Microbiology: A Very Short Introduction
Nicholas P. Money
Abstract
In recent decades we have come to realize that the microbial world is hugely diverse, and can be found in the most extreme environments. Fungi, single-celled protists, bacteria, archaea, viruses, and sub-viral particles far outnumber plants and animals. Microbes play a critical role in ecosystems, in the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans, and within our bodies. Microbiology: A Very Short Introduction explores not only the traditional methods of microscopy and laboratory culture, but also the modern techniques of genetic detection and DNA sequencing, genomic analysis, and genetic manipulation. In turn, it demonstrates how advances in microbiology have had a tremendous impact on the areas of medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.
Keywords:
algae,
archaea,
bacteria,
biotechnology,
disease,
DNA sequencing,
ecology,
Escherichia coli,
evolution,
fungi,
genetics,
microbiology,
nitrogen fixation,
Louis Pasteur,
polymerase chain reaction,
shotgun sequencing,
soil
Bibliographic Information
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Print Publication Date:
- Dec 2014
- Print ISBN-13:
- 9780199681686
- Published online:
- Dec 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1093/actrade/9780199681686.001.0001
