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CHARACTERISTICS OF
MICROBES

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 LECTURE 1
1.1 Microbiology
1.2 Microorganisms as Cells
1.3 Microorganism and Their Natural
Environments1.4
 WHAT IS MICROBIOLOGY?

 The science of microorganisms (very small,

unicellular organisms)
 The discipline is just over a century old
 Has given rise to molecular biology and
biotechnology
WHAT ARE MICROBES?
Root Nodule
Bacteroids within Root Nodule
• Microbes were the first life on Earth
• Microbes created the biosphere that allowed
multicellular organisms to evolve
• Multicellular organisms evolved from microbes
• >50% of the biomass on earth is comprised of
microbes
• Microbes are everywhere
• Microbes will be on Earth forever
 First microorganisms?

Formation of
Cyanobacterial microfossils O2 algae,
(oxygenic photosynthesis) atmosphere marine invertebrates
Earth formed insects
mammals

4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0

No free O2
Billion Years Ago
• Our understanding of life has arisen largely
from studies of microorganisms (biochemistry
and genetics)
• Studies of microorganisms continue to
contribute to fundamental knowledge of life
processes
• We still know very little about the
microorganisms that are present on Earth
• Health
• Agriculture
• Food
• Environment
• Industry
impact of microorganisms on human affairs:
Infectious diseases are no longer the leading cause of death in North America, due to the
development and use of antimicrobial agents, and improved sanitary practices.
 MICROBIOLOGY
• The study of of organisms too small to be
seen without magnification
1. bacteria
2. viruses
3. fungi
4. protozoa
5. helminths (worms)
6. algae

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BRANCHES OF STUDY WITHIN
MICROBIOLOGY
• Immunology
• Public health microbiology & epidemiology
• Food, dairy and aquatic microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Genetic engineering & recombinant DNA
technology
• Soil Microbiology
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 IMPACT OF PATHOGENS

• Nearly 2,000 different microbes cause

diseases
• 10 B infections/year worldwide
• 13 M deaths from infections/year
worldwide

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CHARACTERISTICS OF
MICROBES

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Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

• First to observe living

microbes
• his single-lens
magnified up to 300X

(1632-1723) 38
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 Scientific Method
• Form a hypothesis - a tentative explanation
that can be supported or refuted by
observation & experimentation
• A lengthy process of experimentation,
analysis & testing either supports or refutes
the hypothesis.
• Results must be published & repeated by
other investigators.

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• If hypothesis is supported by a growing body
of evidence & survives rigorous scrutiny, it
moves to the next level of confidence - it
becomes a theory
• Evidence of a theory is so compelling that the
next level of confidence is reached - it
becomes a Law or principle

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 SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION
Early belief that some forms of life could
arise from vital forces present in
nonliving or decomposing matter.
(flies from manure, etc)
 Louis Pasteur
• Showed microbes caused
fermentation & spoilage
• Disproved spontaneous
generation of m.o.
• Developed aseptic
techniques.
• Developed a rabies
vaccine.

(1822-1895)
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GERM THEORY OF DISEASE
 Robert Koch
• Established a sequence
of experimental steps to
show that a specific
m.o. causes a particular
disease.
• Developed pure culture
methods.
• Identified cause of
anthrax, TB, & cholera.
(1843-1910) 45
TAXONOMY - SYSTEM FOR
ORGANIZING, CLASSIFYING &
NAMING LIVING THINGS
• Domain - Archaea, Bacteria &
Eukarya
• Kingdom - 5
• Phylum or Division
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• species

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 3 DOMAINS
1. EUBACTERIA -true bacteria, peptidoglycan
2. ARCHAEA –odd bacteria that live in extreme
environments, high salt, heat, etc
3. EUKARYA- have a nucleus, & organelles

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NAMING MICOORGANISMS
• Binomial (scientific) nomenclature
• Gives each microbe 2 names
– Genus - noun, always capitalized
– species - adjective, lowercase
• Both italicized or underlined
– Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)
– Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis)
– Escherichia coli (E. coli)

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 EVOLUTION- LIVING THINGS CHANGE
GRADUALLY OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS

• Changes favoring survival are retained & less

beneficial changes are lost.
• All new species originate from preexisting
species.
• Closely related organism have similar
features because they evolved from common
ancestral forms.
• Evolution usually progresses toward greater
complexity.
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The strange, beautiful
and powerful world of
microbes
 The first MICROBIOLOGIST
and his MICROSCOPE

Anton van Leeuwenhoek - A classical example of serendipity. By

wanting better magnifying lens with which to judge the quality of
the cloth he was buying Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria
 What Microbiologists Do ???
• Work in almost every industry - from food, agriculture and
pollution control to biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and health,
government agencies and labs, in education as teachers and
researchers.
• No one microbiologist can study everything! That's why people
who become microbiologists usually focus on a particular microbe
or research area.
– Bacteriologists focus on bacteria.
– Virologists specialize in viruses.
– Mycologists study fungi.
– Epidemiologists track down outbreaks of disease
– Immunologists study how the body defends itself against
microbial invaders?
• WHAT IS A MICROORGANISM?
– An organism that is too small to be seen
clearly with the naked eye.
– Generally single cells, but some exist as
cell clusters; often work as a community
• Where do microbes fit in the biological
world?
‘Most of the vital organs of eukaryotes are missing’
 The power of microbe lies in its speedy growth

Imagine the weight of biomass of E.coli after 24 hrs under optimal growth?
 Never underestimate the
power of a Microorganism.
• Microorganisms, just like God cannot be seen through
naked eye but we can feel their impact on us in various
ways.
• Though only 3% of the total microbial population are
harmful to the humans.
• Without knowing, we are getting their help from the
historic days eg. souring of milk (dahi), pickels, jams,
dosa and idly making, wine production etc.
“Microbes are always at Work”
Mind it…
contd…
 The pressure inside a bacterial cell is about 2
atmospheres, which is roughly the same as the
pressure in a car's tyre.
 A human can be killed by exposure to less than
500 rad radiation. However, Deinococcus
radiodurans is a bacterium, which can survive
exposure to upto 3000000 rad of ionizing
radiation.
 'Botulin‘, a toxin produced by Clostridium
botulinum, is highly toxic and if everyone has to
be killed on this earth, less than 1kg of this toxin
will do.
 Bacterium: as big as the head of
a fruitfly and can even "hold its
breath"?
• A giant bacterium, Thiomargarita "sulfur pearl of Namibia,“.
• The bacteria (3/4 mm wide) about 100 times larger than the
largest known, Epulopiscum fishelsoni.
• Thiomargarita namibiensis lives on the nitrogen and sulfide on
the ocean floor produced by rotting plankton and algae.
• Nitrate however is not steadily available, so they "hold their
breath" while they wait for something to stir up off the ocean
floor.
• They do this by storing sulfur just under their cell wall, and
keeping nitrate in a big sac. This could be one of the reasons why
the bacterium is so big.
 A Humongous Fungus
• Did you ever wonder what the world's largest organism
is?
• Maybe you'd pick an elephant or a giant whale.
• Well, those choices would be wrong; this organism is
actually a soil Fungus, Armillaria bulbosa, found in a
northern Michigan hardwood forest.
• It is most likely one of the world's oldest organisms as
well, exceeding 1,500 years and weighing over 100 tons.
• It is actually a plant pathogen, whose hyphae pierce the
roots of aspen trees and absorb nutrients from them.
Therefore, the majority of the fungus is underground and
only tiny edible ‘honey mushrooms’.
Contd…

Microbes generate at least half the oxygen we breathe.

• Microbes are roots of life's family tree. An
understanding of their genomes will help us understand
how more complex genomes developed.
• Microbial genomes are modest in size and relatively easy
to study (usually no more than 10 million DNA bases,
compared with some 3 billion in the human and mouse
genomes).
• Microbial communities are excellent models for
understanding biological interactions and evolution.
 Strange Facts and
Bacterial Records!!!
(Omnipresent).

Everything is everywhere, the environment selects - Beijerinck M.W.

Microbes thrive in an amazing diversity of habitats in extremes

of heat, cold, radiation, pressure, salinity, acidity, and
darkness, and often where no other life forms could exist.
Contd…

• Underground: Chemolithotrophs found in Basalt

deposits 1500m (4700 ft) underground in solid
rock.
• The Sky: Some bacteria spend their whole lives in
the atmosphere, growing and reproducing in the
clouds above our heads.
• On Ice: Some bacterial species live in the ice of
glaciers and others have often found in the snows
of the North and South poles at -17 and -85°C.
Contd…
Contd…

• Fast Movers: Some bacteria can move by flagella that

enable them to obtain speeds as high as 0.00017 km/ hr.
This may not seem very fast, but remember that we are
talking about very small organisms. They are travelling at
about 50-60 body lengths/ sec which is equivalent to a 6 ft
tall man running at 100 m/ sec, 9 times faster than the
world record. Cheetahs, are the fastest animals on land
but even they only move at about 25 body lengths/ sec.

“What is soil, becomes grass, becomes a cow, becomes you

and me and then becomes soil again. Without microbes,
the whole ecosystem would collapse”
• The opposite of antibiotics are probiotics - a term coined in
1965 to describe substances that favor the growth of
beneficial microorganisms in the body.
• Two species of probiotics, Bifidobacterium and
Lactobacillus, have been studied the most.
• Bacteria that produce the enzyme lactase help reduce
lactose intolerance.

Tell me what you eat,

and I will tell you what you are - Brillat-Savarin
LEARN A LOT FROM A
MICROBE
 Serratia has a religious history and
can cause severe infections in humans?
 Martian microbes may exist
?
• Life On Mars??? No one knows for sure yet!
• But in August 1996, scientists announced that they had
extracted what they believed to be fossils of an unknown
bacillus shaped microorganism from inside a meteorite
from Mars found in Antarctica..
• The meteorite left Mars 16 million years ago and landed in
Antarctica 13 thousand years ago.
• This may support the theory that life did or does still exist
on Mars!
Wow! Life on the Red Planet!
We are not alone! Or are we?
ANTARCTICA, 1984
 Microbes have a built-in compass?
• Aquatic, anaerobic bacteria called magnetotactic bacteria
find their way around by using the attraction from the
earth's magnetic field.
• When placed near a magnet, they are attracted to the
magnet's northern pole because the bacteria make
magnetic particles which contain iron.
• When lined-up, the particles make a long magnet that is
used by the bacteria as a compass.
• It is this built-in compass that enables the bacteria to find
its way down to the deep, oxygen-free parts of its aquatic
habitat.
Diamonds are made from dead bacteria???
Enzymes that bacteria use to break down dead,
chilled whales may be used in cold-water
detergents?
 Microbes can degrade explosives?

• Trinitrotoluene, TNT, is a problematic explosive that

contaminates the soil in areas where ammunition is
kept.
• Bacteria named Clostridium bifermentans is able to
break down this contaminant.
• When provided with starch as energy source, the
bacteria can break down the TNT through co-
metabolism by broken-down TNT as a source of carbon.
Bacteria can help clean up oil spills?
Microbes might be used to breakdown dirty
laundry on long space flights?
 Bacteria keep vegetables
fresher?
• Even vegetables that are kept in airtight containers
are prone to spoilage by E.coli and Listeria.
• Lactic acid bacteria, are an alternative solution to
this problem by producing natural acids that
prevent Listeria from growing in foods.
 Bacteria are used to make
chocolate?
• Chocolate comes from the seeds of the Cacao
tree.
• The seeds come in pods and the only way to
retrieve the seeds are to ferment them with yeasts
and lactobacilli and Acetobacter.
• The Lactobacillus secretes an acid to help break
apart the pod.
 Microbes can make plastics
?
• Alcaligenes eutrophus, is a useful bacterium having
the capability of making plastics.
• The bacterium is able to accomplish this feat because
it has granules that are made of a fat-like polymer and
not starch, like the granules of other bacteria.
• These plastics can be readily degraded and hopefully
will pose less environmental threat.
• There are strong hopes of using these bacteria and
their plastics for medical purposes.
Microbes are all over your skin?
Microbes cause body
odor?
Sick Building Syndrome?
 Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the literary
microbe?

• Famous writers like Keats, Browning, Austen and

Orwell have all suffered from tuberculosis and
because of this the microbe has been called the
literary microbe.
• Tuberculosis is also considered to be the greatest
killer of all times. About one hundred thousand
million people have been affected. This bacterium
is transmitted through air or infected milk.
 Microbes form fossils?
• In 1950's-1960's, micropaleontologists discovered
layers of sedimentary rocks, wavelike stromatolites
in Great Lakes, are believed to contain microbial
fossils.
• Some fossils are 3.5 billion years old, meaning that
they were formed only one billion years after the
creation of the Earth indicating that microbes are
the earliest forms of life on Earth.
There's a "Sleeping Beauty"
story for bacteria?
 How Does Salmonella Get
Inside Chicken Eggs?
• The bacterium actually lives in the feces of chicken.
• Because chickens sit on their eggs, even before they are
collected for consumer purchases, the eggs may be
subjected to the bacterium.
• It was found that S. enteritidis could actually penetrate
the hard outer shell of the egg and live inside the yolk,
where it can reproduce.
• The bacterium could infect hens' ovaries, and
contaminate the egg before it even developed a shell.
 Infected rats make easy cat snacks

• Toxoplasma gondii, a parasitic infection in rats, alters their

natural behaviour and makes them easy prey for cats.
• Toxoplasma gondii is found in about 35% of rats but
prefers to live in cats.
• It ensures its return to its favourite host by affecting the
brains of the normally cautious rats, making them
outgoing and active and an easy meal for a hungry cat.
• Rats can usually detect subtle changes in their
environment. It makes them very hard to trap or poison
but this parasite overrides the innate response - they
almost taunt the cats in a sense (remember Tom n Jerry
???).
 Caught Dirty-Handed!!!
• When was the last time you washed your hands?
• Did you use soap?
• What have you done since you washed?
• Have you eaten, put your fingers in your mouth or
touched someone else?
• There are millions of microbes on your hands. Most
are naturally occurring and harmless. But some may
be disease-causing germs. Hand washing with soap
lifts off those microbes and rinses them away.
• Observations in public restrooms reveals what?????
 Bacteria can help give your jeans the right
‘fade’
• Alkalothermophilic Thermomonospora produces
enzyme cellulase, which when mixed with a
coarse denim cloth reduces its hairiness and
makes it softer and lighter.
• It gives same appearance as a stone wash, causes
no damage to drums of washing machines by
preventing wear and tear of the material.
• Finish can be controlled to desired level by
controlling the amount of enzyme.
Bacteria can act as insecticides?

• The first major products of agricultural

biotechnology was Bacillus thuringiensis,
producing proteins that are toxic to many
insects.
• Now, scientists have spliced genes of it into
crops, that produces toxins fatal to crop
damaging pests, but harmless to "good" bugs.