Portal:Microorganisms
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
A microorganism, or microbe, is a microscopic organism, which may exist in its single-celled form or in a colony of cells.
The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from ancient times, such as in Jain scriptures from 6th century BC India and the 1st century BC book On Agriculture by Marcus Terentius Varro. Microbiology, the scientific study of microorganisms, began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax.
Selected general articles
- Microbial cytology is the study of microscopic and submicroscopic details of microorganisms. Origin of "Microbial" 1880-85; < Greek mīkro- micro- small + bíos life). "Cytology" 1857; < Cyto-is derived from the Greek "kytos" meaning "hollow, as a cell or container." + -logy meaning "the study of"). Microbial cytology is analyzed under a microscope for cells which were collected from a part of the body. The main purpose of microbial cytology is to see the structure of the cells, and how they form and operate. Read more...
A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants, and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, about 5,000 virus species have been described in detail, although there are millions of types. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a sub-speciality of microbiology. Read more...- The vaginal flora in pregnancy, or vaginal microbiota in pregnancy, is different from the vaginal flora (the population of microorganisms that resides in the vagina) before sexual maturity, during reproductive years, and after menopause. A description of the vaginal flora of pregnant women who are immunocompromised is not covered in this article. The composition of the vaginal flora significantly differs in pregnancy. Bacteria or viruses that are infectious most often have no symptoms. Read more...
- Marine microorganisms are defined by their habitat as the microorganisms living in a marine environment, that is, in the saltwater of a sea or ocean or the brackish water of a coastal estuary. A microorganism (or microbe) is any microscopic living organism, that is, any life form too small for the naked human eye to see, needing a microscope. Microorganisms are very diverse. They can be single-celled or multicellular and include all bacteria and archaea and most protozoa, as well as some species of fungi, algae, and certain microscopic animals, such as rotifers. Many macroscopic animals and plants have microscopic juvenile stages. Some microbiologists also classify viruses (and viroids) as microorganisms, but others consider these as nonliving. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all life, including microorganisms, living on Earth.
Marine microorganisms constitute more than 90% of the biomass in the sea. They are crucial to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. A small proportion of microorganisms are pathogenic, causing disease and even death in plants and animals. As inhabitants of the largest environment on Earth, microbial marine systems drive changes in every global system. Microbes are responsible for virtually all the photosynthesis that occurs in the ocean, as well as the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients and trace elements. Read more...
The term skin flora (also commonly referred to as skin microbiota) refers to the microorganisms which reside on the skin, typically human skin.
Many of them are bacteria of which there are around 1000 species upon human skin from nineteen phyla. Most are found in the superficial layers of the epidermis and the upper parts of hair follicles. Read more...- Dark-field microscopy (also called dark-ground microscopy) describes microscopy methods, in both light and electron microscopy, which exclude the unscattered beam from the image. As a result, the field around the specimen (i.e., where there is no specimen to scatter the beam) is generally dark. Read more...
Structures found on meteorite fragment Allan Hills 84001
Nanobacterium (/ˌnænoʊbækˈtɪəriəm/ NAN-oh-bak-TEER-ee-əm, pl. nanobacteria /ˌnænoʊbækˈtɪəriə/ NAN-oh-bak-TEER-ee-ə) is the unit or member name of a proposed class of living organisms, specifically cell-walled microorganisms with a size much smaller than the generally accepted lower limit for life (about 200 nm for bacteria, like mycoplasma). Originally based on observed nano-scale structures in geological formations (including one meteorite), the status of nanobacteria has been controversial, with some researchers suggesting they are a new class of living organism capable of incorporating radiolabeled uridine, and others attributing to them a simpler, abiotic nature. One skeptic dubbed them "the cold fusion of microbiology", in reference to a notorious episode of supposed erroneous science. The term "calcifying nanoparticles" (CNPs) has also been used as a conservative name regarding their possible status as a life form.
Research tends to agree that these structures exist, and appear to replicate in some way. However, the idea that they are living entities has now largely been discarded, and the particles are instead thought to be nonliving crystallizations of minerals and organic molecules. Read more...
Central dogma depicting transcription from DNA code to RNA code to the proteins in the second step covering the production of protein.
Protein production is the biotechnological process of generating a specific protein. It is typically achieved by the manipulation of gene expression in an organism such that it expresses large amounts of a recombinant gene. This includes the transcription of the recombinant DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA), the translation of mRNA into polypeptide chains, which are ultimately folded into functional proteins and may be targeted to specific subcellular or extracellular locations.
Protein production systems (in lab jargon also referred to as 'expression systems') are used in the life sciences, biotechnology, and medicine. Molecular biology research uses numerous proteins and enzymes, many of which are from expression systems; particularly DNA polymerase for PCR, reverse transcriptase for RNA analysis, restriction endonucleases for cloning, and to make proteins that are screened in drug discovery as biological targets or as potential drugs themselves. There are also significant applications for expression systems in industrial fermentation, notably the production of biopharmaceuticals such as human insulin to treat diabetes, and to manufacture enzymes. Read more...
Bacteria (/bækˈtɪəriə/ (
listen); common noun bacteria, singular bacterium) are a type of biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a number of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats. Bacteria inhabit soil, water, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, and the deep portions of Earth's crust. Bacteria also live in symbiotic and parasitic relationships with plants and animals. Most bacteria have not been characterised, and only about half of the bacterial phyla have species that can be grown in the laboratory. The study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of microbiology.
There are typically 40 million bacterial cells in a gram of soil and a million bacterial cells in a millilitre of fresh water. There are approximately 5×1030 bacteria on Earth, forming a biomass which exceeds that of all plants and animals. Bacteria are vital in many stages of the nutrient cycle by recycling nutrients such as the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere. The nutrient cycle includes the decomposition of dead bodies; bacteria are responsible for the putrefaction stage in this process. In the biological communities surrounding hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, extremophile bacteria provide the nutrients needed to sustain life by converting dissolved compounds, such as hydrogen sulphide and methane, to energy. Data reported by researchers in October 2012 and published in March 2013 suggested that bacteria thrive in the Mariana Trench, which, with a depth of up to 11 kilometres, is the deepest known part of the oceans. Other researchers reported related studies that microbes thrive inside rocks up to 580 metres below the sea floor under 2.6 kilometres of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States. According to one of the researchers, "You can find microbes everywhere—they're extremely adaptable to conditions, and survive wherever they are." Read more...- Microbial biogeography is a subset of biogeography, a field that concerns the distribution of organisms across space and time. Although biogeography traditionally focused on plants and larger animals, recent studies have broadened this field to include distribution patterns of microorganisms. This extension of biogeography to smaller scales—known as "microbial biogeography"—is enabled by ongoing advances in genetic technologies.
The aim of microbial biogeography is to reveal where microorganisms live, at what abundance, and why. Microbial biogeography can therefore provide insight into the underlying mechanisms that generate and hinder biodiversity. Microbial biogeography also enables predictions of where certain organisms can survive and how they respond to changing environments, making it applicable to several other fields such as climate change research. Read more... - Microbial oil is a triglyceride (lipid) produced by a microbe, and is similar to vegetable oil, another biologically produced oil. Some species of yeast are able to convert food into triglycerides and accumulate the produced lipids when fed carbohydrates. Production of microbial oil has been researched for production of biodiesel, because impure carbohydrates such as agricultural residues, e.g. waste molasses can be used as a feedstock for production of oil. Read more...
- Food microbiology is the study of the microorganisms that inhibit, create, or contaminate food, including the study of microorganisms causing food spoilage, pathogens that may cause disease especially if food is improperly cooked or stored, those used to produce fermented foods such as cheese, yogurt, bread, beer, and wine, and those with other useful roles such as producing probiotics. Read more...
Clockwise from top left: Blepharisma japonicum, a ciliate; Giardia muris, a parasitic flagellate; Centropyxis aculeata, a testate (shelled) amoeba; Peridinium willei, a dinoflagellate; Chaos carolinense, a naked amoebozoan; Desmerella moniliformis, a choanoflagellate
Protozoa (also protozoan, plural protozoans) is an informal term for single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, which feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Historically, the protozoa were regarded as "one-celled animals", because they often possess animal-like behaviors, such as motility and predation, and lack a cell wall, as found in plants and many algae. Although the traditional practice of grouping protozoa with animals is no longer considered valid, the term continues to be used in a loose way to identify single-celled organisms that can move independently and feed by heterotrophy.
In some systems of biological classification, Protozoa is a high-level taxonomic group. When first introduced in 1818, Protozoa was erected as a taxonomic class, but in later classification schemes it was elevated to a variety of higher ranks, including phylum, subkingdom and kingdom. In a series of classifications proposed by Thomas Cavalier-Smith and his collaborators since 1981, Protozoa has been ranked as a kingdom. The seven-kingdom scheme presented by Ruggiero et al. in 2015, places eight phyla under Kingdom Protozoa: Euglenozoa, Amoebozoa, Metamonada, Choanozoa sensu Cavalier-Smith, Loukozoa, Percolozoa, Microsporidia and Sulcozoa. Notably, this kingdom excludes several major groups of organisms traditionally placed among the protozoa, including the ciliates, dinoflagellates, foraminifera, and the parasitic apicomplexans, all of which are classified under Kingdom Chromista. Kingdom Protozoa, as defined in this scheme, does not form a natural group or clade, but a paraphyletic group or evolutionary grade, within which the members of Fungi, Animalia and Chromista are thought to have evolved. Read more...- Microbial genetics is a subject area within microbiology and genetic engineering. Microbial genetics studies microorganisms for different purposes. The microorganisms that are observed are bacteria, and archaea. Some fungi and protozoa are also subjects used to study in this field. The studies of microorganisms involve studies of genotype and expression system. Genotypes are the inherited compositions of an organism. (Austin, "Genotype," n.d.) Genetic Engineering is a field of work and study within microbial genetics. The usage of recombinant DNA technology is a process of this work. The process involves creating recombinant DNA molecules through manipulating a DNA sequence. That DNA created is then in contact with a host organism. Cloning is also an example of genetic engineering.
Since the discovery of microorganisms by Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek during the period 1665-1885 they have been used to study many processes and have had applications in various areas of study in genetics.
For example: Microorganisms' rapid growth rates and short generation times are used by scientists to study evolution. Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discoveries involved depictions, observations, and descriptions of microorganisms. Mucor is the microfungus that Hooke presented and gave a depiction of. His contribution being, Mucor as the first microorganism to be illustrated. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek’s contribution to the microscopic protozoa and microscopic bacteria yielded to scientific observations and descriptions. These contributions were accomplished by a simple microscope, which led to the understanding of microbes today and continues to progress scientists understanding.
Microbial genetics also has applications in being able to study processes and pathways that are similar to those found in humans such as drug metabolism. Read more...
Grapes being trodden to extract the juice and fermented to wine in storage jars. Tomb of Nakht, 18th dynasty, Thebes, Ancient Egypt
Human interactions with microbes include both practical and symbolic uses of microbes, and negative interactions in the form of human, domestic animal, and crop diseases.
Practical use of microbes began in ancient times with fermentation in food processing; bread, beer and wine have been produced by yeasts from the dawn of civilisation, such as in ancient Egypt. More recently, microbes have been used in activities from biological warfare to the production of chemicals by fermentation, as industrial chemists discover how to manufacture a widening variety of organic chemicals including enzymes and bioactive molecules such as hormones and competitive inhibitors for use as medicines. Fermentation is used, too, to produce substitutes for fossil fuels in forms such as ethanol and methane; fuels may also be produced by algae. Anaerobic microorganisms are important in sewage treatment. In scientific research, yeasts and the bacterium Escherichia coli serve as model organisms especially in genetics and related fields. Read more...- Microbial symbiosis in marine animals was not discovered until 1981. In the time following, symbiotic relationships between marine invertebrates and chemoautotrophic bacteria have been found in a variety of ecosystems, ranging from shallow coastal waters to deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The type of marine animal vary greatly, for example, sponges, sea squirts, corals, worms, and algae all host a variety of unique symbionts. Each symbiotic relationship displays a unique ecological niche, which in turn can lead to entirely new species of host species and symbiont.
It is particularly interesting that it took so long to discover the marine microbial symbiosis because nearly every surface submerged in the oceans becomes covered with biofilm, including a large number of living organisms. Many marine organisms display symbiotic relationships with microbes. Epibiotic bacteria have been found to live on crustacean larvae and protect them from fungal infections. Other microbes in deep-sea vents have been found to prevent the settlement of barnacles and tunicate larvae. Read more... - Chronic Mycoplasma pneumonia and Chlamydia pneumonia infections are associated with the onset and exacerbation of asthma. These microbial infections result in chronic lower airway inflammation, impaired mucociliary clearance, an increase in mucous production and eventually asthma. Furthermore, children who experience severe viral respiratory infections early in life have a high possibility of having asthma later in their childhood. These viral respiratory infections are mostly caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human rhinovirus (HRV). Although RSV infections increase the risk of asthma in early childhood, the association between asthma and RSV decreases with increasing age. HRV on the other hand is an important cause of bronchiolitis and is strongly associated with asthma development. In children and adults with established asthma, viral upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), especially HRVs infections, can produce acute exacerbations of asthma. Thus, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and human rhinoviruses are microbes that play a major role in non-atopic asthma. Read more...
Gut flora, or gut microbiota, or gastrointestinal microbiota, is the complex community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tracts of humans and other animals, including insects. The gut metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of gut microbiota. The gut is one niche that human microbiota inhabit.
In humans, the gut microbiota has the largest numbers of bacteria and the greatest number of species compared to other areas of the body. In humans, the gut flora is established at one to two years after birth, and by that time the intestinal epithelium and the intestinal mucosal barrier that it secretes have co-developed in a way that is tolerant to, and even supportive of, the gut flora and that also provides a barrier to pathogenic organisms. Read more...
The placental microbiome is the nonpathogenic, commensal bacteria claimed to be present in a healthy human placenta and is distinct from bacteria that cause infection and preterm birth in chorioamnionitis. Until recently, the healthy placenta was considered to be a sterile organ but now genera and species have been identified that reside in the basal layer.
It should be stressed that the evidence for a placental microbiome is controversial. Most studies supporting the existence of a placental microbiome lack the appropriate experimental controls, and it has been found that contamination is most likely responsible for reports of a placental microbiome. Read more...
Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organism.
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.
A biologist specializing in mycology is called a mycologist. Read more...
The great plate count anomaly. Counts of cells obtained via cultivation are orders of magnitude lower than those directly observed under the microscope. This is because microbiologists are able to cultivate only a minority of naturally occurring microbes using current laboratory techniques, depending on the environment.
Microbial ecology (or environmental microbiology) is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life—Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria—as well as viruses.
Microorganisms, by their omnipresence, impact the entire biosphere. Microbial life plays a primary role in regulating biogeochemical systems in virtually all of our planet's environments, including some of the most extreme, from frozen environments and acidic lakes, to hydrothermal vents at the bottom of deepest oceans, and some of the most familiar, such as the human small intestine. As a consequence of the quantitative magnitude of microbial life (Whitman and coworkers calculated 7030500000000000000♠5.0×1030 cells, eight orders of magnitude greater than the number of stars in the observable universe) microbes, by virtue of their biomass alone, constitute a significant carbon sink. Aside from carbon fixation, microorganisms' key collective metabolic processes (including nitrogen fixation, methane metabolism, and sulfur metabolism) control global biogeochemical cycling. The immensity of microorganisms' production is such that, even in the total absence of eukaryotic life, these processes would likely continue unchanged. Read more...
Archaea (/ɑːrˈkiːə/ (
listen) or /ɑːrˈkeɪə/ ar-KEE-ə or ar-KAY-ə) constitute a domain of single-celled microorganisms. These microbes (archaea; singular archaeon) are prokaryotes, meaning they have no cell nucleus.
Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (in the Archaebacteria kingdom), but this classification is outdated.
Archaeal cells have unique properties separating them from the other two domains of life, Bacteria and Eukarya. The Archaea are further divided into multiple recognized phyla. Classification is difficult because the majority have not been isolated in the laboratory and have only been detected by analysis of their nucleic acids in samples from their environment. Read more...
Escherichia coli at 10,000× magnification
Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), also known as a stool transplant, is the process of transplantation of fecal bacteria from a healthy individual into a recipient. FMT involves restoration of the colonic microflora by introducing healthy bacterial flora through infusion of stool, e.g. by colonoscopy, enema, orogastric tube or by mouth in the form of a capsule containing freeze-dried material, obtained from a healthy donor. The effectiveness of FMT has been established in clinical trials for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), whose effects can range from diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis.
Due to an epidemic of CDI in North America and Europe, FMT has gained increasing prominence, with some experts calling for it to become first-line therapy for CDI. In 2013 a randomized, controlled trial of FMT from healthy donors showed it to be highly effective in treating recurrent C. difficile in adults, and more effective than vancomycin alone. FMT has been used experimentally to treat other gastrointestinal diseases, including colitis, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has regulated human feces as an experimental drug since 2013. Read more...
A stained histologic specimen, sandwiched between a glass microscope slide and coverslip, mounted on the stage of a light microscope.
Staining is an auxiliary technique used in microscopy to enhance contrast in the microscopic image. Stains and dyes are frequently used in biology and medicine to highlight structures in biological tissues for viewing, often with the aid of different microscopes. Stains may be used to define and examine bulk tissues (highlighting, for example, muscle fibers or connective tissue), cell populations (classifying different blood cells, for instance), or organelles within individual cells.
In biochemistry it involves adding a class-specific (DNA, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) dye to a substrate to qualify or quantify the presence of a specific compound. Staining and fluorescent tagging can serve similar purposes. Biological staining is also used to mark cells in flow cytometry, and to flag proteins or nucleic acids in gel electrophoresis. Read more...
The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) was a United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) research initiative to improve understanding of the microbial flora involved in human health and disease. Launched in 2007, the first phase (HMP1) focused on identifying and characterizing human microbial flora. The second phase, known as the Integrative Human Microbiome Project (iHMP) launched in 2014 with the aim of generating resources to characterize the microbiome and elucidating the roles of microbes in health and disease states. The program received $170 million in funding by the NIH Common Fund from 2007 to 2016.
Important components of the HMP were culture-independent methods of microbial community characterization, such as metagenomics (which provides a broad genetic perspective on a single microbial community), as well as extensive whole genome sequencing (which provides a "deep" genetic perspective on certain aspects of a given microbial community, i.e. of individual bacterial species). The latter served as reference genomic sequences — 3000 such sequences of individual bacterial isolates are currently planned — for comparison purposes during subsequent metagenomic analysis. The project also financed deep sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA sequences amplified by polymerase chain reaction from human subjects. Read more...
Cyanobacteria /saɪˌænoʊbækˈtɪəriə/, also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis, and are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes able to produce oxygen. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: κυανός, translit. kyanós, lit. 'blue'). Cyanobacteria, which are prokaryotes, are also called "blue-green algae", though the term "algae" in modern usage is restricted to eukaryotes.
Unlike heterotrophic prokaryotes, cyanobacteria have internal membranes. These are flattened sacs called thylakoids where photosynthesis is performed. Read more...- Microbial intelligence (popularly known as bacterial intelligence) is the intelligence shown by microorganisms. The concept encompasses complex adaptive behaviour shown by single cells, and altruistic or cooperative behavior in populations of like or unlike cells mediated by chemical signalling that induces physiological or behavioral changes in cells and influences colony structures.
Complex cells, like protozoa or algae, show remarkable abilities to organise themselves in changing circumstances. Shell-building by amoebae reveals complex discrimination and manipulative skills that are ordinarily thought to occur only in multicellular organisms. Read more...
A fungus (plural: fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, fungi, which is separate from the other eukaryotic life kingdoms of plants and animals.
A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Similar to animals, fungi are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesise. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related organisms, named the Eumycota (true fungi or Eumycetes), which share a common ancestor (form a monophyletic group), an interpretation that is also strongly supported by molecular phylogenetics. This fungal group is distinct from the structurally similar myxomycetes (slime molds) and oomycetes (water molds). The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology (from the Greek μύκης mykes, mushroom). In the past, mycology was regarded as a branch of botany, although it is now known fungi are genetically more closely related to animals than to plants. Read more...
A prokaryote is usually a unicellular organism, sometimes a multi cellular organism, that lacks a membrane-bound nucleus, mitochondria, or any other membrane-bound organelle. The word prokaryote comes from the Greek πρό (pro) "before" and κάρυον (karyon) "nut or kernel". Prokaryotes are divided into two domains, Archaea and Bacteria. In contrast, species with nuclei and organelles are placed in the third domain, Eukaryota. Prokaryotes reproduce without fusion of gametes. The first living organisms are thought to have been prokaryotes.
In the prokaryotes, all the intracellular water-soluble components (proteins, DNA and metabolites) are located together in the cytoplasm enclosed by the cell membrane, rather than in separate cellular compartments. Bacteria, however, do possess protein-based bacterial microcompartments, which are thought to act as primitive organelles enclosed in protein shells. Some prokaryotes, such as cyanobacteria, may form large colonies. Others, such as myxobacteria, have multicellular stages in their life cycles. Read more...
Caenorhabditis elegans-microbe interactions are here broadly defined and encompass the associations with all microbes that are temporarily or permanently living in or on this nematode. The microbes might engage in a commensal, mutualistic or pathogenic interaction with the host and include bacteria, viruses, unicellular eukaryotes, and fungi. In nature C. elegans harbours a variety of different microbes. In contrast, C. elegans strains that are cultivated in laboratories for research purposes have lost their naturally associated microbial communities and are commonly maintained on a single bacterial strain, Escherichia coli OP50. Read more...- Microbial population biology is the application of the principles of population biology to microorganisms. Read more...
- Impedance microbiology is a microbiological technique used to measure the microbial number density (mainly bacteria but also yeasts) of a sample by monitoring the electrical parameters of the growth medium. The ability of microbial metabolism to change the electrical conductivity of the growth medium was discovered by Stewart and further studied by other scientists such as Oker-Blom, Parson and Allison in the first half of 20th century. However, it was only in the late 1970s that, thanks to computer-controlled systems used to monitor impedance, the technique showed its full potential, as discussed in the works of Fistenberg-Eden & Eden, Ur & Brown and Cady. Read more...
This wrinkled "elephant skin" texture is a feature formed from a non-stromatolite microbial mat. The image shows the location, in the Burgsvik beds of Sweden, where the texture was first identified as evidence of a microbial mat.
Microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) are primary sedimentary structures formed by the interaction of microbes with sediment and physical agents of erosion, deposition, and transportation. The structures commonly form when microbial mats (which may comprise bacteria, fungi, protozoans, archaea or algae) are preserved in the sedimentary geological record. There are 17 main types of macroscopic and microscopic MISS. Of those, wrinkle structures and microbial mat chips are the most abundant in the fossil record. Other MISS include sinoidal structures, polygonal oscillation cracks, multidirected ripple marks, erosional remnants and pockets, or gas domes.
Although these structures have only recently been named and systematically described, links between microbes and distinctive structures in sediments and sedimentary rocks have been suggested by several early workers. MISS have been identified in beds formed 3,480 million years ago in the Archean and may be the oldest complete fossils on Earth. In the Ediacaran period, they are often associated with the preservation of fossils of the Ediacara biota; subsequent to this point their prevalence declines as a result of the Agronomic revolution Read more...
A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture medium under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are foundational and basic diagnostic methods used extensively as a research tool in molecular biology.
Microbial cultures are used to determine the type of organism, its abundance in the sample being tested, or both. It is one of the primary diagnostic methods of microbiology and used as a tool to determine the cause of infectious disease by letting the agent multiply in a predetermined medium. For example, a throat culture is taken by scraping the lining of tissue in the back of the throat and blotting the sample into a medium to be able to screen for harmful microorganisms, such as Streptococcus pyogenes, the causative agent of strep throat. Furthermore, the term culture is more generally used informally to refer to "selectively growing" a specific kind of microorganism in the lab. Read more...- Microorganisms engage in a wide variety of social interactions, including cooperation. A cooperative behavior is one that benefits an individual (the recipient) other than the one performing the behavior (the actor). This article outlines the various forms of cooperative interactions (mutualism and altruism) seen in microbial systems, as well as the benefits that might have driven the evolution of these complex behaviors. Read more...
- There are close and often long-term relationships between symbiotic microbes and their host's immune system. The immune system is a host defense system consisting of anatomical barriers, and physiological and cellular responses, which protect the host against harmful parasites while limiting inflammation by tolerating harmless symbionts. Humans are home to 1013 to 1014 bacteria. These bacteria can have almost any kind of relationship with the host, including mutually beneficial in a host's gut, or parasitic.
Microbes can promote the development of the host's immune system in the gut and skin, and may help to prevent pathogens from invading. Some release anti-inflammatory products, protecting against parasitic gut microbes. Commensals promote the development of B cells that produce a protective antibody, Immunoglobulin A (IgA). This can neutralize pathogens and exotoxins, and promote the development of TH17 and FOXP3+ regulatory T cells. Microbes trigger development of isolated lymphoid follicles in the small intestine, which are sites of mucosal immune response. Microbes can prevent growth of harmful pathogens by altering pH, consuming nutrients required for pathogen survival, and secreting toxins that inhibit growth of pathogens. However, microbes have been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and cancer. Read more...
A protist (/ˈproʊtɪst/) is any eukaryotic organism (one with cells containing a nucleus) that is not an animal, plant or fungus. The protists do not form a natural group, or clade, since they exclude certain eukaryotes; but, like algae or invertebrates, they are often grouped together for convenience. In some systems of biological classification, such as the popular five-kingdom scheme proposed by Robert Whittaker in 1969, the protists make up a kingdom called Protista, composed of "organisms which are unicellular or unicellular-colonial and which form no tissues".
Besides their relatively simple levels of organization, protists do not necessarily have much in common. When used, the term “protists” is now considered to mean a paraphyletic assemblage of similar-appearing but diverse taxa (biological groups); these taxa do not have an exclusive common ancestor beyond being composed of eukaryotes and have different life cycles, trophic levels, modes of locomotion and cellular structures. In the classification system of Lynn Margulis, the term protist is reserved for microscopic organisms, while the more inclusive term Protoctista is applied to a biological kingdom that includes certain large multicellular eukaryotes, such as kelp, red algae and slime molds. Others use the term protist more broadly, to encompass both microbial eukaryotes and macroscopic organisms that do not fit into the other traditional kingdoms. Read more...
Lactobacilli and a vaginal squamous cell.
Vaginal flora or vaginal microbiota are the microorganisms that colonize the vagina. They were discovered by the German gynecologist Albert Döderlein in 1892 and are part of the overall human flora.
The amount and type of bacteria present have significant implications for a woman's overall health. The primary colonizing bacteria of a healthy individual are of the genus Lactobacillus, such as L. crispatus, and the lactic acid they produce is thought to protect against infection by pathogenic species. Read more...- Oral microbiology is the study of the microorganisms (microbiota) of the oral cavity and their interactions between oral microorganisms or with the host. The environment present in the human mouth allows the growth of characteristic microorganisms found there. It provides a source of water and nutrients, as well as a moderate temperature. Resident microbes of the mouth adhere to the teeth and gums to resist mechanical flushing from the mouth to stomach where acid-sensitive microbes are destroyed by hydrochloric acid.
Anaerobic bacteria in the oral cavity include: Actinomyces, Arachnia, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Eubacterium, Fusobacterium, Lactobacillus, Leptotrichia, Peptococcus, Peptostreptococcus, Propionibacterium, Selenomonas, Treponema, and Veillonella.[needs update] Genera of fungi that are frequently found in the mouth include Candida, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Glomus, Alternaria, Penicillium, and Cryptococcus, among others. Bacteria accumulate on both the hard and soft oral tissues in biofilms. Bacterial adhesion is particularly important for oral bacteria. Read more... - Dysbiosis (also called dysbacteriosis) is a term for a microbial imbalance or maladaptation on or inside the body, such as an impaired microbiota. For example, a part of the human microbiota, such as the skin flora, gut flora, or vaginal flora, can become deranged, with normally dominating species underrepresented and normally outcompeted or contained species increasing to fill the void. Dysbiosis is most commonly reported as a condition in the gastrointestinal tract, particularly during small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or small intestinal fungal overgrowth (SIFO).
Typical microbial colonies found on or in the body are normally benign or beneficial. These beneficial and appropriately sized microbial colonies carry out a series of helpful and necessary functions, such as aiding in digestion. They also help protect the body from the penetration of pathogenic microbes. These beneficial microbial colonies compete with each other for space and resources. Read more... - Antarctica is one of the most physically and chemically extreme terrestrial environments to be inhabited by microorganisms. Nonetheless, on February 6, 2013, scientists reported that bacteria were found living in the cold and dark in a lake buried a half-mile deep (0.80 km) under the ice in Antarctica. This finding was later confirmed by scientists on August 20, 2014. Read more...
The uterine microbiome is the commensal, nonpathogenic, bacteria, viruses, yeasts/fungi present in a healthy uterus, amniotic fluid and endometrium and the specific environment which they inhabit. It has been only recently confirmed that the uterus and its tissues are not sterile. Due to improved 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques, detection of bacteria that are present in low numbers is possible.
Using this procedure that allows the detection of bacteria that cannot be cultured outside the body, studies of microbiota present in the uterus are expected to increase. Read more...- The microbial food web refers to the combined trophic interactions among microbes in aquatic environments. These microbes include viruses, bacteria, algae, heterotrophic protists (such as ciliates and flagellates).
In aquatic environments, microbes constitute the base of the food web. Single celled photosynthetic organisms such as diatoms and cyanobacteria are generally the most important primary producers in the open ocean. Many of these cells, especially cyanobacteria, are too small to be captured and consumed by small crustaceans and planktonic larvae. Instead, these cells are consumed by phagotrophic protists which are readily consumed by larger organisms. Viruses can infect and break open bacterial cells and (to a lesser extent), planktonic algae (a.k.a. phytoplankton). Therefore, viruses in the microbial food web act to reduce the population of bacteria and, by lysing bacterial cells, release particulate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). DOC may also be released into the environment by algal cells. One of the reasons phytoplankton release DOC termed "unbalanced growth" is when essential nutrients (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus) are limiting. Therefore, carbon produced during photosynthesis is not used for the synthesis of proteins (and subsequent cell growth), but is limited due of a lack of the nutrients necessary for macromolecules. Excess photosynthate, or DOC is then released, or exuded. Read more...
Virology is the study of viruses – submicroscopic, parasitic particles of genetic material contained in a protein coat – and virus-like agents. It focuses on the following aspects of viruses: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy. Virology is considered to be a subfield of microbiology or of medicine. Read more...- The lung microbiota, is the pulmonary microbial community consisting of a complex variety of microorganisms found in the lower respiratory tract particularly on the mucous layer and the epithelial surfaces. These microorganisms include bacteria, fungi, viruses and bacteriophages. The bacterial part of the microbiota has been more closely studied. It consists of a core of nine genera: Prevotella, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Fusobacterium, Megasphaera, Veillonella, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus. They are aerobes as well as anaerobes and aerotolerant bacteria. The microbial communities are highly variable in particular individuals and compose of about 140 distinct families. The bronchial tree for instance contains a mean of 2000 bacterial genomes per cm2 surface. The harmful or potentially harmful bacteria are also detected routinely in respiratory specimens. The most significant are Moraxella catarrhalis, Haemophilus influenzae, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. They are known to cause respiratory disorders under particular conditions namely if the human immune system is impaired. The mechanism by which they persist in the lower airways in healthy individuals is unknown.
Fungal genera that are commonly found in the lung microbiota include Candida, Malassezia, Neosartorya, Saccharomyces, and Aspergillus, among others. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that the gut of Piscicola geometra harbours symbiotic bacteria which help the leech to digest fish blood?
- ... that the p19 protein evolved in an arms race between plants and viruses?
- ... that some carnivorous fungi catch and consume soil nematodes?
- ... that δ34S values in certain Archean pyrites suggest that sulfate-reducing organisms were present 3,470 million years ago?
- ... that proteins from a bacterium toxic to pests have been incorporated into crop plants for biological pest control?
- ... that Singaporean fungi expert Gloria Lim once assisted her country's Ministry of Defence when its storage bunkers developed mold?
- ... that humans and horses are dead-end hosts for the West Nile virus?
- ... that M. J. Thirumalachar named two genera of fungi he discovered, Narasimhania and Narasimhella, after his father, M. J. Narasimhan?
- ... that microbiologist Jane Gibson established through her 1954 discovery that selenium, a trace element, is essential for coliform bacterial growth?
- ... that the Cook Islands flashlightfish produces light with the help of bioluminescent bacteria?
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Selected images
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to study microorganisms, using simple microscopes of his own design.
The photosynthetic cyanobacterium Hyella caespitosa (round shapes) with fungal hyphae (translucent threads) in the lichen Pyrenocollema halodytes
A cluster of Escherichia coli bacteria magnified 10,000 times
Robert Koch showed that microorganisms caused disease.
The eukaryotic parasite Plasmodium falciparum (spiky blue shapes), a causative agent of malaria, in human blood
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria magnified about 10,000x
Wastewater treatment plants rely largely on microorganisms to oxidise organic matter.
A laboratory fermentation vessel
Lazzaro Spallanzani showed that boiling a broth stopped it from decaying.
Louis Pasteur showed that Spallanzani's findings held even if air could enter through a filter that kept particles out.
In the news
- 10 November 2018 – 2018 Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak
- The death toll of the ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that started in August, rises to 200 people. This is the deadliest ebola outbreak in the history of the country. (BBC)
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