Includes bibliographical references and index.

The history and scope of microbiology -- The study of microbial structure: microscopy and specimen preparation -- Procaryotic cell structure and function -- Eucaryotic cell structure and function -- Microbial nutrition -- Microbial growth -- Control of microorganisms by physical and chemical agents -- Metabolism: energy, enzymes, and regulation -- Metabolism: energy release and conservation -- Metabolism: the use of energy in biosynthesis -- Genes: structure, replication, and mutation -- Genes: expression and regulation -- Microbial recombination and plasmids -- Recombinant DNA technology -- Microbial Genomics -- The viruses: introduction and general characteristics -- The viruses: bacteriophages -- The viruses: viruses of eucaryotes -- Microbial taxonomy -- The archaea -- Bacteria: the deinococci and nonproteobacteria gram negatives -- Bacteria: the proteobacteria -- Bacteria: the Low G 1 C gram positives -- Bacteria: the High G 1 C gram positivies -- The fungi (eumycota), slime molds, and water molds -- The algae -- The protozoa -- Microorganism interactions and microbial ecology -- Microorganisms in aquatic environments -- Microorganisms in terrestrial environments -- Normal microbiota and nonspecific host resistance -- Specific immunity -- Medical immunology -- Pathogenicity of microorganisms -- Antimicrobial chemotherapy -- Clinical microbiology -- The epidemiology of infectious disease -- Human diseases caused by viruses -- Human diseases caused by bacteria -- Human diseases causedd by fungi and protozoa -- Microbiology of food -- Industrial microbiology and biotechnology.