Instant Notes in Microbiology, Fifth Edition, is the perfect text for undergraduates looking for a concise introduction to the subject, or a study guide to use before examinations. Each topic begins with a summary of essential facts - an ideal revision checklist - followed by a description of the subject that focuses on core information, with clear, simple diagrams that are easy for students to understand and recall in essays and exams.

This edition has been thoroughly updated. There is new material about food microbiology and water safety, biofuels, and the essentials of environmental microbiology, and more reference to archaea and yeasts and the human microbiome. Molecular techniques such as metagenomics, next generation sequencing, and CRISPR are briefly explained. Updated nomenclature of bacteria, archaea and viruses have been used throughout, but reference to pre-2022 nomenclature has been included to enable students to recognize how the new names relate to the older nomenclature. There are new tables available online of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses (including dengue fever and COVID-19) and eukaryotic microorganisms as well as a table of applications of microbiology, including key microbial products and processes.


Key Features

• Beautifully illustrated to elucidate key concepts and mechanisms
• Covers a broad range of topics from eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms, the human microbiome, to viruses that infect humans, plants and bacteria.
• New to this edition: new nomenclature for bacteria, archaea and viruses is used throughout. The section on metabolic pathways section has been rewritten in a more accessible format. Sections on environment, human health, products and applications have been extended and there is more about archaea and yeasts.
• Each subsection begins with a concise list of key concepts
• A free-to-access companion website features useful resources, including interactive questions, detailed further reading, and additional tabular content.