Welcome to the wonderful world of microbiology! Yay! So. What is microbiology? If we break the word down it translates to “the study of small life,” where the small life refers to microorganisms or microbes. But who are the microbes? And how small are they? Generally microbes can be divided in to two categories: the cellular microbes (or organisms) and the acellular microbes (or agents). In the cellular camp we have the bacteria, the archaea, the fungi, and the protists (a bit of a grab bag composed of algae, protozoa, slime molds, and water molds). Cellular microbes can be either unicellular, where one cell is the entire organism, or multicellular, where hundreds, thousands or even billions of cells can make up the entire organism. In the acellular camp we have the viruses and other infectious agents, such as prions and viroids. In this textbook the focus will be on the bacteria and archaea (traditionally known as the “prokaryotes,”) and the viruses and other acellular agents.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Microbiology
2. Microscopes
3. Cell Structure
4. Bacteria: Cell Walls
5. Bacteria: Internal Components
6. Bacteria: Surface Structures
7. Archaea
8. Introduction to Viruses
9. Microbial Growth
10. Environmental Factors
11. Microbial Nutrition
12. Energetics & Redox Reactions
13. Chemoorganotrophy
14. Chemolithotrophy & Nitrogen Metabolism
15. Phototrophy
16. Taxonomy & Evolution
17. Microbial Genetics
18. Genetic Engineering
19. Genomics
20. Microbial Symbioses
21. Bacterial Pathogenicity
22. The Viruses

This textbook has been created with several goals in mind: accessibility, customization, and student engagement—all while encouraging students toward high levels of academic scholarship. Students will find that this textbook offers a strong introduction to human biology in an accessible format.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Biology and the Scientific Method
Chapter 2: Chemistry and Life
Chapter 3: Cells
Chapter 4: DNA and Gene Expression
Chapter 5: Digestive System
Chapter 6: Energy Considerations
Chapter 7: Blood
Chapter 8: Heart
Chapter 9: Blood Vessels
Chapter 10: Respiratory System
Chapter 11: Hormones
Chapter 12: Urinary System
Chapter 13: Mitosis and Meiosis
Chapter 14: Reproductive Systems
Chapter 15: Skeletal System
Chapter 16: Muscles and Movement
Chapter 17: Nervous System
Chapter 18: Special Senses
Chapter 19: Immune System

An introduction to the biology and ubiquity of microorganisms (for example, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi), including morphology, anatomy, physiology, classification, and identification. The significance and role of microorganisms in human affairs will also be explored.

Table of Contents:
Safety
The Metric System, Measurement, and Lab Equipment Review
Microscopy
Environmental Sampling
Survey of Eukaryotic Microorganisms: The Protists Algae
Parasitic Helminths
Fungi
Pure Cultures: Aseptic Transfer Techniques and Streak Plates for Isolation
Bacterial Growth Patterns: Building your Stock Cultures and Observing Culture Characteristics
Bacterial Growth Patterns: Direct Count, The Standard Plate Count, and Indirect Turbidimetric Methods
Environmental Effects on Growth: Tempature
Environmental Effects on Growth: pH
Environmental Effects on Growth: Osmotic Pressure
Oxygen Requirements: FTM and the Anaerobe Jar
Environmental Effects on Growth: Antimicrobial Sensitivity Testing
Transformation 1
Smear Prep and Simple Stains
Negative Stain
Gram Stain
Endospore Stain
Acid-Fast Stain: Kinyoun Method
Physiological Tests for Characterization and Identification of Bacteria
Unknown #1
Unknown #2: Mixed Culture
Bacterial Examination of Food: Standard Plate Counts
Bacterial Examination of Water: Multiple Tube Test, Standard Plate Count, and Membrane Filter Technique
Immunology: ELISA-Simulation, StaphTEX-Agglutination Reaction
Microbescopes and Observation of Natural Samples

The exercises in this laboratory manual are designed to engage students in hand-on activities that reinforce their understanding of the microbial world. Topics covered include: staining and microscopy, metabolic testing, physical and chemical control of microorganisms, and immunology. The target audience is primarily students preparing for a career in the health sciences, however many of the topics would be appropriate for a general microbiology course as well.

Table of Contents
Lab 1. Introduction to Microscopy and Diversity of Cell Types
Lab 2. Introduction to Aseptic Techniques and Growth Media
Lab 3. Preparation of Bacterial Smears and Introduction to Staining
Lab 4. Acid fast and Endospore Staining
Lab 5. Metabolic Activities of Bacteria
Lab 6. Dichotomous Keys
Lab 7. The Effect of Physical Factors on Microbial Growth
Lab 8. Chemical Control of Microbial Growth—Disinfectants and Antibiotics
Lab 9. The Microbiology of Milk and Food
Lab 10. The Eukaryotes
Lab 11. Clinical Microbiology I; Anaerobic pathogens; Vectors of Infectious Disease
Lab 12. Clinical Microbiology II—Immunology and the Biolog System
Lab 13. Putting it all Together: Case Studies in Microbiology
Appendix I. Information About Lab Practical Exams
Appendix II. Scientific Notation and Serial Dilution
Appendix III. Introduction to Micropipetting

Welcome to Microbiology, an OpenStax resource. This textbook was written to increase student access to high-quality learning materials, maintaining highest standards of academic rigor at little to no cost.

Microbiology is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements for the single-semester Microbiology course for non-majors. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of Microbiology make the material interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter.

A brief Table of Contents follows. While we have made every effort to align the Table of Contents with the needs of our audience, we recognize that some instructors may prefer to teach topics in a different order. A particular strength of Microbiology is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom.

Chapter 1: An Invisible World
Chapter 2: How We See the Invisible World
Chapter 3: The Cell
Chapter 4: Prokaryotic Diversity
Chapter 5: The Eukaryotes of Microbiology
Chapter 6: Acellular Pathogens
Chapter 7: Microbial Biochemistry
Chapter 8: Microbial Metabolism
Chapter 9: Microbial Growth
Chapter 10: Biochemistry of the Genome
Chapter 11: Mechanisms of Microbial Genetics
Chapter 12: Modern Applications of Microbial Genetics
Chapter 13: Control of Microbial Growth
Chapter 14: Antimicrobial Drugs
Chapter 15: Microbial Mechanisms of Pathogenicity
Chapter 16: Disease and Epidemiology
Chapter 17: Innate Nonspecific Host Defenses
Chapter 18: Adaptive Specific Host Defenses
Chapter 19: Diseases of the Immune System
Chapter 20: Laboratory Analysis of the Immune Response
Chapter 21: Skin and Eye Infections
Chapter 22: Respiratory System Infections
Chapter 23: Urogenital System Infections
Chapter 24: Digestive System Infections
Chapter 25: Circulatory and Lymphatic System Infections
Chapter 26: Nervous System Infections
Appendix A: Fundamentals of Physics and Chemistry Important to Microbiology
Appendix B: Mathematical Basics
Appendix C: Metabolic Pathways
Appendix D: Taxonomy of Clinically Relevant Microorganisms
Appendix E: Glossary

Microbiology covers the scope and sequence requirements for a single-semester microbiology course for non-majors. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of the text make the material interesting and accessible while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter. Microbiology’s art program enhances students’ understanding of concepts through clear and effective illustrations, diagrams, and photographs.

This course will cover a range of diverse areas of microbiology, including virology, bacteriology, and even applied microbiology. This course will focus on the medical aspects of microbiology, as medical research has been the primary motivator in microbiology research. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: explain how organisms are classified using taxonomy, focusing on the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya; describe the chemical building blocks and metabolic processes important to sustain microbial life; identify the major principles of microbiology and describe the relationship between microbes and other living organisms; discuss pathogenic microbes and their epidemiology; differentiate between microorganisms based on their shape, size, arrangement, staining, and culture characteristics; outline antimicrobial methods including antibiotic use; explain how the human body protects itself; list uses for microbiology in food and beverage preparation and industry. (Biology 307)

As a group of organisms that are too small to see and best known for being agents of disease and death, microbes are not always appreciated for the numerous supportive and positive contributions they make to the living world. Designed to support a course in microbiology, Microbiology: A Laboratory Experience permits a glimpse into both the good and the bad in the microscopic world. The laboratory experiences are designed to engage and support student interest in microbiology as a topic, field of study, and career.

This text provides a series of laboratory exercises compatible with a one-semester undergraduate microbiology or bacteriology course with a three- or four-hour lab period that meets once or twice a week. The design of the lab manual conforms to the American Society for Microbiology curriculum guidelines and takes a ground-up approach — beginning with an introduction to biosafety and containment practices and how to work with biological hazards. From there the course moves to basic but essential microscopy skills, aseptic technique and culture methods, and builds to include more advanced lab techniques. The exercises incorporate a semester-long investigative laboratory project designed to promote the sense of discovery and encourage student engagement. The curriculum is rigorous but manageable for a single semester and incorporates best practices in biology education.

This on-line open source BIOL& 260 (Microbiology) is a health sciences oriented course in microbiology. It has a laboratory component and the labs are intended to be integrated throughout the course. BIOL& 260 is intended primarily for students going in to health-related professions and will emphasize the human disease and health related areas of microbiology. Areas of microbiology such as environmental, agricultural, taxonomy or astrobiology may be mentioned but not emphasized.

Hi. This OER contains PowerPoint Presentation slides for the Microbiology OpenStax textbook. Chapters 1 - 10 have been uploaded to this platform. All PowerPoint presentations will be refined during implementation. In the meantime, please feel free to use these resources and modify to your liking as I have a different arrangement of slides that are most suitable to my student's needs and course learning outcomes. Thank you for taking time to stop by!  "OpenStax Microbiology Slides" by Adronisha Frazier, Louisiana Community and Technical College System, Northshore Technical Community College is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. 

This open lab manual is a remix of Openstax Microbiology, CC-BY 4.0, and created through an Affordable Learning Georgia Round Six Textbook Transformation Grant : https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-textbooks/16/

The lab manual was made to be used with the remixed textbook Microbiology for Allied Health Students, and the textbook has a set of Instructional Materials.

Authors' Description:

This lab manual was created to support a microbiology course for allied health students.

The first section of the manual was adapted from the OpenStax Microbiology textbook, of which a remixed version, Microbiology for Allied Health Students, is used as the text for the course.

The next section, staining methods, encompasses three essential staining procedures used in any microbiology lab.

The manual concludes with descriptions of the major biochemical tests students must perform in order to identify an unknown microorganism. While many traditional lab manuals are lengthy and comprehensive, descriptions of the labs in this manual are kept minimal to encourage students to further research the procedures and results on their own.

The appendix includes a safety contract that each student must sign and submit to the instructor at the beginning of the semester.

This manual was created in partial fulfillment of a grant from the University System of Georgia’s Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Transformation initiative. Special thanks go to Sara Selby for editing and photography.

Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation.

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