WHAT ARE MICROBES?

Light microscope
Uses light (natural
or artificial
Magnify up to 1,000X
Enough to view algae,
fungi, protozoa, bacteria
(high quality)
Cant view viruses (0.2
microns) and cant
examine tiny parts of
cells


Prokaryotic Cells
-most primitive organisms
-cells that lack a nucleus.
-Monerans (bacteria and related
organisms)
- also lack other membrane-bound internal
structures
Eukaryotic Cells
-All organisms, other than monerans, have cells
with nuclei.
-Cells with nuclei
-have membrane-bound internal structures
(organelles)

TWO GENERAL TYPES OF CELLS
Earliest Evidence of Life
3.5 billion years old
(Stromatolites)
oldest known fossils,
Colonies of cyannobacteria
(formerly blue-green algae)
Prokaryotes
thrived in warm aquatic
environments and built reefs
Cyannobacteria were likely
responsible for the creation
of earth's oxygen
atmosphere
They were the dominant
lifeform on Earth for over 2
billion years
Today they are nearly
extinct, living a precarious
existence in only a few
localities worldwide

3 domains of life
Bacteria single celled, no nucleus and
organelles
Archaea -prokaryotes with distinct
characteristics (DNA sequence). Bacteria"
that lived at high temperatures or produced
methane
Eukaryota-all animals, plants, fungi, and
protists
Types of Microbes
Bacteria e.g Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Fungi e.g yeasts, mushroom

Protista algae, protozoa

Viruses- e.g. AIDS, rabies virus, Dengue
virus
Types of Microbes
Bacteria
Often dismissed as
germs that cause illness
1um (Streprococcus) to
1,000 um (Thiomargarita
namibiensis)
Look like balls (cocci),
rods (bacilli), spirals
(spirilli)
Useful: make vitamins,
break down some types of
garbage, and maintain our
atmosphere
About 1% is harmful

Types of Microbes
Fungi
Primitive plants.
Eukaryotic (DNA enclosed
in nucleus) many look
plant-like, do notmake
their own food like plants
Found in air, soil, plants,
water
Mushrooms, yeasts, mold,
mildew
fungi do everything from
helping to bake bread to
recycling to decomposing
wastes
Mycoses fungal
diseases

Types of Microbes
Protista
Protozoa one celled
animals
Plant-like algae produce
much of the oxygen we
breathe; animal-like
protozoa (including the
famous amoeba) help
maintain the balance of
microbial life
E.g. planktons (good
protozoan;
Malaria (bad protozoan)
Types of Microbes
Viruses
Smallest microbes. They
are not cells
Consists of 1 or more
molecules of DNA or RNA
surrounded by protein coat
Unable to do much of
anything on their own,
viruses go into host cells to
reproduce, often wreaking
havoc and causing
disease
Useful for cloning DNA
and could provide a way to
deliver gene therapy
Virus
When is a life form that is not a life form? When it is a virus.
Tiny bundle of genetic material either
DNA or RNA- carried in a shell called
viral coat or capsid, which are made up
of bits of protein called capsomeres
Some have additional layer-envelope

Virus Or Bacterium?

size.-the biggest viruses are
only as large as the tiniest
bacteria
Structure-Bacteria are
complex
main difference between
viruses and bacteriathe
way they reproduce.


Viral Reproduction

These are T4
bacteriophages
They are a kind of
virus that infects
bacteria.
Here they are
landing on the
surface of an E. coli
bacterium.

Viral Reproduction
The bacteriophage cuts a
hole in the E. coli's cell
wall
It then injects its genetic
material into the
bacterium
By taking over the E.
coli's genetic machinery,
the viral genes tell the
bacterium to begin making
new virus parts
These parts come
together to make whole
new viruses inside the
bacterium.

Viral Reproduction
Eventually so many new viruses are
made that the E. coli bursts open and
dies, releasing all those new viruses to
infect more cells!

Important Bacteria
Bacillus anthracis - causes anthrax, a deadly disease in cattle and
a potential bioweapon against humans.
Cyanobacteria (formerly known as blue-green algae) live in water,
where they produce large amounts of the oxygen we breathe.
Escherichia coli (a.k.a. E. coli) lives in the gut, where it helps
digest food and produces Vitamin K. The "bad" strain of E. coli
O157:H7 causes severe foodborne sickness.
Lactobacillus bulgaricus helps turn milk into cheese, yogurt, and
other dairy products.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis, a major killer
from the past that has recently resurged with the advent of AIDS.
Important Bacteria
Rhizobia convert free nitrogen into a form that the plants
can use in order to grow.
Staphylococcus (a.k.a. staph) can cause serious
infections and is one of the most drug-resistant bacteria.
Streptococcus pneumoniae causes strep throat,
meningitis, and pneumonia.
Streptomyces griseus makes the antibiotic streptomycin.
Thermus aquaticus is a heat-loving bacterium from which
scientists got the enzyme Taq polymerase that makes
routine DNA fingerprinting and gene sequencing
possible.

Important viruses
Adenoviruses are used in experimental gene therapy treatments to
deliver therapeutic genes.
Bacteriophages are being explored as tools to treat bacterial infections
by targeting and destroying infectious bacteria.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is responsible for the AIDS
pandemic.
Human papillomavirus causes cervical cancer.
Influenza causes the flu, which killed some 21 million people worldwide
in 1918.
Lambda phage is useful in cloning DNA.
Potyviruses cause disease in a wide variety of important agricultural
plants.
Tulip mosaic virus causes streaks in tulip petal coloration, resulting in
flowers sold at premium prices.
Variola major causes smallpox. Although eradicated worldwide in the
late 1970s, remaining stores could be used to create deadly
bioweapons.