Republic of the Philippines

North Eastern Mindanao State Universi ty

Tagbina, Surigao del Sur
www.nemsu-tagbina.edu.ph

Unit I: Microorganisms
Lesson A: General Morphology of Microorganisms

Intended Learning Outcome:

A. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the division of microbiology, recognize the

significance of microbiology in various fields, apply practical applications of microbiology in real-
world scenarios, analyze the historical development and evolution of microbiology, and critically
evaluate its contributions to scientific knowledge and technological advancements.

Content:

3. Practical applications of Microbiology

1. Medical Microbiology
 is a subset of microbiology that principally examines the phenotypic features
(e.g., shape, structure, reproduction, physiology, and metabolism, etc.) of
microorganisms (including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites) that colonize
or infect humans, to identify microorganisms of interest, diagnose associated
infectious diseases, determine their pathogenic mechanisms, control and
prevent their recurrence.

 Microbiological methods combined with clinical symptoms, additional laboratory

tests, and imaging techniques are used in combination to distinguish true
disease-associated infection from colonization with normal flora or other
conditions, such as malignancies, inflammatory disorders, or autoimmune
disorders, all of which have unique therapies and prognoses for the patient.

 Medical microbiology is facing a sudden evolution, through the development of

high-throughput approaches, represented by the ‘omics’ technologies and the
centralization of biomedical analyses that enable a significant workflow
improvement.

2. Food Production:
 Food production, as the name suggests, is all about preparing food, in which
raw materials are converted into ready-made food products for human use
either in the home or in the food processing industries.

 Food production is further classified into different types including, cultivation,

selection, crop management, harvesting, crop production, preserving, baking,
pasteurizing, pudding, carving, butchering, fermenting, pickling, drink and
candy making, restaurants, etc.

 Its process comprises scientific approaches. Microorganisms are used in

fermentation processes for producing food and beverages like bread, yogurt,
beer, and cheese.

 Microorganisms as food: Besides comestible fungi like mushrooms,

microorganisms are also being used as single-cell protein in the form of yeasts,
bacteria, cyanobacteria, and fungi as human food or animal feed.

3. Environmental Management:
 In this context, microorganisms play a promising role. The unique nature of
microorganisms can be used effectively for resurrecting the environment.
Microorganisms can act as magic bullets for bioremediation of contaminated
sites and biodegradation purposes. Now day microorganisms are effectively
 used together with nanotechnology, termed as nano-bioremediation to clean up
radioactive wastes. Moreover, the use of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) in combating pollution in extremely polluted conditions makes the
microorganisms a boon to human welfare.

 With the latest advances in biology, genetics, soil science, breeding,

engineering, and microbiology, environmental biotechnologists are better able
to harness microbial communities to provide services to civil society. These
services concern the treatment of contaminated waters and sewage, but also
sediments, soil, and air, and the detection of pollutants or pathogens. In this
way, they can protect society from exposure to all types of pollutants or
pathogens.

4. Biotechnology:
 Nowadays, microorganisms represent an essential backbone of many
biotechnological applications thanks to their rapid growth for quick production,
technical versatility for production design, and wide applicability to several
industrial sectors.

 Biotechnology is the use of biological organisms in technological processes. It is

almost as old as the civilization itself, although it wasn’t called “biotechnology”
until the 20th century. Far from abandoning it in the 21st century, we are
developing new uses for biological organisms.

4.1. Beer, Bread, and Wine

Biotechnology used for food and drink production is called yellow
biotechnology. Simple fungi in yeast forms were likely the first
“domesticated” organisms used to make edible products through the
process of fermentation. The consumption of glucose by yeast yields a by-
product of ethanol and carbon dioxide, which can be exploited for
generating bread, beer, and wine. Likewise, the popular hipster drink
kombucha and fermented cabbage (kimchi) are made through the
fermentation of yeast with lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria.

4.2. Antibiotic products

Red biotechnology is the use of biotechnology in the medical and
pharmaceutical industries. It is called red because of its association with
blood and symbols of medicine – the Red Cross and the Crescent.
4.3. Microalgae
Blue biotechnology uses sea resources to create products and industrial
applications. The leading application of blue biotechnology is producing
renewable bio-oils with photosynthetic microalgae to replace oil extraction.
Working with algae is not much different from working with other
microorganisms.
4.4 Agrobacterium Tumefaciens

Green biotechnology is biotechnology involving the genetic engineering of

plants. It’s based on a neat trick by the microbe Agrobacterium
tumefaciens. It has a plasmid, Ti, that transfers some of its genes into the
plant genome. The transfer requires only T-DNA border sequences, and
you can insert foreign DNA between them that will be integrated and
expressed in a plant genome. Several cereal crop plants were modified
using this method, as well as HeLa cells.
 5. Agricultural Microbiology:

 Agricultural microbiology is a blooming research field emerging from the

intersection of general microbiology and microbial ecology to agricultural
biotechnologies. The ultimate aim of agricultural microbiology is a wide-ranging
study of beneficial bacteria and fungi interacting with agriculturally important
plants, thereby meeting the global demand for food in an eco-friendly manner.
 Beneficial microbes contribute to soil fertility, plant growth, and protection against
harmful pathogens.
 Microbes contribute to soil fertility, plant growth, and protection against harmful
pathogens, enhancing agricultural practices and crop yield.

6. Research and Development:

 The exploration of the microbial world is not only key to understanding ourselves
but can provide answers to many medical, technological, and scientific questions
we face as humankind.
 Research over the past few decades has also provided microbial applications for
cleaning up pollution and disposing of plastic waste, two of the most critical
issues facing modern society. Microbial systems that help to reduce carbon
emissions have also been explored extensively. Many innovative technologies
are making use of microbes today. They are currently being explored for
construction, bioremediation, energy security and generation, and much more.

4. Development of Microbiology
Studying the evolution of microbiology will help in understanding the origin of other life
forms.
1. Historical Foundations:

 1546 Before the invention of the microscope, the study of microbiology was
pioneered by Girolamo Fracastoro when he proposed the theory of contagious
diseases.
 Early 17th century The debate of Spontaneous
Generation (a theory that believed that life developed
from non-living material) began.

 the 1660s Francesco Redi demonstrated that maggots

resulted from flies laying eggs on rotting meat and not
by spontaneous generation[

 1665 The very first microscope was invented by

Robert Hooke. Because of this, Robert Hooke was the
first one to have a close look at a cell appears to be, and
he published his description in his However, Hooke’s
observations showed no features of the nucleus and
other organelles that are usually found in most living
cells[4].
  1674 Using a microscope, Anton van Leeuwenhoek
witnessed a live cell.
. Historians are unsure who made the first observations of microorganisms, but the
microscope was available during the mid‐1600s, and an English scientist named Robert
Hooke made key observations. He is reputed to have observed strands of fungi among the
specimens of cells he viewed. In the 1670s and the decades thereafter, a Dutch merchant
named Anton van Leeuwenhoek made careful observations of microscopic organisms,
which he called animalcules. Until he died in 1723, van Leeuwenhoek revealed the
microscopic world to scientists of the day and is regarded as one of the first to provide
accurate descriptions of protozoa, fungi, and bacteria.

2. Growth of Germ Theory:

The germs involved included bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and prions. Louis
Pasteur (1822-1895), a French chemist and microbiologist, and Robert Koch (1843-1910), a
German physician and microbiologist, are credited with the discovery of the germ theory in
the 1860s-1880s.

3. Emergence of Modern Microbiology:

In the 20th century, microbiology developed from the angle of
other disciplines of biological sciences so that problems of cell
structure to evolution are solved. Although, more emphasis was
laid down on the agents of infectious disease, the immune
response, chemotherapeutic agents, and bacterial metabolism
4. Scope and Applications:
 There is vast scope in the field of microbiology due to the
advancement in the field of science and technology. The
scope in this field is immense due to the involvement of
microbiology in many fields like medicine, pharmacy, diary,
industry, clinical research, water industry, agriculture,
chemical technology, and nanotechnology. The study of
microbiology contributes greatly to the understanding of life
through enhancements and interventions of microorganisms.
There is an increase in demand for microbiologists globally.
 microbiology is one of the largest and most complex of the
biological sciences as it deals with many diverse biological
disciplines. In addition to studying the natural history of
microbes, it deals with every aspect of microbe-human and
environmental interaction. These interactions include ecology,
genetics, metabolism, infection, disease, chemotherapy,
immunology, genetic engineering, industry and agriculture.


5. Technological Advances:
The advent of molecular biology techniques, DNA sequencing, and genomics has
propelled microbiology into the era of molecular microbiology. This has unraveled the genetic
makeup of microorganisms, facilitating advancements in fields like microbial genetics and
biotechnology.

6. Challenges and Future Prospects:

 Microbiology faces challenges such as antibiotic resistance and emerging infectious
diseases. The ongoing research aims to address these issues and harness the potential of
microorganisms for sustainable solutions in various sectors.