LSCI230

Introductory Microbiology
Please take a copy of the course outline at the front of the class. Video/Audio Feed in R3-048
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Microbiology
The study of microorganisms, or microbes, organisms that, mostly, cannot be seen by the naked eyes: they are microscopic. Microorganisms may exist as single cells, as unicellular enMty, and can generate energy and grow without the help of other cells. They may also form communiMes, such as biolms, and are able to talk to each other to iniMate group behavior.

Microbial diversity on a human tongue.

Biolm in a water pipe

hSp://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/89/i19/8919scene1.html, Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

The invenMon of the Microscope

The science of microbiology did not exist before the invenMon of microscopes at the beginning of the 17c. Microscopes were used for microscopic observaMon of macroscopic organisms, substances, surfaces, etc. In 1665, Robert Hooke described the microscopic appearance of dry cork as a honeycomb of chambers that he named cellulae, hence cell. He also published the rst accurate microscopic drawings of a variety of molds.

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hSp://historyofgeology.eldofscience.com/2011_02_01_archive.html Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

The invenMon of the Microscope

In 1684, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek published the rst drawing of what he called wee animalcules. This is the rst Mme microorganisms were seen. Van Leeuwenhoek is generally regarded as the Father of Microbiology.

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Spontaneous generaMon
Hypothesis that some vital force can create living organisms from inanimate object. It was widely accepted throughout the middle ages and into the later half of the 19c, because it Sed nicely with the religious views of most people. Some recipes:
Box + Rags + Grain = mice. Meat + warm temperature = maggots. Old apartment + student + not washing the dishes, #*@! Exams = cockroaches.

Mid 1600s: Francesco Redi demonstrated that maggots did not developed from meat if the meat was protected by a ne gauze cover. Late 1700s: Lazzaro Spallanzani demonstrated that nothing grew in liquids that were boiled and stored in closed containers. The proponents of spontaneous generaMon argue that a free supply of air was required for the vital force to reach the liquid.
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Louis Pasteur classic experiment (1861)

Steam, forced out open end

Nonsterile liquid poured into flask

Neck of flask drawn out in flame

Liquid sterilized by extensive heating

Dust and microorganisms trapped in bend

Open end

Long time

Liquid cooled slowly

Liquid remains sterile indefinitely

Short time

Flask tipped so microorganism-laden dust contacts sterile liquid

Liquid putrefies

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

The role of infecMous diseases

InfecMous diseases have been a major cause of mortality and morbidity throughout history. But before the 19c, the true cause of infecMous diseases was unknown. InfecMous disease have inuenced poliMc, economy, religion, science and literature.
An outbreak of black death (plague, Yersinia pes-s) killed 30-60% of Europe populaMon at the end of 14c. Fungal disease of potatoes (blight, Phytophtora infestans) led to the potato famine in Ireland and more than a million people died of starvaMon in the 1840s. Typhoid fever contributed to the decline of Athens (430 BC).

Poor medical knowledge prior to the 19c led too:

Inacurate theories to explain infecMous disease causes/outbreaks, such as the miasma theory. Use of inappropriate treatment, for example bleeding, which cause more damage. Witch-hunt and persecuMon based on ethnicity and/or religion.

17c: Could disease be due to invisible organisms ? contagion (19c).

Germ theory
1847: Ignaz Semelweis showed that puerperal sepsis, childbed fever, is contagious. The medical students were transporMng the cadaveric principles from the morgue to the clinic. Hand washing in chlorine soluMon solve the problem. Pasteur experiments also showed that microorganisms were present in the air, a possible source of infecMon.
Led to development of eecMve sterilizaMon procedure, such as pasteurizaMon. Pasteur also developed vacinnes for mulMple diseases, such as anthrax, fowl cholera and rabies. 1885: rst successful administraMon of vaccine against rabies.

Joseph Lister reported in 1867 that death due to infecMon could be reduced dramaMcally if diluted phenol was used to soak the medical devices and surgical dressing and to spray the general area during surgery. 1884: Robert Koch published that anthrax was caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Also showed that tuberculosis, causing one-seventh of all human deaths at the Mme, was caused by a bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
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Figure 1.19

KOCH S POSTULATES
Diseased animal Red blood cell Suspected pathogen Healthy animal

The Postulates: 1. The suspected pathogen must be present in all cases of the disease and absent from healthy animals.

Tools:
Microscopy, staining

Observe blood/tissue under the microscope

Red blood cell

2. The suspected pathogen must be grown in pure culture.

Laboratory culture Colonies of suspected pathogen

Streak agar plate with sample from either diseased or healthy animal Inoculate healthy animal with cells of suspected pathogen

No organisms present

3. Cells from a pure culture of the suspected pathogen must cause disease in a healthy animal.

Experimental animals Diseased animal

Remove blood or tissue sample and observe by microscopy

4. The suspected pathogen Laboratory reisolation must be reisolated and and culture shown to be the same as the original.

Suspected pathogen

Laboratory culture

Pure culture (must be same organism as before)

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Mammals

Humans

Microorganisms
Prokaryotes before the nucleus. Bacteria Archaea Eukaryotes true nucleus. Protozoa (ex: Amoeba) Alga (ex: Euglena) Fungi (ex: yeasts) Plant cells Animal cells Viruses, Viroids, Prion LUCA: last universal common ancestor.

Vascular plants Shelly invertebrates 20% O2

Origin of Earth
Present (4.6 bya)

1 bya O2 Algal diversity 2 bya

ial li fe for

4 bya

Origin of cellular life

Anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria 3 bya Anoxic Earth

Modern eukaryotes

Earth is slowly oxygenated Origin of cyanobacteria

LUCA

Bacteria

Archaea

Eukarya 4 3 2 bya 1 0

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Microbial life
2.5 X 1030 microbial cells on Earth.
Avogadro constant: 6.022 x 1023

Present wherever scienMsts look: boiling hot springs, glacial ice, 10 km under the surface, acidic pond, high salinity pond, crude oil, toxic waste dump Human microbiome:
Skin: 1012 Mouth: 1010 GastrointesMnal tract: 1014 (1 Kg) Colon: 90% of gastrointesMnal tract bacteria, anaerobic environement. 1013 human cells!

Microbial life at 13 C in the brine of an ice-sealed Antarctic lake

Alison E. Murraya,1, Fabien Kenigb, Christian H. Fritsena, Christopher P. McKayc, Kaelin M. Cawleyd,2, Ross Edwardse, Emanuele Kuhna, Diane M. McKnightd, Nathaniel E. Ostromf, Vivian Penga, Adrian Ponceg, John C. Priscuh, Vladimir Samarkini, Ashley T. Townsendj, Protima Wagha, Seth A. Youngk, Pung To Yungg, and Peter T. Doranb
a Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512; bDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607; cSpace Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035; d Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309; eDepartment of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, 6845 Australia; fDepartment of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1115; gJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109; hDepartment of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717; iDepartment of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602; jCentral Science Laboratory, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001 Australia; and kDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, IN 47405-1405

Edited by David M. Karl, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, and approved October 19, 2012 (received for review May 22, 2012)

The permanent ice cover of Lake Vida (Antarctica) encapsulates an extreme cryogenic brine ecosystem (13 C; salinity, 200). This aphotic ecosystem is anoxic and consists of a slightly acidic (pH 6.2) sodium chloride-dominated brine. Expeditions in 2005 and 2010 were conducted to investigate the biogeochemistry of Lake Vidas brine system. A phylogenetically diverse and metabolically active Bacteria dominated microbial assemblage was observed in the brine. These bacteria live under very high levels of reduced metals, ammonia, molecular hydrogen (H2), and dissolved organic

Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13 EdiMon.

and microbial processes in aphotic icy environments remains mostly unknown, however, especially at subzero temperatures. th Lake Vida is located in Victoria Valley, the northern most of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of East Antarctica (Fig. S1). Initial studies of Lake Vidas thick ice cover described a 11.6 C, wet, saline (estimated 245, practical salinity scale) ice at 15.8 m (10). This brine has been isolated by the thick lake ice cover and underlying 800970 m of permafrost (11, 12), prohibiting input of ground water or of annual glacial melt and associated nutrients. 14C-dating

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InfecMous disease

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Leading cause of Death in the developed world

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Agriculture

Some bacterial species can form nodules on the root of some plant species. They convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3) that the plant use as a nitrogen source for growth.

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Agriculture

Large populaMon of microorganisms in the rumen of ruminant animals digest and ferment cellulose.

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Food Industry

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Chemical and PharmaceuMcal Industry

Microorganisms are used to produce organic acids (citric acid), alcohols, vitamins, anMbioMcs. Microorganisms can be modied geneMcally such that they will produce a useful product (insulin, human growth hormones, etc). Biofuels (methane/ethanol)

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Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 13th EdiMon.

Environment
Important role in recycling nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and sulfur. Some organisms can metabolize (detoxify) toxic compounds (bioremediaMon of contaminated soil). Microorganisms are a source of food for higher organisms. The geneMc diversity of environmental microorganisms is a source of new drugs and anMbioMcs.

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Key Points to remember

Microbiology is about microscopic organisms: Bacteria Archea Eukaryotes (unicellular organisms and microscopic processes in mulMcellular organisms) Microorganisms have been evolving for 4 billions of years (huge diversity!).

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