaryotic
- archaeal
- bacterial
- lack membrane-bound nucleus
- the replication occurs in the cytoplasm
prokaryotes
bacteria have ___ in their cell wall
peptidoglycan
can be seen with the naked eye (100um-1m)
- human egg
- frog egg
- chicken egg
- ostrich egg
- adult female
can be seen in a light compound microscope (100nm-1mm)
- flu virus (100nm)
- mitochondria (1um)
- bacteria (1um)
- animal cell (10-100um)
- plant cell (10-100um)
- human egg (100um-1mm)
- frog egg
can be seen in an electron microscope (0.1mm-10um)
- atom (0.1nm)
- lipids
- protein
- flu virus
- mitochondria
- bacteria
-animal cell - plant cell
microbiology can be highly interdisciplinary
- molecular biology
- biochem
- ecology
- chemistry
- computer science
- engineering
- geology
- genetics
- physiology
themes in microbiology and its field
basic: by organism, by process, disease-related
applied: disease-related, environmentally related, industrial
two major areas in the field of microbiology
- basic microbiology
- applied microbiology
where the fundamental nature and properties of microorganisms are studied
basic microbiology
where information learned from basic microbiology is employed to control and use microorganisms in beneficial ways
applied microbiology
how microorganisms help us
- keep us healthy (fight disease-causing microbes)
- makes air breathable (photosynthetic microbes)
- provides new sources of medicine (chemicals found in microbes)
- helps us digest food
- keeps our environment clean
- support and protect crops
nitrogen-fixing bacteria and free-living nitrogen fixers
- rhizobium
- bradyrhizobium
free-living:
- azotobacter
- clostridium
utilizes organisms to extract valuable metals, like copper from ores and mineral deposits
microbial mining, bioming, or bioleaching
impact of microorganisms on agriculture
- converting N2 into forms that plants can use for growth (ammonia NH3 or nitrate NO3-)
- maintaining soil fertility
- agricultural productivity
impact of microorganisms on energy/environment
- biofuel
- fermentation
- bioremediation
- microbial mining
microorganism that helps in microbial mining
Thiobacillus feroxidans
used a primitive microscope to observe rice water, pepper infusions, saliva, and feces (see minute, moving objects which he called “____”)
- Anton van Leewenhoek
- animalcules
- discovered bacteria in 1776 where he made drawings and reported his observations to the _____
- he makes lenses
- income-generating work: tailor
- father of microbiology
- Anton van Leewenhoek
- Royal Society of London
- described the ____ in 1665
- 1st person to describe microorganisms
- Robert Hooke
- fruiting structures of molds
- father of bacteriology
- trained as a botanist
- founded the field of bacteriology and discovered ___
- credited for the use of _____ for closing flasks and tubes (simple method for preventing contamination of sterile culture media)
- Ferdinand Cohn
- bacterial endospores of Bacillus (Bacillus bactilis- endospore-bearing bacteria; pathogenic)
- cotton