Unit 6. Microbiology / Микробиология

virology - вирусология

mycology - микология (наука, изучающая грибы)

parasitology - паразитология

botany - ботаника

entomology – энтомология

To contaminate – разлагаться,

Saccharomyces cerevisiae – пекарские дрожжи, вид грибов

kimchi – кимчи, корейское блюдо

lactic acid bacteria – молочно–кислые бактерии

PCR – полимеразная цепная реакция

detection – обнаружение

HIV – ВИЧ

anthrax – сибирская язва

2. Put down the English / Russian for:

одноклеточный

микроб

возможно

регулярно

широкий

клетка

cell-cluster

microbiologist

relative

Earth

branch

although

3. Read and translate the text. What new sciences have you learned? Give Russian equivalents to these terms.

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms. This includes eukaryotes such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes such as bacteria and certain algae. Viruses, though not strictly classed as living organisms, are also studied. Microbiology is a broad term which includes many branches like virology, mycology, parasitology and others. A person who specializes in the area of microbiology is called a microbiologist.

Although much is now known in the field of microbiology, advances are being made regularly. We have probably only studied about 1% of all of the microbes on Earth. Thus, despite the fact that over three hundred years have passed since the discovery of microbes, the field of microbiology could be said to be in its infancy relative to other biological disciplines such as zoology, botany and entomology.

4. Find definitions to the corresponding disciplines.

The field of microbiology can be generally divided into several subdisciplines:

5. Read and translate the following text into Russian.

Food microbiology is the study of the microorganisms that inhabit, create, or contaminate food, including the study of microorganisms causing food spoilage. "Good" bacteria, however, such as probiotics are becoming increasingly important in food science. In addition, microorganisms are essential for the production of foods such as cheese, yogurt, bread, beer, wine and other fermented foods. Fermentation is one of the methods to preserve food and alter its quality. Yeast, especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used to leaven bread, brew beer and make wine. Certain bacteria, including lactic acid bacteria, are used to make yogurt, cheese, hot sauce, pickles, fermented sausages and dishes such as kimchi. A common effect of these fermentations is that the food product is less hospitable to other microorganisms, including pathogens and spoilage-causing microorganisms, thus extending the food's shelf-life. Some cheese varieties also require molds to ripen and develop their characteristic flavors. To ensure safety of food products, microbiological tests such as testing for pathogens and spoilage organisms are required. This way the risk of contamination under normal use conditions can be examined and food poisoning outbreaks can be prevented. Testing of food products and ingredients is important along the whole supply chain as possible flaws of products can occur at every stage of production. Apart from detecting spoilage, microbiological tests can also determine germ content, identify yeasts and molds, and salmonella. For salmonella, scientists are also developing rapid and portable technologies capable of identifying unique variants of Salmonella. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a quick and inexpensive method to generate numbers of copies of a DNA fragment at a specific band ("PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)," 2008). For that reason, scientists are using PCR to detect different kinds of viruses or bacteria, such as HIV and anthrax based on their unique DNA patterns. Various kits are commercially available to help in food pathogen nucleic acids extraction, PCR detection, and differentiation. The detection of bacterial strands in food products is very important to everyone in the world, for it helps prevent the occurrence of food borne illness. Therefore, PCR is recognized as a DNA detector in order to amplify and trace the presence of pathogenic strands in different processed food.

6. Make a short survey of microbial biopolymers.

Several microbially produced polymers are used in the food industry. Alginate. Alginates can be used as thickening agents. Although listed here under the category 'Microbial polysaccharides', commercial alginates are currently only produced by extraction from brown seaweeds such as Laminaria hyperborea or L. japonica. Poly-γ-glutamic acid. Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) produced by various strains of Bacillus has potential applications as a thickener in the food industry. Food authenticity. It is important to be able to detect microorganisms in food, in particular pathogenic microorganisms or genetically modified microorganisms.