Fundamentals of Microbiology
Learning objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:
- Discuss the history of microbiology discovery and research
- Discuss characteristics of microbes such as size
- Discuss the classification and nomenclature of microbes
- Compare structure and function of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic cells
Bacteria (bacteriology)
- Describe the structural components of bacterial cells
- Explain how these structures contribute to bacterial function and survival
- Identify bacteria based on phenotypic characteristics (e.g., Gram-positive cocci, Gram-negative rods)
- Explain bacterial replication and bacterial growth curves
- Discuss normal bacterial flora, symbioses and microbiomes
Virus (virology)
- Explain what a virus is and describe its general structure
- Compare the replication strategies of DNA viruses and RNA viruses in host cells
- Discuss the principles of viral classification
- Explain how prions differ from viruses
- Discuss methods used to inactivate viruses
Fungi (mycology)
- Describe the structure and classification of fungi
- Discuss fungal replication
- Describe fungal nutrition and metabolism
Dive deeper
Watch this video on microbes. Ted-Ed. (2013, January 8). You are your microbes by Jessica Green and Karen Guillemin [YouTube, 3:45mins]
