Microbes are everywhere–in soil, water, air, within our bodies which are of different animals and plants. they’re present even at sites wherever no different life-form could probably exist–sites like deep within the geysers (thermal vents) wherever the temperature could also be as high as 1000C, deep within the soil, below the layers of snow many metres thick, and in extremely acidic environments. Microbes are diverse–protozoa, bacteria, fungi and microscopic animal and plant viruses, viroids and additionally prions that are proteinaceous infectious agents. Microbes like bacteria and various fungi can be grown on nutritive media to make custom colonies that can be seen with the naked eye. These cultures are useful in studies on micro-organisms.

Microbes in Human Welfare 

Microbes can be easily grown in research laboratories or at industrial scale for research and production of various beneficial products. Microbes are useful to human beings  and the environment in the following  ways:

Microbes in industrial production

A variety of products like beverages and antibiotics comprise uses of microbes. Production on a large scale entails growing microbes in very large vessels called fermenters.

  1. Fermented Beverages– Saccharomyces cerevisiae  utilized for bread-making and commonly called brewer’s yeast, which is used for fermenting malted cereals and fruit juices, to yield beverages like wine, bear, whisky and rum.. Wine and beer are produced without decontamination whereas whisky, brandy and rum are produced by distillation of the fermented broth.
  2.  Antibiotics– They are chemical substances produced by various microbes and can kill or hinder the growth of other microbes. Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered. Antibiotics have greatly enhanced our capacity to treat lethal diseases such as plague, whooping cough, diphtheria and leprosy.
  3. Chemical, Organic acids, Enzymes and supplemental Bioactive Molecules are commercially produced by microbes. Production of organic acids, alcohols and enzymes are produced by microbes.

Microbes in Sewage Treatment

Municipal wastewater (sewage) comprises large amounts of organic matter and microbes which are pathogenic and cannot be liquidated into natural water bodies like rivers and streams. Sewage is pickled in sewage treatment plants to make it less contaminating by using heterotrophic microbes naturally present in sewage. Sewage treatment is done in two stages-

In primary treatment, floating debris is detached by sequential filtration. By sedimentation, Grit (soil and small pebbles) are removed. The sludge formed during primary sewage treatment is primary sludge. The primary sludge composes flocks of decomposer microbes. No aeration is required for primary sludge.

Secondary or biological treatment  mainly contains passing of primary sewages in large aeration tanks to help the decay of aerobic microbes into flocs (masses of bacteria allied with fungal filaments to form mesh like structures). These microbes upsurge the depletion of organic wastes and decrease the BOD (biological oxygen demand)of the effluents. Microbes in household merchandise.

Activated sludge : The process containing high structure of microorganisms is termed as activated sludge. Activated sludge is commonly used for waste water treatment. The decomposition occurring during the formation of activated sludge is very lesser.

Anaerobic sludge digesters : In order to stabilize the wastewater treatment plant sludge, the most widely used process is anaerobic digestion. The organic waste is reduced upto 50% with the help of anaerobic digestion thus it resembles an important step of sludge treatment before carrying out drying and incineration, saving cost and optimizing the post process.

  • Curd- The bacteria Lactobacillus produces lactic acid that somewhat thickens the milk protein. It also rises vitamin B12 content. These bacteria are also  exist in the gut and  measure  the growing of other microbes
  • Fermented dough used to make South Indian delicacies, e.g. Idli dosa. The bread is fermented due to  production of CO2 by bacteria
  • Microbes are used to ferment soya and bamboo-shoots to cook delicacies
  • Different categories of cheese having different taste and texture, are ready using specific microorganisms.
  • Microbes are used in medicines, such as antibiotics and vaccines.
  • Microbes are used for production of biofuel from algae.

E.g. Swiss cheese have large holes- Propionibacterium shermanii

Roquefort Cheese- Penicillium roqueforti

Camembert Cheese- Penicillium camemberti

Microbes in human welfare MCQ questions 

For retting of jute, the fermenting microbe is 

  1. Methanophilic bacteria
  2. Helicobacter pylori
  3. Butyric acid and bacteria 

Nitrogen fixation is 

  1. N2-NH3
  2. N2-NO3
  3. BOTH (a)& (b)

Antibiotics are 

  1. Medicines 
  2. Toxins 
  3. Syrups

A free living aerobic and non photosynthetic nitrogen fixing bacterium is:

  1. Anabaena 
  2. Azotobacter
  3. Clostridium 

Purified antibiotic penicillin of penicillium notatum was obtained by :

  1. A.Fleming 
  2. Howard florey 
  3. Robert Hooke 

This is not a biofertilizer

(a) Agrobacterium

(b) Nostoc

(c) Rhizobium

Short notes on microbes in human welfare

Microbes in Human Welfare Has the subsequent Topics

Points to recollect

Introduction to Microbes:

(i) Microbes are  the key parts of biological systems on this Earth.

(ii) All microbes don’t seem to be pathogenic, several microbes play a vital role within the welfare of human society.

(iii) Microbes and microbially derived product square measure used virtually daily.

Microbes in home Products:

(i) Microbes like bacteria} et al. usually known as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) grow in milk and convert it to curd.

(ii) The dough that is employed to create bread is fermented  by the yeast.

(iii) some  dishes like idli and dosa, mainly  made of dough fermented by the assistance of bacteria.

(iv) A dairy product could be a preserved milk product created by microorganism fermentation of milk.

(v) Probiotics are useful types of gut bacterium that stimulate the natural organic process juices and enzymes that keep our organic process organs functioning properly.

Microbes in Industrial Products:

(i) Microbes are used  to turn out industrial products like lactic acid, carboxylic acid and alcohol.

(ii) antibiotic drug was the primary antibiotic to be discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

(iii) Antibiotics like penicillins created by some fungi  used to kill disease-causing harmful microbes.

(iv) Antibiotics have  a significant role in dominating infectious diseases like contagion, infectious disease and respiratory disorder.

Microbes in sewage Treatment:

(i) The municipal waste-water together with human waste matter is termed sewerage.

(ii) Microbes  are used for sewage treatment by the method of activated sludge formation and this helps in the use of water in nature.

Microbes in Production of Biogas:

(i) The waste matter (dung) of cows, usually known as gobar, is made of methanogenic bacterium and it will be used for generation of biogas, usually known as ‘gobar gas’.

(ii) Biogas created by microbes is employed for preparation and lighting in rural areas.

Microbes as Biocontrol Agents:

(i) Biocontrol refers to the utilization of biological ways for dominant plant diseases and pests.

(ii) Biocontrol measures facilitate North American countries to avoid serious use of venomous chemical pesticides for pest management.

Conclusion 

Microbes are a very crucial part of life on earth. Every microbe  is not pathogenic. Many microbes are very useful to humans. We use microorganisms and products derived from microorganisms almost every day. Microbes are essential in processes such as wine and cheese production. Bacteria called lactic acid bacteria (LAB) grow in milk and turn into curds. The dough used to make bread is fermented by a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Certain dishes, such as idli and dosa, are made from dough fermented by microorganisms. Bacteria and fungi are used to give cheese a special texture, taste and aroma.