SBT 2173: INTRODUCTION TO

MICROBIOLOGY
DR. ELIZABETH MITAKI
LESSON 1
 Introduction
• Microbiology is the study of microorganisms.
• Microorganisms are the smallest organisms on Earth. In
fact, the term microorganism literally means "microscopic
organism."
• Microorganisms may be composed of prokaryotic or
eukaryotic cells, and they may be single-celled or
multicellular.
• They play many unique and complex roles within an
ecosystem, and they can perform a variety of functions,
such as photosynthesis, breaking down waste, and
infecting other organisms.
 Microorganisms classification

• Microorganisms are divided into seven types: bacteria,

archaea, protozoa, algae, fungi, viruses, and multicellular
animal parasites ( helminths 
• Each type has a characteristic cellular composition,
morphology, mean of locomotion, and reproduction. he
biological characteristics of microorganisms can be
summarized under the following categories: morphology,
nutrition, physiology, reproduction and growth,
metabolism, pathogenesis, antigenicity, and genetic
properties.
 Prokaryotic Microorganisms

• Represent the earliest forms of life on Earth.

They are broken up into two categories:
bacteria and archaea.
• Their cell lacks a nucleus to hold the cell's DNA
and lacks any sort of organized packaging or
housing to hold the rest of the cell's machinery.
• All prokaryotes are microorganisms, and they
are almost always single-celled.
 Eukaryotic Microorganisms

• Eurkaryotic cells are larger and more complex than

prokaryotic cells.
• Their DNA is neatly packaged within its nucleus, and there
are several different structures that house the cellular
machinery that can make eukaryotic microorganisms self-
sufficient.
• The structures located in eukaryotic cells may include the
endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and
ribosomes, as well as chloroplasts in photosynthetic cells.
Examples of eukaryotic microorganisms include fungi,
algae, protozoa and various microscopic parasitic worms.
 Viruses

• Viruses are even smaller and simpler than

prokaryotic cells, containing only a small
amount of genetic material wrapped in a
protein capsule. They cannot reproduce on
their own; they require a host cell to inject
their DNA or RNA into.
• The virus relies on the cellular machinery of
the host cell to replicate the viral genetic
material for it.
 Microorganisms Habitat

• Microorganisms are found nearly everywhere.

• There are bacteria all over our skin, even on our eyelashes. A healthy human
digestive tract depends on the help of particular microbes to break down and
process the foods we eat.
• Microorganisms that contain chloroplasts and carry out photosynthesis, like
algae and single-celled plants, process carbon dioxide and produce energy for
themselves and most other life on Earth.
• Soil microbes break down plant and animal matter into smaller and smaller
particles, eventually turning it into matter that other organisms can use as
nutrients.
• Still other microbes are responsible for invading our bodies and making us sick.
• Microorganisms are solely interested in one thing: reproducing. It just so
happens that some of them make an impact on the world around them while
they go about that task.
 Bacteria Characteristics
• Spherical: Bacteria shaped like a ball are called
cocci, and a single bacterium is a coccus.
Examples include the streptococcus group,
responsible for “strep throat.”
• Rod-shaped: These are known as bacilli
(singular bacillus). ...
• Spiral: These are known as spirilla (singular
spirillus).
• unicellular, prokaryotic, microscopic, lacking a
nucleus, and having a plasma membrane. 
• Have aCapsule, cell wall, Flagellum,
Pili,Cytoplasm,Ribosomes, Chromosomes.
 Bacterial structure parts& functions
• Flagella-Swimming movement
• Sex pilus-Stabilizes mating bacteria during DNA
transfer by conjugation
• Common pili or fimbriae-Attachment to surfaces;
protection against phagotrophic engulfment
• Capsules (includes "slime layers" and glycocalyx)-
Attachment to surfaces; protection against phagocytic
engulfment, occasionally killing or digestion; reserve
of nutrients or protection against desiccation
 Parts cont…
• Cell wall-Prevents osmotic lysis of cell protoplast and confers
rigidity and shape on cells
• Plasma membrane-Permeability barrier; transport of solutes;
energy generation; location of numerous enzyme systems
• Ribosomes-Sites of translation (protein synthesis)-RNA and
protein
• Chromosome-Genetic material of cell 
 Bacteria examples
Occur in three basic shapes;
• Spherical: Bacteria shaped like a ball are called cocci, and a
single bacterium is a coccus. Examples include the
streptococcus group, responsible for “strep throat.”
• Rod-shaped: These are known as bacilli (singular bacillus).
Some rod-shaped bacteria are curved. These are known as
vibrio. Examples of rod-shaped bacteria include Bacillus
anthracis (B. anthracis), or anthrax.
• Spiral: These are known as spirilla (singular spirillus). If their coil
is very tight they are known as spirochetes. Leptospirosis, 
Lyme disease, and syphilis are caused by bacteria of this shape.
 Viruses
• small obligate intracellular parasites, which by
definition contain either a RNA or DNA genome
surrounded by a protective, virus-coded protein coat
• Non living structures,Non-cellular.
• Contain a protein coat called the capsid.
• Have a nucleic acid core containing DNA or RNA (one
or the other - not both)
• Capable of reproducing only when inside a HOST
cell.
 Viral cell parts
• Capsid - The capsid is the protein shell that encloses the nucleic acid; with its
enclosed nucleic acid, it is called the nucleocapsid. This shell is composed of protein
organized in subunits known as capsomers.. The capsid has three functions:
• 1) it protects the nucleic acid from digestion by enzymes,
• 2) contains special sites on its surface that allow the virion to attach to a host cell.
• 3) provides proteins that enable the virion to penetrate the host cell membrane and,
in some cases, to inject the infectious nucleic acid into the cell's cytoplasm.
• Envelope - The envelope –glycoprotein in nature is composed of two lipid layers
interspersed with protein molecules (lipoprotein bilayer) and may contain material
from the membrane of a host cell as well as that of viral origin. Many viruses also
develop spikes made of glycoprotein on their envelopes that help them to attach to
specific cell surfaces.
• Nucleic Acid - Encodes the genetic information for the synthesis of all proteins. Most
viruses maintain all their genetic information with the single-stranded RNA. There are
two types of RNA-based viruses.
 Virus examples
• COVID-19.
• Influenza (the flu)
• HIV, which can lead to AIDS.
• Meningitis (there is also bacterial meningitis)
• Pneumonia (there is also bacterial pneumonia)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Herpes.
• Rotavirus
 Characteristics of Fungi

• Fungi are eukaryotic, non-vascular, non-motile

and heterotrophic organisms.
• They may be unicellular or filamentous.
• They reproduce by means of spores.
• Fungi exhibit the phenomenon of alternation
of generation.
• Fungi lack chlorophyll and hence cannot
perform photosynthesis.
 Fungi examples
• Chytridiomycota (chytrids),
• Zygomycota (bread molds),
• Ascomycota (yeasts and sac fungi),
• Basidiomycota (club fungi). 

• **Assignment: write five fungi under each

group e.g Aspergilus niger
 Methods of studying Microorganisms

• Basically a microbiologist studies

microorganisms by observing them through a
microscope, either a compound light or
electron. In order to grow microbes out of
their natural habitats and in pure form in the
laboratory, certain nutrients are required. The
most widely used media is agar.
• Morphology refers to the size, shape, and arrangement of cells.
The observation of microbial cells requires not only the use of 
microscopes but also the preparation of the cells in a manner
appropriate for the particular kind of microscopy. During the
first decades of the 20th century, the 
compound light microscope was the instrument commonly
used in microbiology. Light microscopes have a usual
magnification factor of 1000 × and a maximum useful
magnification of approximately 2000 ×. Specimens can be
observed either after they have been stained by one of several
techniques to highlight some morphological characteristics or in
living, unstained preparations as a “wet mount.”
 Morphology observation
• Morphology refers to the size, shape, and arrangement of
cells. The observation of microbial cells requires not only
the use of microscopes but also the preparation of the
cells in a manner appropriate for the particular kind of
microscopy.
• Light microscopes have a usual magnification factor of
1000 × and a maximum useful magnification of
approximately 2000 ×. Specimens can be observed either
after they have been stained to highlight some
morphological characteristics or in living, unstained
preparations as a “wet mount.”
 Light microscopy

• Bright field: The specimen is usually stained and observed while

illuminated; useful for observation of the gross morphological
features of bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa.
• Dark field: The specimen is suspended in a liquid on a special slide
and can be observed in a living condition; useful for determining
motility of microorganisms or some special morphological
characteristic such as spiral or coiled shapes.
• Fluorescence: The specimen is stained with a fluorescent dye and
then illuminated; objects that take up the fluorescent dye will
“glow.”
• Phase contrast Special condenser lenses allow observation of living
cells and differentiation of cellular structures of varying density.
 Electron microscopy

• The electron microscope and complimentary

techniques vastly increased the resolving
power beyond that attainable with light
microscopy. This increase is possible because
the wavelengths of the electron beams are so
much shorter than the wavelengths of light.
Objects as small as 0.02 nm are resolvable by 
electron microscopy, allowing, for instance,
the observation of virions and viral structures.
 Electron microscopy cont….
• Specimens are observed by either 
transmission electron microscopy or 
scanning electron microscopy.
• In TEM the electron beam passes through the
specimen and registers on a screen forming the
image;
• In SEM the electron beam moves back and forth over
the surface of microorganisms coated with a thin film
of metal and registers a three-dimensional picture on
the screen.
 Other studying methods;
Nutritional and physiological characteristics
Some species will grow in a solution composed
only of inorganic salts (one of the salts must be a 
compound of nitrogen) and a source of 
carbon dioxide (CO2); these are called autotrophs.
Many, but not all, of these microbes are
autotrophic via photosynthesis. Organisms
requiring any other carbon source are called 
heterotrophs.
 Physiological conditions
• Some are aerobes (require oxygen), some are anaerobes (grow only in the
absence of oxygen), and some are facultative (they grow in either condition).
• Microorganisms that grow at temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F) are called
psychrophiles; those that grow best at 20–40 °C (68–104 °F) are called
mesophiles; a third group, the thermophiles, require temperatures above 40
°C.
• Other physical conditions that affect the growth of microorganisms are
acidity or basicity (pH), osmotic pressure, and hydrostatic pressure. The
optimal pH for most bacteria associated with the human environment is in
the neutral range near pH 7, though other species grow under extremely
basic or acidic conditions. Most fungi are favoured by a slightly lower pH (5–
6); protozoa require a range of pH 6.7–7.7; algae are similar to bacteria in
their requirements except for the fact that they are photosynthetic.
 Reproduction and growth

• Bacteria reproduce primarily by binary fission, an asexual process

whereby a single cell divides into two. Under ideal conditions some
bacterial species may divide every 10–15 minutes—a doubling of the
population at these time intervals. Eukaryotic microorganisms
reproduce by a variety of processes, both asexual and sexual. Some
require multiple hosts or carriers (vectors) to complete their life
cycles. Viruses, on the other hand, are produced by the host cell that
they infect but are not capable of self-reproduction.
• The study of the growth and reproduction of microorganisms requires
techniques for cultivating them in pure culture in the laboratory. Data
collected on the microbial population over a period of time, under
controlled laboratory conditions, allow a characteristic growth curve
 to be constructed for a species.