Chapter 2
Darwin’s Science’s Impact on the Evolution
of the Microbiological Sciences
Kenneth M. Noll
Abstract Charles Darwin is not known as a pioneer of the microbiological sciences,
but examinations of his correspondence demonstrate that he was informed about and
supportive of early investigations of the microbial world. His theories influenced the
work of early microbiological investigators who were trained in late nineteenthcentury natural history. However, those who tried to carry on this work into the
twentieth century soon found that bacteria did not have characteristics necessary to
examine evolutionary questions as had been done with plants and animals. Consequently, studies of evolution and efforts to create natural taxonomies of bacteria
failed to create a solid evolutionary science for microorganisms. It was not until the
advent of macromolecular sequencing, when characters that could be compared to
reveal phylogenetic relationships appeared, that solid data could be used to test
Darwin’s theories. Subsequent full genome sequencing and reintroduction of laboratory evolution of bacteria both generated new discoveries of the mode, extent, and
course of microbial evolution. Darwin’s place as a pioneer in the microbiological
sciences has finally been established.
2.1 Introduction
The name Darwin does not appear often in modern microbiological research publications. Only 47 publications were found in a search of PubMed using the text words
“Darwin AND bacteria” (including NOT Australia and NOT Antarctica to exclude
place names). By comparison, a search substituting his contemporaries, “Pasteur”
and “Koch,” yielded 158 and 161 hits, respectively. The impact of Darwin’s studies,
outside the general processes of evolution and natural selection, on the field of
microbiology is generally thought to be rather limited. Many ascribe this to the
idea that Darwin knew little to nothing about microorganisms, particularly bacteria,
since his major work occurred just before the concepts of the germ theory of diseases
K. M. Noll (*)
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
e-mail: kenneth.noll@uconn.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. J. Hurst (ed.), Microbes: The Foundation Stone of the Biosphere, Advances in
Environmental Microbiology 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63512-1_2
19
Darwin’s Science’s Impact on the Evolution
of the Microbiological Sciences
Kenneth M. Noll
Abstract Charles Darwin is not known as a pioneer of the microbiological sciences,
but examinations of his correspondence demonstrate that he was informed about and
supportive of early investigations of the microbial world. His theories influenced the
work of early microbiological investigators who were trained in late nineteenthcentury natural history. However, those who tried to carry on this work into the
twentieth century soon found that bacteria did not have characteristics necessary to
examine evolutionary questions as had been done with plants and animals. Consequently, studies of evolution and efforts to create natural taxonomies of bacteria
failed to create a solid evolutionary science for microorganisms. It was not until the
advent of macromolecular sequencing, when characters that could be compared to
reveal phylogenetic relationships appeared, that solid data could be used to test
Darwin’s theories. Subsequent full genome sequencing and reintroduction of laboratory evolution of bacteria both generated new discoveries of the mode, extent, and
course of microbial evolution. Darwin’s place as a pioneer in the microbiological
sciences has finally been established.
2.1 Introduction
The name Darwin does not appear often in modern microbiological research publications. Only 47 publications were found in a search of PubMed using the text words
“Darwin AND bacteria” (including NOT Australia and NOT Antarctica to exclude
place names). By comparison, a search substituting his contemporaries, “Pasteur”
and “Koch,” yielded 158 and 161 hits, respectively. The impact of Darwin’s studies,
outside the general processes of evolution and natural selection, on the field of
microbiology is generally thought to be rather limited. Many ascribe this to the
idea that Darwin knew little to nothing about microorganisms, particularly bacteria,
since his major work occurred just before the concepts of the germ theory of diseases
K. M. Noll (*)
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
e-mail: kenneth.noll@uconn.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. J. Hurst (ed.), Microbes: The Foundation Stone of the Biosphere, Advances in
Environmental Microbiology 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63512-1_2
19