MICROBES IN HUMAN WELFARE

KINDS OF MICROBES :

There are different types of microbe present on our earth, they are:

1.Algae- Algae are a diverse group of eukaryotic, non-vascular thallophytes,autotrophic, chlorophyll-

containing organisms capable of producing oxygen through photosynthesis.

2. Bacteria-Bacteria are very tiny single-cell microbes that can live in all environmental conditions.

3. Protozoa-Protozoa are microscopic unicellular eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic.

4. Virus-A virus is a submicroscopic infectious microbe that replicates only inside the living cell of an
organism.

5. Fungi-Fungi are eukaryotic, multicellular organisms that include Yeasts, moulds, etc

MICROBES IN HOUSEHOLDS
Microbes are used extensively in household products, industrial products, medicine, etc. Microbes are
small and tiny organisms, but they can do wonders like converting milk to curd, normal coconut water
to a traditional drink, etc. Microbes can act as parasites and can cause a number of infectious
diseases.

A common example is the production of curd from milk. Micro-organisms such as Lactobacillus and
others commonly called lactic acid bacteria (LAB) grow in milk and convert it to curd. During growth,
the LAB produce acids that coagulate and partially digest the milk proteins. A small amount of curd
added to the fresh milk as inoculum or starter contain millions of LAB, which at suitable temperatures
multiply, thus converting milk to curd, which also improves its nutritional quality by increasing vitamin
B12. In our stomach too, the LAB play very beneficial role in checking disease causing microbes.

DOUGH : The dough, which is used for making foods such as dosa and idli is also fermented by
bacteria. The puffed-up appearance of dough is due to the production of CO2 gas.

BREAD: Similarly the dough, which is used for making bread, is fermented using baker’s yeast
(Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

TODDY : Fermentation by bacteria is also used to make a variety of traditional drinks and dishes.
‘Toddy’, a traditional drink of some parts of southern India is made by fermenting sap from palms. it is
fermented by naturally occurring yeast. Microbes are also utilised to ferment foods such as fish, soya
beans, and bamboo shoots.

CHEESE: It is one of the oldest food items in which microbes were used. Different varieties of cheese
are known by their characteristic texture, flavour and taste, the specificity coming from the microbes
used.The big holes in ‘Swiss cheese’ are caused by a bacterium called Propionibacterium sharmanii
producing a huge amount of CO2. The ‘Roquefort cheese’ are ripened by growing a specific fungi on
them, which gives them a particular flavour

MICROBES IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS.

Biotechnology and microbiology have industrial microbiology as a branch that deals with the study of various
microorganisms and their application in industries.Microbes are grown in very large vessels called
fermentors or bioreactors.These products are food additives, beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic),
organic acids, enzymes, vitamins, biofuels, bio-fertilizers, metabolites, different types of antibiotics,
and vaccines in the medical field for the treatment of diseases.

FERMENTED BEVERAGES :Microbes especially yeasts have been used from time immemorial for
the production of beverages like wine, beer, whisky, brandy or rum. For this purpose the same yeast
Saccharomyces cerevisiae used for bread-making and commonly called brewer’s yeast, is used for
fermenting malted cereals and fruit juices, to produce ethanol.Depending on the type of the raw
material used for fermentation and the type of processing (with or without distillation) different types of
alcoholic drinks are obtained. Wine and beer are produced without distillation whereas whisky, brandy
and rum are produced by distillation of the fermented broth.

ANTIBIOTICS: Antibiotics produced by microbes are regarded as one of the most significant
discoveries of the twentieth century and have greatly contributed towards the welfare of the human
society. Anti is a Greek word that means ‘against’, and bio means ‘life’, together they mean ‘against
life’ (in the context of disease causing organisms); whereas with reference to human beings, they are
‘pro life’ and not against. Antibiotics are chemical substances, which are produced by some microbes
and can kill or retard the growth of other (disease-causing) microbes. Penicillin was the first antibiotic
to be discovered by Alexander Fleming. Alexander Fleming observed a mould growing on one of his
unwashed culture plates around which Staphylococci could not grow. He found out that it was due to
a chemical produced by the mould. He named it penicillin after the mould Penicillium notatum.

Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered by Alexander Fleming, which was used to treat wounded
American soldiers in World War II.There are many other antibiotics later produced by microbes that
are used to treat different bacterial infections.

CHEMICALS, ENZYMES AND OTHER BIOACTIVE MOLECULES : Microbes are also used for
commercial and industrial production of certain chemicals like organic acids, alcohols and enzymes.

Different types of acid producers are below :

. Microbes are also used for production of enzymes, such as:

Different types of bioactive molecules, microbes, and their uses are mentioned :

MICROBES IN SEWAGE TREATMENT

Large quantities of waste water generated everyday in cities and towns is called sewage.
Sewage comprises a high concentration of organic materials and microorganisms which are
pathogenic. Untreated sewage if discharged in water body pollutes the water body and Aquatic
animals start dying. Thus, Sewage needs to be treated in a sewage treatment plant before
releasing into water body.Before disposal, hence, sewage is treated in sewage treatment plants
(STPs) to make it less polluting. Treatment of waste water is done by the heterotrophic microbes
naturally present in the sewage. This treatment is carried out in two stages:
PRIMARY TREATMENT:

SECONDARY TREATMENT:
Yamuna Action Plan and Ganga Action Plan were started by Ministry of Environment and Forest
to spare these real streams of our nation.  It is proposed to assemble countless treatment
plants so that only the treated sewage might be released into the streams.

MICROBES IN PRODUCTION OF BIOGAS

Biogas is a blend of gasses (overwhelmingly methane) created by the microbial movement and is
utilized as fuel.
certain bacteria develop anaerobically on cellulosic material and deliver a huge measure of
methane alongside CO2 and H2S. These bacteria together are known as methanogens. One
common bacterium is Methanobacterium.
These bacteria display in the rumen of cattle assumes a fundamental part in the sustenance of
dairy cattle by processing cellulose. Henceforth the excreta/gobar (fertilizer)is utilized for the
creation of biogas commonly called gobar gas.
The biogas plant consists of a 10–15 feet deep concrete tank in which bio-wastes and slurry of
the dung are fed. A floating cover is placed over the slurry which keeps rising as the gas is
produced in the tank by the microbes.The biogas plant has an outlet which is connected to a pipe
to supply biogas to the houses. There is also another outlet to remove the spent slurry.It is used
as fertiliser.
The technology of biogas production was developed in India by Indian Agricultural Research
Institute (IARI) and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
 MICROBES AS BIOCONTROL AGENTS
Biocontrol refers to the use of biological methods for controlling plant diseases and pests. These
methods rely on natural predation.Chemicals are not used in this.
Some examples of Biocontrol Agents are:
Ladybird beetle is useful to get rid of aphids and dragonflies control mosquitoes.
Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterium whose spores are toxic to certain insect larvae and kill them,
but is not harmful to other insects and does not kill them.
The toxin-producing genes of this bacterium are transferred through recombinant biotechnology
into crop plants, which become resistant to insect pests.Example-Bt cotton.
The fungus Trichoderma, is free-living in the soil and root ecosystems and is used against
several plant pathogens.
Baculoviruses are pathogens that attack many insects and arthropods. One of the baculovirus
used as a biocontrol agent is Nucleopolyhedrovirus.
They have no negative effects on plants, warm-blooded creatures, fowls, fishes, and so forth.
This is exceptionally useful in integrated pest managements (IPM). Integrated Pest Management
means that we need to not eradicate the pests of the crops but limit them to a number that it
does not harm the crops. The pests are kept at a manageable level by a complex system of
checks and balances within the ecosystem.

Microbes as biofertilisers
Biofertilisers are microorganisms that are used to enrich the fertility of the soil by adding certain
nutrients.
Three groups of organisms used as biofertilisers are:
1. Bacteria
2. Cyanobacteria
3. Fungi (Mycorrhiza)
Rhizobium frame root knobs in leguminous plants and fixes nitrogen present in the air.These
bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen into organic form,used by the plant as nutrients.
Other bacteria can fix atmospheric nitrogen while free-living in the soil (examples Azospirillum
and Azotobacter), thus enriching the nitrogen content of the soil.
Mycorrhiza – symbiotic relationship between fungi and roots of the plant.Most of the fungi that
belong to genus Glomus form the mycorrhiza. They Provide phosphorus present in the soil to the
plants,resistance to root-borne pathogens, tolerance to salinity and drought, and an overall
increase in plant growth and development.
Cyanobacteria - are autotrophic microbes widely distributed in aquatic and terrestrial
environments.e.g. Anabaena, Nostoc, Oscillatoria, etc. They fix atmospheric nitrogen,Add natural
matter to the soil and Increases the fertility of the soil.