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Bacteriology: the study of bacteria

Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. It comprises the identification, classification and characterization of bacterial species. Bacteria are identified by their properties, for example their looks, what nutrients they can grow on or not grow on, what temperature they require for growth, what substances they produce, etc. To study morphology, that is the shape of bacteria, a microscope is used. Go to our Special Feature file on bacterial morphology to learn all about the different shapes of bacteria, both under the microscope and visible by the naked eye. The Gram-stain is one of the commonest staining techniques used to visualize bacteria Source: Microtextbook).

If you're not sure what bacteria are, check our exhibit on Bacteria first.

Bacteria are grown in a laboratory in order to study their properties. For culturing bacteria, a number of well defined growth media are required. The work is done under sterile conditions. Without such precautions unwanted bacteria will grow everywhere, including on our media. Read more about methods for sterilization (Source: UW-Madison). This link describes a number of sterilization procedures and their uses. One way to prevent growth of bacteria is pasteurization. This heat treatment is often applied to foods and drinks. The procedure is named after its inventor, Louis Pasteur (Source: Access Escellence at the national health museum), who was one of the founders of modern bacteriology.

Bacteriology is studied in a laboratory. But it is possible to do a few do-it-yourself experiments without much requirements. Have fun isolating bacteria from limburgher cheese (source: Biolab Indiana). Here you can find more suggestions for experiments (source: Microbes in Action), or use our list of educational resources to convince your teacher to include these experiments in classes. Have fun!

Bacteriology is a subdivision of microbiology. In microbiology micro-organisms such as yeast, molds, and viruses are also included. Our museum deals exclusively with bacteria. Check which micro-organisms are not included. Applied bacteriology is a branche of bacteriology with interest in industrial use of bacteria. This subject is so diverse that it is covered in a different exhibit: applied bacteriology. There are a number of courses on microbiology and bacteriology available on the Web:

The classification of bacteria in families, sub-families and superfamilies is called bacterial systematics, or taxonomy. Bacterial systematics is nicely explained at this site (Source: Uni California Museum of Paleonology). Classification and phylogeny are explained in more detail here (Source: UW-Madison).


The content of this page is copyright of the Virtual Museum of Bacteria and was written by Dr. T. M. Wassenaar (curator), with support of the Foundation for Bacteriology.

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Page last modified: 08 Mar 2007

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