Introductory Microbiology

Discuss the contributions of microbes to the environment, the characteristics of the major groups, their interactions with human, and the role of microbes in food production and other commerce.

Explain the use of microscopy to visualize and characterize microbes, staining procedures, how differential stains help define organisms, and the appropriate use of the light microscope.

Describe the major anatomical features of bacteria and explain the importance of various bacterial structures in enhancing the interaction of these organisms with other living organisms including humans. When appropriate, describe how structures contribute to disease production in humans.

Explain how bacteria adapt to their environment, the nutrients necessary for their survival, how they survive in different oxygen tensions, how energy is produced, the types of respiration, and how biochemical tests can be used to identify bacteria species.

Explain how gene transfer can occur in asexual bacteria, how drug resistance may arise, how bacterial metabolism is linked to genetics, and how we can determine if a compound is a mutagen using bacteria.

Using appropriate terminology, describe various levels of control for microbes, the chemical and physical agents of control, and the limitations of various control methods.

Explain the difference between archae and eubacteria, how bacterial species are defined, the methods used to isolate and characterize different bacterial species, and the foundation of bacterial nomenclature.

Explain the taxonomic differences in these three groups, the potential economic importance of algae, the structure and function of lichens, and the importance of life cycles in understanding the disease process and control and protozoans.

Describe how viruses are classified, how the host reproduces these agents, the role of viruses in cancer, and the changes that occur in host cells and tissues due to viral infections.

Explain the importance of epidemiology in controlling infectious disease, the mechanisms by which microbes are transmitted between hosts or from the environment, the difference in insects as mechanical carriers or biological vectors of disease.

Explain the bacterial structures and products that contribute to disease, how microbes can damage the immune system, the pathogenesis of endotoxic shock, and how fungi, viruses and protozoans affect the host.

Explain the differences between the humoral and cellular immune response, the importance nonspecific or innate resistance in protection, the role of host cells and products in inflammatory response, and the role of the primary classes of immunoglobulins in protecting humans.

Explain the concept of herd immunity, antibody titer, immune diagnostic tests (ELISA, neutralization, agglutination, etc.), the different categories of hypersensitivity reactions, the role of superantigens in disease, and the importance of tissue antigens in selecting tissue for transplantation.

Discuss the categories of antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections, viral infections, and fungal infections, how synergism may be achieved in drug therapy, and why certain antimicrobial agents are specific for a given group of bacteria (use ethambutol as an example).

Provide examples and discuss disease mechanisms and control for the different microbial groups causing infectious diseases of the skin, nervous system, circulatory system, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, and reproductive systems.