BIOL 2051 Chapter : Chapter 1 Lecture Outline For Micro
Document Summary
The study of organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye: microorganisms are everywhere. Some are pathogens but most are harmless or beneficial. Importance: medicine, making antibiotics, controlling disease, agriculture. Genetically engineered crops: food industry, used to make beer, wine, bread, yogurt, pickles, and chocolate, genetic engineering. Insulin, growth hormone, vitamins: crops resistant to pest, heat, pesticides, herbicides, etc. Degrade organic matter: cause, disease (most microbes are not pathogenic, hiv, colds, std"s, food poisoning, flu. What is a microbe? organisms that you can not see with the naked eye: organism that requires a microscope to be seen, microbial cells size- 0. 2 um to mm; viruses much maller, contradictions: Super-size cells - thiomargarita namibiensis is size of fruit fly head. Microbial communities in biofilms microbes have specialized functions & act as multicellular organism. Viruses are non-cellular- considered to be microbes but are not fully functional cells: 6 major groups studied by microbiologists.
