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Two major branches of microbiology are the studies of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms.
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Eukaryotes have membrane-bound organelles contained within their cell membranes, and include fungi and protists.
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Prokaryotes do not contain these organelles, and include eubacteria and archaebacteria.
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Traditional methods of locating and identifying microscopic organisms have often included culture, staining with various reactant stains, and microscopy, including electron microscopy.
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Estimates indicate that less than one percent of microorganisms can be identified using those methods.
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That leads researchers to use a technique that extracts or locates the DNA or RNA sequences of these organisms in order to identify them.
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Microorganisms were actually theorized many hundreds of years before their existence was actually proven.
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Writings as early as the sixth century BCE included the belief in the existence of invisible living organisms, predominantly in scriptures from Jainism.
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Marcus Terentius Varro of ancient Rome cautioned against building a community too close to a swamp, with his reasoning containing a clear demonstration of harmful microscopic creatures.
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As early as the mid-16th century, Italian scientist Girolamo Fracastoro essentially proposed the germ theory of disease as it relates to microscopic organisms that spread epidemic proportions of disease.
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The first visual observations of microorganisms through a single-lens microscope were by Anton van Leeuwenhoek of Holland in 1676.
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Earlier work by Robert Hooke in 1665 may have been the first recorded observation of microscopic mold spores, but this was unaided by the microscope.
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Laboratory study and special equipment developed by Louis Pasteur and others led to a greater understanding of the field of research by the 19th century.
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Medical microbiology has grown significantly as a research field from the early discovery of these organisms, with new understandings about microscopic organisms and their relationship to disease being discovered even now.
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Viruses were once questioned as having been living microorganisms, as there was question as to whether they were living cellular beings or molecules.
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Recent research into prions have led researchers to question whether or not these once-dismissed entities are actually microscopic organisms.
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Microbiology's disciplines overlap possibly more than any other field of science. Its fields can be classified through taxonomical means, as well as broken down into pure or applied science.
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Microbiology also has fields with practical applications, such as medical microbiology, pharmaceutical, industrial, agricultural, and more.
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Each of the various practical fields offers unique benefits to society.
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