Initial Publication Date: November 20, 2006

Living in the Microbial World: Readings

Online Readings


Confucius statue holding a culture plate

Non-web Readings


  • Microbial Communities. This 1986 journal article reports that most microbial communities have escaped description. The introduction discusses the various reasons for this gap in knowledge... (more info)
  • Ecology in a Jar. This journal article discusses incorporation of the Winogradsky Column into high school science classrooms to demonstrate nutrient cycles and inter-relatedness of... (more info)
  • The Life of Sergei Winogradsky. This journal article describes the life history of Sergei Winogradsky, the "Father of Soil Microbiology." It discusses the two phases of his scientific career... (more info)
  • Down in the Dirt Wonders Beckon This news article reports the use of DNA extraction, amplification, cloning, and screening to uncover the unknown microorganisms of the soil and sea by targeting...(more info)
  • The Importance of Microbiology in Improving Pre-College Science Education. This journal article discusses the importance of microbiology in the K-12 classroom. It addresses the impact of hands-on experiments and summarizes the... (more info)
  • Learning and Assessing Science Process Skills. This book is designed to help teachers know how to develop necessary science knowledge and skills in their students. The book is to be used individually or in groups by preservice and inservice...(more info)
  • Probing Biodiversity: Molecular Techniques Offer Powerful New Tools. This article introduces the molecular methods used to assess biological diversity. It begins by defining DNA and nucleotide sequencing. An illustration describes... (more info)
  • Post-Viking Microbiology: New Approaches, New Data, New Insights. This journal article, published in 1999, discusses the advances made in microbiology and microbial ecology in the 20 years since the Viking missions to Mars. The article... (more info)
  • Structure of a microbial mat at Great Sippewissett Marsh, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This journal article reports the findings from a study analyzing the microzonation of phototrophic bacteria in a flat laminated microbial mat at Great Sippewissett Salt... (more info)
  • The Microbial Basis of Life at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. This article discusses the sampling and in situ experiments carried out by ALVIN at various hydrothermal vent sites as well as the microbes associated with these... (more info)
  • The Physiology of Vesicular-Arbuscular Endomycorrhizal Symbiosis. This review article discusses the physiology of vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal symbiosis in categories reflecting successive stages in its formation and... (more info)
  • The Genus Xenorhabdus: Entomopathogenic Bacteria for Use in Teaching General Microbiology. This paper presents a brief description of insect-pathogenic bacteria in Xenorhabdus and their life cycle, followed by a protocol that can be easily adapted for... (more info)