General Microbiology

Mechanisms for uptake of nutrients by microorganisms – diffusion & active transport

Microbial cells employ a variety of mechanisms to uptake nutrients (including macromolecules, inorganic ions, water and other small molecules) from their natural environment or from artificially prepared cultured media which are precisely designed to provide all the essential nutritional requirements and growth factors necessary for microbial or bacterial growth. The cell wall or outer covering […]

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Microbial Physiology & Metabolism, General Microbiology, , ,

NUTRITIONAL GROUPS OF MICROORGANISMS

Living organisms vary in terms of their mode of nutrition i.e. how they feed or obtain their food. Some organisms are known as autotrophs because they can manufacture their own food; and examples include green plants and green algae. Autotrophs use carbondioxide (CO2) as their sole source of carbon for growth. Plants contain chlorophyll which

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General Microbiology, Microbial Physiology & Metabolism, , , , , ,

Microbial (Bacterial) Nutrition

Bacterial Nutritionis importantfor the optimum growth of the organism because it is the only means by which the organism can acquire all necessary materials required for its cellular biosynthetic activities as well as for the generation of energy (i.e. adenosine triphosphate, ATP). Nutrients are substances required for energy production and other biosynthetic activity necessary for

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Microbial Physiology & Metabolism, General Microbiology, , , , , ,

COLONY COUNTER

Colony counter is a piece of equipment which is used in the microbiology laboratory to count individual colonies of microorganisms (particularly bacteria and fungi) on solid agar plates. Fully automated colony counters and manually-operated counters are available for the counting of microbes in samples or culture plates. The accurate count of bacterial colonies and cells

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Bacteriology, General Microbiology, ,

AUTOCLAVE

Autoclave is a piece of equipment that allows materials to be heat-sterilized under pressure and with a saturated steam. It is generally used to achieve sterilization of culture media and other reagents in the microbiology laboratory; and sterilization using the autoclave is achieved under pressure at various temperatures and time limit (e.g. 121oC for 15

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General Microbiology,

WEIGHING BALANCE

Weighing balances are used to measure the weight of objects (particularly powdered agar and reagents) in the microbiology laboratory. Several weighing balances exist for measuring media and other substances in the microbiology laboratory and they include mechanical weighing balance and chemical or analytical weighing balances amongst others. They provide accurate readings or values of material

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General Microbiology,

AXENIC (Gnotobiotic) ANIMALS 

Axenic animals are laboratory controlled animals that are germ-free i.e. animals that are not contaminated with any microorganisms and are devoid of any microflora. Such animals can also be called Gnotobiotic animals. Gnotobiotic or Axenic animals have tremendous medical research applications. The microflora from axenic animals help scientists to elucidate the relationship that exist between

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Bacteriology, General Microbiology, , , ,

SIGNIFICANCE AND APPLICATIONS OF MICROORGANISMS

Mankind has harnessed the power of microorganisms to produce countless number of products such as bread, drugs, vaccines, cheese, fuel/energy, probiotics, beer and wine to mention but a few; and many other grounds are being explored and developed using the resourceful nature of microbial cells. Microorganisms are invisible forms of life with tremendous applications in

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General Microbiology, Biotechnology, Industrial Microbiology,

MAJOR SCOPE / AREAS OF MICROBIOLOGY

Industrial Microbiology The use of microbes by man to produce beneficial products is an ancient practice that has continued till date. Industrial microbiology is the branch of microbiology that uses microbes to produce industrial products in large quantities. Here, the potentials of microorganisms are harnessed for industrial productions and for other related services. Some microorganisms

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Careers in Microbiology, General Microbiology, , , ,