BIOL 1202 Lecture 1: chapt01_SSG-2
Document Summary
This chapter introduces the field of microbiology and discusses the importance of microorganisms not only as causative agents of disease, but also as important contributors to food production, antibiotic manufacture, vaccine development, and environmental management. It presents a brief history of the science of microbiology and an overview of the microbial world. The origin of life and microbial evolution is put in the context of microbial phylogenies. Since prokaryotic organisms generally do not reproduce sexually, species are defined as groups of strains (pure cultures) sharing stable distinguishing properties; microbiologists use the binomial system for naming species. Microbiology and its origins: microscopy and the discovery of microorganisms. Spontaneous generation: the proponents of the concept of spontaneous generation claimed that living organisms could develop from nonliving or decomposing matter. Francesco redi (1626 1697) challenged this concept by showing that maggots on decaying meat came from fly eggs deposited on the meat, and not from the meat itself.
