Microbiology Overview Quiz

Introduction to Microbiology

• Course title: Introduction to Microbiology
• Course instructors: Ameril, Barriga, Malagamba
• Semester: 2nd
• Academic year (AY): 2024-2025

How did Microbiology start?

• The presentation asks a question about the origin of microbiology.

Timeline of Microbiology

• 1546: Girolamo Fracastoro - Early description of a contagion.
• 1670s: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - First discovery of microorganisms (animacules) using a magnifying lens.
• 1796: Edward Jenner - Country doctor showed vaccination with cowpox can protect from smallpox.
• 1830s: Agostino Bassi - Italian farmer noted a disease in silkworms caused by infection from animals.
• 1840s: Jakob Henle - Argued for the germ theory of infection.
• 1850s: Ignaz Semmelweis - Physician in neonatal unit recommended using "chloride of lime" on hands to prevent infection spread.
• 1865: Joseph Lister - Used carbolic acid or phenol to sterilize surgical instruments.
• Late 1800s: Robert Koch - Scientist who isolated bacteria from infected animals, grew bacteria, and reintroduced it into healthy animals to reproduce the disease.
• 1880s: Louis Pasteur - French microbiologist showed attenuation of bacterial virulence with passage and used attenuated strains to protect from infection.
• 1884: Friedrich Loeffler - Apprentice to Koch, noted edema, inflammation, and reddening of organs at a distant site of infection.
• 1889: Emile Roux and Alexandre Yersin - Demonstrated that animals injected with bacterial supernatant produced same effect as direct bacteria injection due to toxin.
• 1890: Emil von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburō - Demonstrated that serum of tetanus infected rabbits can "render harmless" the toxic substance produced by the bacteria.
• 1908: Paul Ehrlich - Pioneer in the field of chemotherapy.
• 1900s: Alfred Bertheim - Generated first marketed antibacterial, Salvarsan.
• 1929: Alexander Fleming - Discovered that a mold substance could kill bacteria.
• 1931: Joshua Lederberg - Discovered bacteria engage in primitive sex, exchanging beneficial elements to destroy antibiotics.
• 1940s: Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll - Constructed the electron microscope.

Robert Hooke

• Used a microscope to study a mold growing in leather, showing the spores.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

• Developed early microscopes, which enabled the observation and documentation of bacteria.

Francesco Redi

• Conducted an experiment disproving spontaneous generation, using wide-mouthed jars with meat, open, gauze-covered, and sealed.

John Needham

• Reported organisms growing in sealed tubes after heat treatment, arguing for spontaneous generation.

Ferdinand Cohn

• Trained botanist who studied unicellular algae and later bacteria, including Beggiatoa.
• Described the life cycle of Bacillus, an endospore-forming bacterium.
• Contemporary of Louis Pasteur.

Golden Age of Microbiology

Presented a timeline, scientists, and discoveries during the period.

Koch's Postulates

• Describes four postulates to establish a link between a specific organism and a disease.

Exceptions to Koch's Postulates

• Some microorganisms cannot be cultured in artificial media, including Treponema pallidum, Mycobacterium leprae.
• Diseases caused by different species of microorganisms can have similar symptoms.
• Some pathogens can cause several diseases.

Alexander Fleming

• Discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1929.

Antibiotics

• 1928: Sir Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin.
• 1945: Fleming, Florey, and Chain - Nobel Prize in Medicine for penicillin.
• 1952: Selman Waksman - Nobel Prize for discovering streptomycin.

Antimicrobial Resistance

• Easy production of microbes resistance to penicillin.

Abelardo Aguilar

• Discovered erythromycin from a strain of bacteria.
• Commercialized erythromycin under the brand name Iloson.

What are Microorganisms?

• The presentation starts with a question on microorganisms.
• Examples of microorganisms from a drop of pond water.

Properties of Microbial Cells

• Metabolism: Cells take up nutrients and expel wastes.
• Growth: nutrients converted to form new cells.
• Evolution: cells evolve to demonstrate new properties, phylogenic relationships.
• Differentiation: Some cells produce new cell structures.
• Communication: Cells interact with each other via chemical messengers.
• Genetic exchange: Cells exchange genes through several mechanisms.
• Motility: Cells can propel themselves.

Two Interconnected Themes in Microbiology

• Understanding the nature and functioning of the microbial world.
• Applying our understanding of the microbial world for the benefit of humankind and planet Earth.

Major Subdisciplines of Microbiology

• Basic Emphases - focus on the underlying mechanisms.
• Applied Emphases - using the knowledge to solve practical problems

Fields of Microbiology

• Microbe-centered disciplines focus on different microbial groups: bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa, parasites, viruses.
• Process-centered disciplines focus on metabolic reactions, functions of DNA/RNA, relationships between microbes and their environments.

Applied Microbiology (Medical)

• Serology - use antibodies in blood serum as an indicator of infection.
• Immunology - study of body defenses.
• Epidemiology - study of diseases by frequency, distribution, and spread.
• Etiology - causes of disease.
• Infection control - hygiene in health care settings to control infections.
• Chemotherapy - drug development to treat infectious diseases.

Applied Environmental Microbiology

• Strategies using microbes for practical applications: reducing pollution contaminants, in industrial processes, and in beneficial applications.

Why study Microorganisms?

• Importance in agriculture, Biotechnology, and food processing.

Fish Farming

• Presentation shows potential downsides and alternatives like vaccines and probiotics in fish farming.

Biofloc System

• Diagram shows how the system interacts with the environment, pathogens, and the host.

Food Processing

• Microbes used in food production.

Test your knowledge on key figures and concepts in microbiology. This quiz features questions about pioneering scientists like Louis Pasteur, Ferdinand Cohn, and the historical contexts of their contributions. Explore foundational theories and discoveries that shaped the field of microbiology.