Beginnings of microbiology and biochemistry: the contribution of yeast research

• Published in: Microbiology (Society for General Microbiology) Vol. 149; no. 3; pp. 557 - 567
• Main Author: Barnett, James A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.03.2003; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: Action of physical and chemical agents; Bacteria - enzymology; Bacteria - pathogenicity; Biochemistry - history; Biological and medical sciences; Ethanol - metabolism; Fermentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Growth, nutrition, metabolism, transports, enzymes. Molecular biology; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; Lactic Acid - metabolism; Microbiology; Microbiology - history; Mycology; Research - history; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Yeasts - enzymology; Yeasts - metabolism; Pathogenicity; Specificity; Yeast; Enzyme; Development; Bacteria; Fermentation
• ISSN: 1350-0872; 1465-2080
• DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.26089-0

School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK Correspondence j.barnett{at}uea.ac.uk With improvements in microscopes early in the nineteenth century, yeasts were seen to be living organisms, although some famous scientists ridiculed the idea and their influence held back the development of microbiology. In the 1850s and 1860s, yeasts were established as microbes and responsible for alcoholic fermentation, and this led to the study of the rôle of bacteria in lactic and other fermentations, as well as bacterial pathogenicity. At this time, there were difficulties in distinguishing between the activities of microbes and of extracellular enzymes. Between 1884 and 1894, Emil Fischer's study of sugar utilization by yeasts generated an understanding of enzymic specificity and the nature of enzyme–substrate complexes. Based on the 2002 History of Microbiology lecture delivered at the 151st meeting of the Society for General Microbiology, 16 September 2002.