This study aims to investigate pre-service elementary school teachers' understanding of microorganisms and analyze the differences and effectiveness of social group variables in the post-pandemic era. A total of 208 participants (68 males and 140 females), consisting of the pre-service teachers from one teachers college, were involved in an online survey. The instrument includes 11 choice-type questions and their reasoning descriptions on fungi, protista, bacteria, and viruses. A previously developed questionnaire for inquiring about microbiology literacy was adopted, and Cronbach's α in this study was .685. Using t-test, simple linear regression, and multiple regression analysis, we tried to figure out the differences by the participants' high school track, grade, and gender groups and their influential impact on the understanding of microorganisms. The results showed that the science track and freshman groups had significantly higher mean scores in the virus-relevant items from the t-test results. Similarly, in the simple linear regression analysis, the scores of science track and freshman groups were statically high when high school track and grade were the dummy variables. As a result of the multiple regression analysis to examine the effectiveness of group variables, it was revealed that the Durbin-Watson statistic was 2.251, R= .234, and R2 =.055. Since the total score represented F=3.984 and p=.009, the suitability of the regression model was acceptable. Namely, grade worked as a variable to predict pre-service elementary school teachers' understanding of microorganisms with -.162 of standardized regression coefficient when their grades were juniors in college. Focused on sub-categories of the instrument, the regression lines of the virus were significant, thus, we might consider the group clouts in those areas. In particular, variables of high school track and grade, except gender, were disclosed as predictors of virus comprehension. Setting the participants' conception of the virus as a dependent variable, we found that the effectiveness concerned in these order: high school track (β=.226), and grade (β=.-159). To facilitate the attainment of microbiology literacy in prospective elementary teachers, we propose to place microbial activities, experiments, and educational supports to help them construct balanced observations and foster scientific knowledge of microorganisms.