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Some Historical Elements of Microbial Ecology

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Environmental Microbiology: Fundamentals and Applications

Abstract

We present briefly, first, the history of the discovery of microorganisms and particularly bacteria with the pioneering works of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Louis Pasteur, and Robert Koch, essentially. In a second and more detailed part, the history of microbial ecology is presented with particularly the very important work of Sergei Winogradsky and his discoveries of the main bacterial groups active in biogeochemical cycles. It is followed by a description of the major microbial ecologists who have been very active in promoting and developing microbial ecology throughout the world. Their role in the advances of microbial ecology is presented and discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    At the time of Pasteur, the name “virus” was given to all infectious agents, parasites, bacteria, or real viruses; the word virus derives from Latin and means poison.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-chimie pour l’Environnement et les Matériaux (IPREM), UMR CNRS 5254, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, B.P. 1155, 64013, Pau Cedex, France

    Pierre Caumette

  2. Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie (MIO), UM 110, CNRS 7294 IRD 235, Université de Toulon, Aix-Marseille Université, Campus de Luminy, 13288, Marseille Cedex 9, France

    Jean-Claude Bertrand

  3. Microbial Ecology Center, UMR CNRS 5557 / USC INRA 1364, Université Lyon 1, 69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Philippe Normand

Authors
  1. Pierre Caumette
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  2. Jean-Claude Bertrand
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  3. Philippe Normand
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pierre Caumette .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Toulon, Aix-Marseille Université, Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie (MIO), UM 110, CNRS 7294 IRD 235, Cedex 9, Marseille, France

    Jean-Claude Bertrand

  2. Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-chimie pour l’Environnement et les Matériaux (IPREM), UM 110, CNRS 5254, Pau Cedex, France

    Pierre Caumette

  3. Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Microbiennes (LBBM), Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ, Paris 06, USR CNRS 3579, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France

    Philippe Lebaron

  4. Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE), UMR-CNRS-IRD 7263, Aix-Marseille Université, Cedex 20, Marseille, France

    Robert Matheron

  5. Microbial Ecology Center, UMR CNRS 5557/USC INRA 1364, Villeubanne, France

    Philippe Normand

  6. Laboratoire Microorganismes: Génome et Environnement (LMGE), UMR CNRS 6023, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont Université, Aubère Cedex, France

    Télesphore Sime-Ngando

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Caumette, P., Bertrand, JC., Normand, P. (2015). Some Historical Elements of Microbial Ecology. In: Bertrand, JC., Caumette, P., Lebaron, P., Matheron, R., Normand, P., Sime-Ngando, T. (eds) Environmental Microbiology: Fundamentals and Applications. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9118-2_2

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