CHAPTER 1
MICROORGANISMS
➢Classification of Microbes
➢Characteristics of Microbes
➢Uses of Microbes
➢Pathogens and Diseases
➢Food Preservation
MICROORGANISMS
• Biggest organism - Blue Whale
• Smallest organism - bacterium (Mycoplasma genitalium) - 0.2
• Organisms that cannot be seen with our naked eye.
• Need special instrument - Microscope
• Greek word : mikros - small
organismos - organism
• Microbes that cause disease - Pathogens
• Largest microbe - Thiomargarita namibiensis
• Study of microbes : Microbiology
CHARACTERESTICS OF MICROBES
1) Microbes are ubiquitous/ omnipresent (present everywhere)
➢ piece of bread, log of wood, air, water, body of organisms, soil,
extremely hot and cold areas
2) May occur as Unicellular/ clusters(colonies)
3) Can form hard outer covering called cyst
(protection during unfavorable conditions)
4) Can be beneficial/ harmful (pathogens)
CLASSIFICATION OF MICROBES
• BACTERIA
• ALGAE
• FUNGI
• PROTOZOA
• VIRUS
BACTERIA/ BACTERIUM
• Ubiquitous
• Unicellular (single-celled)
• Found as colonies
• Two types based on O2 requirement:
1) Aerobic - require O2
2) Anaerobic - doesn’t require O2
• Most are harmless, but some pathogens
• Cause diseases like Typhoid, Tuberculosis etc.
TYPES OF BACTERIA BASED ON SHAPE
1) Cocci/ Coccus - spherical/ round shape
2) Bacilli/ Bacillus - rod-shape
3) Vibrios/ Vibrio - comma-shape
4) Spirilla/ Spirillum - spiral shape
ALGAE/ ALGA
• Simplest plants, similar to plants, member of plant kingdom
• Uni and multicellular
• Some are macroscopic
• Most are aquatic
• Possess cell wall, chlorophyll - photosynthesis
• Uni - Chlorella, Volvox, Chlamydomonas.
• Multi, macro - Fucus (seaweed)
• Multi, micro - Spirogyra- filamentous algae
• Cause of Algal bloom- Cyanobacteria
FUNGI/ FUNGUS
• Different from plants and animals
• Non-green org. , possess thread like structures - Hyphae
• Lack chlorophyll, non-photosynthetic, heterotrophic
• Examples :
❖ Yeast (only unicellular fungus)- used in bakeries
(alcoholic beeverages)
❖ Rhizopus (bread mould)
❖ Penicillium - produces toxin - Penicillin (kills bacteria)
Penicillin - first antibiotic produced - Alexander Fleming
❖ Dandruff - Malassezia
NUTRITION IN FUNGI
1) Saprophytic fungi
o Feed on dead plant and animal matter
o release enzymes on the food through cell wall
o Broken down food absorbed through cell wall
o eg - Agaricus, Aspergillus etc.
2) Parasitic fungi
o Lives inside or outside the host body
o Harmful to the host
o eg - Puccinia, Candida etc.
CHECKPOINT
PROTOZOA/ PROTOZOAN
• Unicellular, called as ‘little animals’
• Non-photosynthetic, heterotrophic
• Mostly aquatic, ability to locomote
• Some found as colonies
• Most harmless, some are pathogenic
• e.g. - Amoeba, Paramecium, Trypanosoma
• Plasmodium - causes Malaria
VIRUSES/ VIRUS
• Living and non-living characteristics
• Extremely tiny, electron microscope
• No specific structure, but contains some compounds
present in living things like proteins, nucleic acid etc.
• Multiplies only inside host body
• Most are pathogenic- humans, animals, plants
• Plants - TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus)
• Animals - Avian flu, Polio, Common cold,
Swine flu
• Bacteria - Bacteriophages/ Phages
• Common cold - Rhino Virus
• Avian flu virus(birds) - Influenza virus - H5N1 (Hemagglutinin Type 5
Neuramidinase Type 1)
• Swine flu (pigs) - Influenza virus - H1N1
• Influenza Virus - Types A, B, C and D.
USEFUL MICROBES
➢ FOOD AND BEEVERAGE INDUSTRY
➢ MEDICINES
➢ SOIL FERTILITY
➢ CLEANING ENVIRONMENT
➢ OTHER USES
FOOD PRESERVATION
1) HEATING & COOLING
2) ADDING SALT/ SUGAR
3) ADDING OIL/ VINEGAR
4) USING CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES
5) CANNING AND VACUUM PACKING
6) PASTEURISATION
1) HEATING AND COOLING
HEATING
• Heating kills microbes
• Industries - milk sterilized through UHT (Ultra Heat Treatment)
• UHT - milk heated to a temp. of 135OC for 1-2 sec
• Then packed in Tetra Pak and marketed.
• Shelf life of > 6 months if not opened.
COOLING
• Cooling slows down microbial activity
• Refrigerators : 5OC - few days
• Freezer : -18OC - few months
2) ADDING SALT/ SUGAR
• Preserves food by dehydrating microbes by Osmosis
• Salt -used to preserve meat, fish, chips, pickles etc.
• Sugar -used to preserve jams, jellies, squashes etc.
3) ADDING OIL/ VINEGAR
• Oil and vinegar (acidic) provides unsuitable environment for microbes
• Used to preserve meat, fish, pickles etc.
4) USING CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES
• Chemicals like Sodium benzoate (C6H5COONa), Sodium metabisulfite
(Na2S2O5), Formalin (HCHO) inhibits growth of microbes
• Preserves jams, sauces, ketchups etc.
5) CANNING AND VACUUM PACKING
• Cereals, pulses, dry fruits etc. are dried/ dehydrated
and packed in air-tight containers - Canning
• Food items sealed in a packet after removing all air present in it - Vacuum
packing.
6) PASTEURISATION
• Invented by French biologist, Louis Pasteur
• Used in dairy industry, for preservation of milk.
• Milk heated at a temperature of 72OC for 15 sec and
then suddenly cooled
• Heating kills the microbes
• Cooling prevents further growth of microbes
CHECKPOINT
