Agricultural, Food and Environmental Microbiology at the University of Padova: An Evolutionary Journey from Lag Phase to Exponentiality

Abstract

This paper is a microbiological voyage throughout the main discoveries and research activities of scholars who studied or taught in this field at Padova University during its 800-year history. The ancient practice of variolization, the so-called miracle of Legnaro and the pellagra debate, whose observations and investigations were driven at Padova even before microbiology was established as a scientific discipline, along with the modern era research activities in the field of agricultural, environmental and food microbiology, undoubtedly suggest the hallmark and everyday role played by microbes in overwhelmingly global, but profoundly human, adventures.

Keywords

• microbiology
• discovery-driven and hypothesis-driven science
• smallpox virus
• <i>Serratia marcescens</i>
• pellagra
• Incrocio Manzoni