MICROBIOLOGY

                                                MICROBIOLOGY

The branch of science in which the study of micro-organism & all living organisms i.e. called microbiology.This includes bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, prions, protozoa and algae, collectively known as 'microbes'. These microbes play key roles in nutrient cycling, biodegradation/biodeterioration, climate change, food spoilage, the cause and control of disease, and biotechnology. Thanks to their versatility, microbes can be put to work in many ways: making life-saving drugs, the manufacture of biofuels, cleaning up pollution, and producing/processing food and drink.

                                                    BACTERIA

Bacteria are single celled microbes. The cell structure is simpler than that of other organisms as there is no nucleus or membrane bound organelles. Instead their control centre containing the genetic information is contained in a single loop of DNA. Some bacteria have an extra circle of genetic material called a plasmid. The plasmid often contains genes that give the bacterium some advantage over other bacteria. For example it may contain a gene that makes the bacterium resistant to a certain antibiotic.

( note :- Bacteria are classified into five groups according to their basic shapes: spherical (cocci), rod (bacilli), spiral (spirilla), comma (vibrios) or corkscrew (spirochaetes). They can exist as single cells, in pairs, chains or clusters).

VIRUSES

Viruses are the smallest of all the microbes. They are said to be so small that 500 million rhinoviruses (which cause the common cold) could fit on to the head of a pin. They are unique because they are only alive and able to multiply inside the cells of other living things. The cell they multiply in is called the host cell.

A virus is made up of a core of genetic material, either DNA or RNA, surrounded by a protective coat called a capsid which is made up of protein. Sometimes the capsid is surrounded by an additional spikey coat called the envelope. Viruses are capable of latching onto host cells and getting inside them.

H3N2 influenza virus particles, coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM). Each virus consists of a nucleocapsid (protein coat) that surrounds a core of RNA (ribonucleic acid) genetic material. Surrounding the nucleocapsid is a lipid envelope that contains the glycoprotein spikes haemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). These viruses were part of the Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968-1969 that killed approximately one million people worldwide. H3N2 viruses are able to infect birds and mammals as well as humans. They often cause more severe infections in the young and elderly than other flu strains and can lead to increases in hospitalisations and deaths.

Viruses only exist to make more viruses. The virus particle attaches to the host cell before penetrating it. The virus then uses the host cell’s machinery to replicate its own genetic material. Once replication has been completed the virus particles leave the host by either budding or bursting out of the cell (lysis).

Budding

As the newly formed viral particle pushes against the host cell’s plasma membrane a portion adheres to it. The plasma membrane envelops the virus and becomes the viral envelope. The virus is released from the cell. This process slowly uses up the host’s cell membrane and usually leads to cell death.

Lysis

The virus particles burst out of the host cell into the extracellular space resulting in the death of the host cell. Once the virus has escaped from the host cell it is ready to enter a new cell and multiply.

FUNGI

Fungi can be single celled or very complex multicellular organisms. They are found in just about any habitat but most live on the land, mainly in soil or on plant material rather than in sea or fresh water. A group called the decomposers grow in the soil or on dead plant matter where they play an important role in the cycling of carbon and other elements. Some are parasites of plants causing diseases such as mildews, rusts, scabs or canker. In crops fungal diseases can lead to significant monetary loss for the farmer. A very small number of fungi cause diseases in animals. In humans these include skin diseases such as athletes’ foot, ringworm and thrush.

Types of fungi

Fungi are subdivided on the basis of their life cycles, the presence or structure of their fruiting body and the arrangement of and type of spores (reproductive or distributional cells) they produce.

The three major groups of fungi are:

• Multicellular filamentous moulds.
• Macroscopic filamentous fungi that form large fruiting bodies. Sometimes the group is referred  to as ‘mushrooms’, but the mushroom is just the part of the fungus we see above ground which is also known as the fruiting body.
• Single celled microscopic yeasts.

Multicellular filamentous moulds

Moulds are made up of very fine threads (hyphae). Hyphae grow at the tip and divide repeatedly along their length creating long and branching chains. The hyphae keep growing and intertwining until they form a network of threads called a mycelium. Digestive enzymes are secreted from the hyphal tip. These enzymes break down the organic matter found in the soil into smaller molecules which are used by the fungus as food.

Some of the hyphal branches grow into the air and spores form on these aerial branches. Spores are specialised structures with a protective coat that shields them from harsh environmental conditions such as drying out and high temperatures. They are so small that between 500 – 1000 could fit on a pin head.

Spores are similar to seeds as they enable the fungus to reproduce. Wind, rain or insects spread spores. They eventually land in new habitats and if conditions are right, they start to grow and produce new hyphae. As fungi can’t move they use spores to find a new environment where there are fewer competing organisms.

Macroscopic filamentous fungi

Macroscopic filamentous fungi also grow by producing a mycelium below ground. They differ from moulds because they produce visible fruiting bodies (commonly known as mushrooms or toadstools) that hold the spores. The fruiting body is made up of tightly packed hyphae which divide to produce the different parts of the fungal structure, for example the cap and the stem. Gills underneath the cap are covered with spores and a 10 cm diameter cap can produce up to 100 million spores per hour.

Yeasts

Yeasts are small, lemon-shaped single cells that are about the same size as red blood cells. They multiply by budding a daughter cell off from the original parent cell. Scars can be seen on the surface of the yeast cell where buds have broken off. Yeasts such as Saccharomyces play an important role in the production of bread and in brewing. Yeasts are also one of the most widely used model organisms for genetic studies, for example in cancer research. Other species of yeast such as Candida are opportunistic pathogens and cause infections in individuals who do not have a healthy immune system.

PROTOZOA

Protozoa are single celled organisms. They come in many different shapes and sizes ranging from an Amoeba which can change its shape to Paramecium with its fixed shape and complex structure. They live in a wide variety of moist habitats including fresh water, marine environments and the soil.

Some are parasitic, which means they live in other plants and animals including humans, where they cause disease. Plasmodium, for example, causes malaria. They are motile and can move by:

• Cilia - tiny hair like structures that cover the outside of the microbe. They beat in a regular continuous pattern like flexible oars.
• Flagella - long thread-like structures that extend from the cell surface. The flagella move in a whip-like motion that produces waves that propel the microbe around.
• Amoeboid movement - the organism moves by sending out pseudopodia, temporary protrusions that fill with cytoplasm that flows from the body of the cell.

Frank Fox / Science Photo Library Stentor is a trumpet-shaped protozoan, with a ring of cilia around the mouth of the trumpet 'funnel'. The cilia waft bacteria and prey, like small crustaceans, into this opening and down into the digestive system.

ARCHAEA

Archaea can be spherical, rod, spiral, lobed, rectangular or irregular in shape. An unusual flat, square-shaped species that lives in salty pools has also been discovered. Some exist as single cells, others form filaments or clusters. Until the 1970s this group of microbes was classified as bacteria.

Many archaea have been found living in extreme environments, for example at high pressures, salt concentrations or temperatures. These types of organisms are called extremophiles. Their cell wall differs in structure from that of bacteria and is thought to be more stable in extreme conditions, helping to explain why some archaea can live in many of the most hostile environments on Earth.

Examples of archaea habitats are boiling hot springs and geysers such as those found in Yellow Stone Park, USA and ice such as the Arctic and Antarctic oceans, which remain frozen for most of the year.

Archaea are a group of micro-organisms that are similar to, but evolutionarily distinct from bacteria.

PRIONS

A prion is a type of protein that can cause disease in animals and humans by triggering normally healthy proteins in the brain to fold abnormally.

The prion mode of action is very different to bacteria and viruses as they are simply proteins, devoid of any genetic material. Once a misfolded prion enters a healthy person – potentially by eating infected food – it converts correctly-folded proteins into the disease-associated form.