Customization

Microbiology: Canadian Edition is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY) license, which means that you can distribute, remix, and build upon the content, as long as you provide attribution to the author. You are free to use the entire book or pick and choose the sections that are most relevant to the needs of your course. Feel free to remix the content by assigning your students certain chapters and sections in your syllabus, in the order that you prefer. You can even provide a direct link in your syllabus to the sections in the web view of your book.

Errata

If you have corrections or suggestions regarding content (for the second edition), please e-mail the author: wkeenley@uoguelph.ca. Any corrections will be documented in the version history in the back matter of this text.

American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Partnership

OpenStax Microbiology was produced through a collaborative publishing agreement between OpenStax and the American Society for Microbiology Press. The book was developed to align to the curriculum guidelines of the American Society for Microbiology.

Engaging Feature Boxes

Throughout Microbiology: Canadian Edition, feature boxes have been maintained from the original OpenStax book. These  features were designed to engage students by taking selected topics a step further. They include:

• Clinical Focus. With the exception of the entirely new Chapter (10), each chapter has a multi-part clinical case study that follows the story of a fictional patient. The case unfolds in several realistic episodes placed strategically throughout the chapter, each episode revealing new symptoms and clues about possible causes and diagnoses. The details of the case are directly related to the topics presented in the chapter, encouraging students to apply what they are learning to real-life scenarios. The final episode presents a Resolution that reveals the outcome of the case and unpacks the broader lessons to be learned.
• Case in Point. In addition to the Clinical Focus, many chapters also have one or more single-part case studies that serve to highlight the clinical relevance of a particular topic. These narratives are strategically placed directly after the topic of emphasis and generally conclude with a set of questions that challenge the reader to think critically about the case.
• Micro Connections. All chapters contain several Micro Connections feature boxes that highlight real-world applications of microbiology, drawing often-overlooked connections between microbiology and a wide range of other disciplines. While many of these connections involve medicine and healthcare, they also venture into domains such as environmental science, genetic engineering, and emerging technologies. Moreover, many Micro Connections boxes are related to current or recent events, further emphasizing the intersections between microbiology and everyday life.
• Sigma Xi Eye on Ethics. This unique feature, which appears in most chapters, explores an ethical issue related to chapter content. Developed in cooperation with the scientific research society Sigma Xi, each Eye on Ethics box presents students with a challenging ethical dilemma that arises at the intersection of science and healthcare. Often grounded in historical or current events, these short essays discuss multiple sides of an issue, posing questions that challenge the reader to contemplate the ethical principles that govern professionals in healthcare and the sciences.
• Disease Profile. This feature, which is exclusive to Chapters 22–27, highlights important connections between related diseases. Each box also includes a table cataloguing unique aspects of each disease, such as the causative agent, symptoms, portal of entry, mode of transmission, and treatment. These concise tables serve as a useful reference that students can use as a study aid.
• Link to Learning. This feature provides a brief introduction and a link to an online resource that students may use to further explore a topic presented in the chapter. Links typically lead to a website, interactive activity, or animation that students can investigate on their own.

Materials That Reinforce Key Concepts

• Learning Objectives. Every section begins with a set of clear and concise learning objectives that are closely aligned to the content and Review Questions.
• Key Takeaways. The Key Takeaways text box, at the end of each section, distills the information from that section into a series of concise bullet points.
• Key Terms. With the introduction of each new term, a definition follows. Definitions of key terms are also listed in the Glossary in (Appendix E).
• Check Your Understanding questions. Each subsection of the text is punctuated by one or more comprehension-level questions. These questions encourage readers to make sure they understand what they have read before moving on to the next topic.
• Review Questions. Each chapter has a robust set of review questions that assesses students’ mastery of the Learning Objectives. Questions are organized by format: multiple choice, matching, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and critical thinking.

Wendy Keenleyside, University of Guelph

Dr. Wendy Keenleyside received her BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Western Ontario, her MSc in Microbiology from the University of Toronto, and her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Guelph. Her graduate training was in the area of bacterial pathogenesis, with her PhD and post-doctoral research focused on the genetics and physiology of E. coli and Salmonella cell surface polysaccharide expression. She has been teaching at UofG since 1994, and has been a full-time Instructor-Coordinator in the in the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology since 2000, teaching courses at the 2nd-4th year levels, in microbiology, bacterial genetics, bacterial adaptation, and microbial ecology, as well as 1st year biology. After redeveloping and teaching a 4th year microbial ecology course in 2008, she became a microbial ecology convert and “evangelist”. Her teaching approach is centred on using an active learning approach and student teams, as a means of developing independent learners, creativity and critical thinking, as well as communication and team skills. She is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the Canadian Society of Microbiologists, and the Open Consortium of Undergraduate Biology Educators (https://sites.google.com/site/ocubeorg/ ).

OpenStax contributors

A list of contributors for the OpenStax edition can be found here: https://cnx.org/contents/5CvTdmJL@7.1:ryt9cF1D@13/Preface

Cover figure

Figure 9.16 (Sec. 9.2) – live staining and fluoresence microscopy. Viable cells are stained green, whereas dead cells are stained red. [Credit: modification of work by Panseri S, Cunha C, D’Alessandro T, Sandri M, Giavaresi G, Maracci M, Hung CT, Tampieri A]