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Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species. [ 1 ]
Microbes are important in human culture and health in many ways, serving to ferment foods and treat sewage, and to produce fuel, enzymes, and other bioactive compounds. Microbes are essential tools in biology as model organisms and have been put to use in biological warfare and bioterrorism .
Microbiology (from Ancient Greek μῑκρος (mīkros) 'small' βίος (bíos) 'life' and -λογία () 'study of') is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular (single-celled), multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or acellular (lacking cells).
Consequently, the need to identify human pathogens was a major impetus for the development of techniques to identify bacteria. [ 175 ] The Gram stain , developed in 1884 by Hans Christian Gram , characterises bacteria based on the structural characteristics of their cell walls.
Human interactions with microbes include both practical and symbolic uses of microbes, and negative interactions in the form of human, domestic animal, and crop diseases. Practical use of microbes began in ancient times with fermentation in food processing ; bread , beer and wine have been produced by yeasts from the dawn of civilisation, such ...
The two-domain system is a biological classification by which all organisms in the tree of life are classified into two domains, Bacteria and Archaea. [1] [2] [3] It emerged from development of knowledge of archaea diversity and challenges the widely accepted three-domain system that classifies life into Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. [4]
A human pathogen is a pathogen (microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus) that causes disease in humans. The human physiological defense against common pathogens (such as Pneumocystis ) is mainly the responsibility of the immune system with help by some of the body's normal microbiota .
Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. [1] This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and many are beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number of these pathogenic species in humans is estimated to be fewer than a hundred. [2]