Introduction to Microbiology — Class 10 Maharashtra SSC Science revision notes
A 3-page visual revision sheet for Introduction to Microbiology, written for Class 10 Maharashtra SSC Science. Formulas, diagrams and the traps that cost marks, laid out to be read the night before rather than the term before. Free, and it opens inside CapCompass.
Page 1 as PDF
Introduction to Microbiology in one look
the organisms too small to see, and the industries built on making them work for us
What a microbe is
- micro-organisms are living things too small to see with the unaided eye, needing a microscope
- the main groups are bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae and viruses
- bacteria are prokaryotic, single celled, and shaped as rods, spheres, spirals or commas
- fungi are eukaryotic and include yeast, moulds and mushrooms
- viruses are on the borderline of life: they have no cell structure and can only reproduce inside a host cell
- so a virus is inert outside a host and behaves as living only inside one, which is why it sits awkwardly in any classification
Useful microbes
- curd: Lactobacillus turns the lactose of milk into lactic acid, which sets the milk and gives the sour taste
- bread and alcohol: yeast ferments sugar to ethanol and carbon dioxide. The gas raises the dough and the ethanol matters in brewing
- antibiotics: penicillin comes from the mould Penicillium, discovered by Fleming
- nitrogen fixation: Rhizobium in the root nodules of legumes converts atmospheric nitrogen into a form plants can use
- decomposition: microbes break down dead matter and return nutrients to the soil, without which the cycles would stop
- industry: vitamins, enzymes, vinegar, and the treatment of sewage all depend on micro-organisms
Harmful microbes
- a pathogen is a micro-organism that causes disease
- bacterial diseases: tuberculosis, typhoid, cholera and tetanus
- viral diseases: influenza, measles, polio, dengue and rabies
- protozoan diseases: malaria, spread by the Anopheles mosquito, and amoebic dysentery
- fungal diseases: ringworm and athlete's foot
- microbes also cause food spoilage, and some produce toxins that make food dangerous even after the organism is killed
Matching disease to cause and spread
| Disease | Caused by | Spread by |
|---|---|---|
| Tuberculosis | bacterium | air, droplets |
| Cholera | bacterium | contaminated water |
| Malaria | protozoan | Anopheles mosquito |
| Dengue | virus | Aedes mosquito |
| Polio | virus | water, contact |
| Ringworm | fungus | contact |
Page 1 of 3. The full sheet, all 3 pages, opens free in the app.
What this Introduction to Microbiology sheet covers
- Micro-organism
- Microbiology
- What a microbe is
- Useful micro-organisms
- Fermentation
- Useful microbes
- Pathogen
- Communicable disease
- Harmful microbes
- Matching disease to cause and spread
- Vaccination
- Antibiotics
- Pasteurisation
- Control and prevention
- Microbes in industry
- Why some microbes matter to the soil
- Terms in this chapter
- Traps that cost marks
- Tricks that save time
How CapCompass uses this sheet
These notes are not a standalone PDF. CapCompass plans Science chapter by chapter against your real exam dates and free hours, and when the plan reaches Introduction to Microbiology the sheet opens inside the study block itself — at the page covering the sub-topic that block is on, with the timer still running. Revision arrives at the moment the plan says revise, instead of having to be gone looking for.
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