Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Microbial physiology:-
The study of how the microbial cell functions biochemically. Includes the study of microbial growth, microbial metabolism and microbial cell structure.In this branch of microbiology we are study about all physical character of any type of micro-organism for example bacteria, sanctuary, algae, fungi, virus etc.For example some microbial cell structure is following:-

Monday, July 14, 2008

MICRO BIOLOGY

GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF MICROBIOLOGY
Today subject of microbiology is very important and useful. In this time several uses of microbiology. So in the world many person are intrusted in this subject. A person specialist in microbiology is called microbiology.
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms. This includes eukaryotes such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes, which are bacteria and archaea. Viruses, though not strictly classed as living organisms, are also studied.In short; microbiology refers to the study of life and organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Microbiology is researched actively, and the field is advancing continually. We have probably only studied about one percent of all of the microbe species on Earth. Although microbes were first observed over three hundred years ago, the field of microbiology can be said to be in its infancy relative to older biological disciplines such as zoology and botany
Microbiology is a broad term which includes virology, mycology, parasitology and other branches. But fowling branches is the very important branches of microbiology:-
Medical microbiology
Medical microbiology is a branch of microbiology which deals with the study of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites which are of medical importance and are capable of causing diseases in human beings. It includes the study of microbial pathogenesis and epidemiology and is related to the study of disease pathology and immunology. In the medical laboratory, these microbiologists also work in a subdepartment dedicated to parasitology.
This branch of microbiology is amongst the most widely studied and followed branches due to its great importance to medicine. Along with providing a deep knowledge and understanding of the nature of pathogens this line of study has also been applied in several immunological innovations in the field of medical science. Through the development of vaccines against invading organisms, deadly and debilitating diseases such as small pox, polio, and rabies have been either eradicated or are more treatable because of the efforts of scientists and researchers in the field of medical microbiology.
Industrial microbiology
Industrial microbiology or microbial biotechnology encompasses the use of microorganisms in the manufacture of food or industrial products. The use of microorganisms for the production of food, either human or animal, is often considered a branch of food microbiology. The microorganisms used in industrial processes may be natural isolates, laboratory selected mutants or genetically engineered organisms.
Food microbiology
Food microbiology is the study of the microorganisms which inhabit, create or contaminate food. Of major importance is the study of microorganisms causing food spoilage. However "good" bacteria such as probiotics are becoming increasingly important in food science. In addition, microorganisms are essential for the production of foods such as cheese, yogurt, other fermented foods, bread, beer and wine.
Environmental microbiology
Environmental microbiology is the study of the composition and physiology of microbial communities in the environment. The environment in this case means the soil, water, air and sediments covering the planet and can also include the animals and plants that inhabit these areas. Environmental microbiology also includes the study of microorganisms that exist in artificial environments such as bioreactors.
Microbial life is amazingly diverse and microorganisms literally cover the planet. It is estimated that we know fewer than 1% of the microbial species on Earth. Microorganisms can survive in some of the most extreme environments on the planet and some, for example the Archaea, can survive high temperatures, often above 100°C, as found in geysers, black smokers, and oil wells. Some are found in very cold habitats and others in highly saline, acidic, or alkaline water.
An average gram of soil contains approximately one billion (1,000,000,000) microbes representing probably several thousand species. Microorganisms have special impact on the whole biosphere. They are the backbone of ecosystems of the zones where light cannot approach. In such zones, chemosynthetic bacteria are present which provide energy and carbon to the other organisms there. Some microbes are decomposers which have ability to recycle the nutrients. Microbes have a special role in biogeochemical cycles. Microbes, especially bacteria, are of great importance because their symbiotic relationship (either positive or negative) have special effects on the ecosystem.
Microorganisms are used for in-situ microbial biodegradation or bioremediation of domestic, agricultural and industrial wastes and subsurface pollution in soils, sediments and marine environments. The ability of each microorganism to degrade toxic waste depends on the nature of each contaminant. Since most sites typically have multiple pollutant types, the most effective approach to microbial biodegradation is to use a mixture of bacterial species and strains, each specific to the biodegradation of one or more types of contaminants. It is vital to monitor the composition of the indigenous and added bacteria in order to evaluate the activity level and to permit modifications of the nutrients and other conditions for optimizing the bioremediation process.


Sunday, May 4, 2008

ABOUT MICROBIOLOGY

PRE MICROBIOLOGY:-
The existence of microorganisms was hypothesized for many centuries before their actual discovery in the 17th century. The first theories on microorganisms was made by Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in a book titled On Agriculture in which he warns against locating a homestead in the vicinity of swamps: and because there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases.This passage seems to indicate that the ancients were aware of the possibility that diseases could be spread by yet unseen Organisms.In The Canon of Medicine (1020), Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) stated that bodily secretion is contaminated by foul foreign earthly bodies before being infected. He also hypothesized on the contagious nature of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases and used quarantine as a means of limiting the spread of contagious diseases.When the Black Death bubonic plague reached al-Andalus in the 14th century, Ibn Khatima hypothesized that infectious diseases are caused by "minute bodies" which enter the human body and cause disease.In 1546 Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by transferable seedlike entities that could transmit infection by direct or indirect contact or even without contact over long distances.All these early claims about the existence of microorganisms were speculative in nature and not based on any data or science. Microorganisms were neither proven, observed, and correctly and accurately described until the 17th century. The reason for this was that all these early inquiries lacked the most fundamental tool in order for microbiology and bacteriology to exist as a science, and that was the microscope.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the first microbiologist and the first to observe microorganisms using a microscope and is called as the 'Father of Microbiology' and the first person to invent Microscope.

DISCOVERY AND ORIGINS OF MICROBIOLOGY:-
Bacteria and microorganisms were first observed by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1676 using a single-lens microscope of his own design. In doing so Leeuwenhoek made one of the most important discoveries in biology and initiated the scientific fields of bacteriology and microbiology. The name "bacterium" was introduced much later, by Ehrenberg in 1828, derived from the Greek βακτηριον meaning "small stick". While Van Leeuwenhoek is often cited as the first microbiologist, the first recorded microbiological observation, that of the fruiting bodies of molds, was made earlier in 1665 by Robert Hooke.The field of bacteriology (later a subdiscipline of microbiology) is generally considered to have been founded by Ferdinand Cohn (1828–1898), a botanist whose studies on algae and photosynthetic bacteria led him to describe several bacteria including Bacillus and Beggiatoa. Cohn was also the first to formulate a scheme for the taxonomic classification of bacteria. Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) and Robert Koch (1843–1910) were contemporaries of Cohn’s and are often considered to be the founders of medical microbiology. Pasteur is most famous for his series of experiments designed to disprove the then widely held theory of spontaneous generation, thereby solidifying microbiology’s identity as a biological science. Pasteur also designed methods for food preservation (pasteurization) and vaccines against several diseases such as anthrax, fowl cholera and rabies. Koch is best known for his contributions to the germ theory of disease, proving that specific diseases were caused by specific pathogenic microorganisms. He developed a series of criteria that have become known as the Koch's postulates. Koch was one of the first scientists to focus on the isolation of bacteria in pureculture resulting in his description of several novel bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis.While Pasteur and Koch are often considered the founders of microbiology, their work did not accurately reflect the true diversity of the microbial world because of their exclusive focus on microorganisms having direct medical relevance. It was not until the work of Martinus Beijerinck (1851–1931) and Sergei Winogradsky (1856–1953), the founders of general microbiology (an older term encompassing aspects of microbial physiology, diversity and ecology), that the true breadth of microbiology was revealed. Beijerinck made two major contributions to microbiology: the discovery of viruses and the development of enrichment culture techniques. While his work on the Tobacco Mosaic Virus established the basic principles of virology, it was his development of enrichment culturing that had the most immediate impact on microbiology by allowing for the cultivation of a wide range of microbes with wildly different physiologies. Winogradsky was the first to develop the concept of chemolithotrophy and to thereby reveal the essential role played by microorganisms in geochemical processes..!