Why Bacterial Diseases Are a Minority of Microbial Interactions in Microbiology
Within microbiology, disease-causing microbes (bacterial, protozoan, fungal, and viral pathogens) represent only a small fraction of the microbial world; most microbes engage in symbiotic relationships with other organisms. A mutualistic symbiosis is defined as a relationship in which both the microbe and its host organism benefit, and endosymbiosis is a specialized form in which the microbe lives inside the host's cells rather than merely alongside it. These concepts situate microbial pathogenicity as an exception within the broader, predominantly beneficial ecological role microbes play in relation to other organisms.
Why Bacterial Diseases Are a Minority of Microbial Interactions in Microbiology
Within microbiology, disease-causing microbes (bacterial, protozoan, fungal, and viral pathogens) represent only a small fraction of the microbial world; most microbes engage in symbiotic relationshi…