Microbiology (from Greek μῑκρος, mīkros, "small"; βίος, bios, "life"; and -λογία, -logia) is the study of microscopic organisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, mycology, parasitology, and bacteriology.
Eukaryotic micro-organisms possess membrane-bound cell organelles and include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryotic organisms—which all are microorganisms—are conventionally classified as lacking membrane-bound organelles and include eubacteria and archaebacteria. 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 extraction or detection of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA sequences.
Viruses have been variably classified as organisms, as they have been considered either as very simple microorganisms or very complex molecules. Prions, never considered 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".
As an application of microbiology, medical microbiology is often introduced with medical principles of immunology as microbiology and immunology. Otherwise, microbiology, virology, and immunology as basic sciences have greatly exceeded the medical variants, applied sciences.
Branches
The branches of microbiology can be classified into pure and applied sciences. Microbiology can be also classified based on taxonomy, in the cases of bacteriology, mycology, protozoology, and phycology. There is considerable overlap between the specific branches of microbiology with each other and with other disciplines, and certain aspects of these branches can extend beyond the traditional scope of microbiology.
Pure microbiology
Taxonomic arrangement
- Bacteriology: The study of bacteria.
- Mycology: The study of fungi.
- Protozoology: The study of protozoa.
- Phycology/algology: The study of algae.
- Parasitology: The study of parasites.
- Immunology: The study of the immune system.
- Virology: The study of viruses.
- Nematology: The study of nematodes.
- Microbial cytology: The study of microscopic and submicroscopic details of microorganisms.
- Microbial physiology: The study of how the microbial cell functions biochemically. Includes the study of microbial growth, microbial metabolism and microbial cell structure.
- Microbial ecology: The relationship between microorganisms and their environment.
- Microbial genetics: The study of how genes are organized and regulated in microbes in relation to their cellular functions. Closely related to the field of molecular biology.
- Cellular microbiology: A discipline bridging microbiology and cell biology.
- Evolutionary microbiology: The study of the evolution of microbes. This field can be subdivided into:
- Microbial taxonomy: The naming and classification of microorganisms.
- Microbial systematic: The study of the diversity and genetic relationship of microorganisms.
- Generation microbiology: The study of those microorganisms that have the same characters as their parents.
- Systems microbiology: A discipline bridging systems biology and microbiology.
- Molecular microbiology: The study of the molecular principles of the physiological processes in microorganisms.
- Nano microbiology: The study of those organisms on nano level.
- Exo microbiology (or Astro microbiology): The study of microorganisms in outer space (see: List of microorganisms tested in outer space)
- Biological agent: The study of those microorganisms which are being used in weapon industries.
- Predictive microbiology: The quantification of relations between controlling factors in foods and responses of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms using mathematical modelling
- Medical microbiology: The study of the pathogenic microbes and the role of microbes in human illness. Includes the study of microbial pathogenesis and epidemiology and is related to the study of disease pathology and immunology. This area of microbiology also covers the study of human microbiota, cancer, and the tumor microenvironment.
- Pharmaceutical microbiology: The study of microorganisms that are related to the production of antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins,vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products and that cause pharmaceutical contamination and spoil.
- Industrial microbiology: The exploitation of microbes for use in industrial processes. Examples include industrial fermentation and wastewater treatment. Closely linked to the biotechnology industry. This field also includes brewing, an important application of microbiology.
- Microbial biotechnology: The manipulation of microorganisms at the genetic and molecular level to generate useful products.
- Food microbiology: The study of microorganisms causing food spoilage and foodborne illness. Using microorganisms to produce foods, for example by fermentation.
- Agricultural microbiology: The study of agriculturally relevant microorganisms. This field can be further classified into the following:
- Plant microbiology and Plant pathology: The study of the interactions between microorganisms and plants and plant pathogens.
- Soil microbiology: The study of those microorganisms that are found in soil.
- Veterinary microbiology: The study of the role of microbes in veterinary medicine or animal taxonomy.
- Environmental microbiology: The study of the function and diversity of microbes in their natural environments. This involves the characterization of key bacterial habitats such as the rhizosphere and phyllosphere, soil and groundwater ecosystems, open oceans or extreme environments (extremophiles). This field includes other branches of microbiology such as:
- Microbial ecology
- Microbially mediated nutrient cycling
- Geomicrobiology
- Microbial diversity
- Bioremediation
- Water microbiology (or Aquatic microbiology): The study of those microorganisms that are found in water.
- Aeromicrobiology (or Air microbiology): The study of airborne microorganisms.
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