Notes are presented here only as an aid to students who missed lecture, or whose notes may be incomplete in certain particulars.
Microbes have extraordinary genetic and metabolic diversity.
Microbial metabolism can create anaerobic environments, and anaerobic microbes can exploit these environments. Different microbes are adapted to survive and exploit an enormous range of environments, both inanimate and animate. Among all life forms on earth, microbes have the widest range of genetic and evolutionary diversity. The Subject Matter of Microbiology 1. Viruses are classified separately.