T he M icrobial World and You

C hapter 1
 W hat is a M icroorganism?
A loser like milad

1. Definition

2. Prokaryotic or E ukaryotic?

3. Unicellular or M ulticellular?
 W hat is a M icroorganism?
1. Prokaryotic M icrobes
Bacteria
A rchaea

2. E ukaryotic microbes
F ungi, A lgae and Protozoa

3. Viruses????
 M icrobes and diseases
‡ Infectious diseases of humans, animals
and plants.

‡ Food Spoilage
 M icrobes and H uman diseases
‡ Pathogenicity of a microbe
Vs.
Resistance of the host

‡ E tiological agent
 M icrobes and H uman diseases
1. Biological warfare:
Bacillus anthracis
Clostridium botulinum

2. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

3. E merging Infectious diseases

 M icrobes and H uman diseases
3. E merging Infectious diseases: New
diseases and diseases increasing in
incidence
‡ Avian influenza A: caused by Influenza A virus
‡ MRSA: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
‡ West Nile Encephalitis-caused by West Nile virus
‡ Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: caused by a prion
‡ Escherichia coli O157:H7
‡ Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever: caused by Ebola virus
 M icrobes and H uman life
1. Recycling of chemical elements:
N2 fixation

2. Decomposition of organic
matter : sewage treatment

3. Bioremediation: Pseudomonas
and Bacillus
 Microbes and Human life
4. Insect pest control: Biological
Insecticides
Bacillus thuringensis

5. Food industry: vinegar, wine, beer,

cheese, yogurt, bread, pickles
 Microbes and Human life
6. G enetic E ngineering: production of
proteins, vaccines, enzymes, growth
hormones etc. eg. Insulin

7. G ene therapy: use of viruses to car ry

replacement for defective gene

8. G enomics
 How to properly write the scientific
name of a microorganism
Bacillus anthracis
Bacillus anthracis
Bacillus anthracis: wrong
B. anthracis

Some bacterial names may be descriptive or

honor a scientist.
Eg. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus
A B rief H istory of M icrobiology