A TEXTBOOK OF GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY
Keywords:
Microbiology, Bubonic Plague, Potato Blight, Microscopy, Fermentation, Immunology, Environmental Microbiology, Food Microbiology, Foodborne Illness, Food Spoilage, Fermented, Food Preservation, Industrial Microbiology, Fermentation in Industry, Soil Microbiology, Water Microbiology, Air Microbiology, Virology, Medical Microbiology, Epidemiology, Electron Microscopy, Light Microscopy, Phase Contrast Microscopy, Bright-Field Microscopy, DarkField Microscopy, Fluorescence Microscopy, Compound Microscope, Staining Methods, Simple Staining, Negative Staining, Differential Staining, Taxonomy, Microbial Taxonomy, Phenotypic (phyletic) Classification, Phylogenetic (Phyletic) Classification, Numerical Taxonomy, Prokaryotic Cell, Cell Wall, Cytoplasmic Membrane, Membrane Transport Systems, Plasma Membrane, Cytoplasm, Cytoplasmic Inclusions, Cytoplasmic, Vacuoles, cytoplasmic Vacuoles, Cytoskeleton, Germination of Endospore, Microbial Locomotion, Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes, Modes of Cell Division, Quantitative Measurement of Growth, Bacterial Nutrition, Environmental Factors, Microorganisms, Physical Methods, Chemical Methods, DNA Structure, DNA Replication, Transcription, Translation, Genetic Mutation, Genetic Recombination Systems, DNA Technology, Microbiota of Soil, Soil Microflora, Microbiology of Air, Microorganisms in Air, Airborne, Microorganism, Microorganisms in Aquatic Environment, Microbiology of Water, Waste Water Treatment, Waste Water DisposalSynopsis
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, protistology, mycology, immunology and parasitology.
Eukaryotic microorganisms possess membrane-bound organelles and include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryotic organisms—all of which are microorganisms—are conventionally classified as lacking membrane bound organelles and include Bacteria and Archaea. Microbiologists traditionally relied on culture, staining, and microscopy. However, less than 1% of the microorganisms present in common environments can be cultured in isolation using current means. Microbiologists often rely on molecular biology tools such as DNA sequence based identification, for example the 16S rRNA gene sequence used for bacteria identification.
Viruses have been variably classified as organisms, as they have been considered either as very simple microorganisms or very complex molecules. Prions, never considered as microorganisms, have been investigated by virologists, however, as the clinical effects traced to them were originally presumed due to chronic viral infections, and virologists took search—discovering "infectious proteins".
