Final answer:
Microbiology involves studying various microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa, fungi, and helminths. Eukaryotic organisms studied include photosynthetic algae, motile protozoa, and various fungi, along with parasitic microorganisms such as helminths due to their microscopic stages.
Step-by-step explanation:
Microbiology is a diverse field that studies various types of microorganisms. The organisms studied include bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes such as algae, protozoa, fungi, and helminths. Archaea are similar to bacteria but are found in extreme environments and are not known to cause human diseases. Eukaryotes in microbiology include algae, which can be unicellular or multicellular and perform photosynthesis, protozoa, which are unicellular and motile, microscopic fungi that consist of molds and yeasts, and helminths, which are multicellular parasitic worms studied due to their microscopic eggs and larvae.
Research in microbiology can be sub-divided into specialized fields such as bacteriology, virology, mycology, protozoology, and parasitology. This study also includes important interactions such as those between the immune system and pathogens, covered under immunology. In the broadest sense, microbiologists seek to understand these organisms in terms of structure, habitat, metabolism, and their roles in ecosystems, which include both beneficial and pathogenic interactions with humans and other life forms.