Microbes in Human Welfare

Table of Contents

 What are microbes?

 What is Microbiology?
 Applications of Microbiology
 Microbes in Household Products
 Microbes as Source of Food
 Microbes in Industrial Products
o Fermented Beverages
o Antibiotics
o Chemicals, Enzymes and other Bioactive Molecules
o Some commercial enzymes and source
microorganisms
 Microbes in Sewage Treatment
o Primary treatment
o Secondary treatment or Biological treatment
 Microbes in Production of Biogas
 Microbes as a Biocontrol Agent
o Biological control of pest and disease
  Microbes as Biofertilizers

What are Microbes?

Microbes are available all around, in air, water, soil and so

on likewise in extraordinary conditions, extremophiles
microbes are developed in media to develop colonies, seen
with the bare eye.

Microbes are various – bacteria, fungi, protozoa, bacteria,

fungi and minute plants viruses, viroids furthermore prions
(proteinaceous agents of infection)

What is Microbiology?

“Micro” - (symbol μ) is a unit prefix in the metric system

denoting a factor of 10−6 (too small to be seen with the naked
eye), “Bio” - the Greek root word bio means 'life.' and
“Logy” -logy is a suffix in the English language means “the
study of”.
Microbiology is the study of very small living organisms
called microorganisms/ microbes.

Fig: Role of Microorganisms

Applications of Microbiology

 Food production: bread, beer

 Microbes in biogas production
 As biocontrol agents
 In sewage treatment
 Bioremediation: decontamination of hazardous wastes
  As biofertilizers
 As a source of food single cell protein (SCP)
 Useful industrial products: ethanol fuel, antibiotics, amino
acids
 Genetic engineering: pharmaceuticals, vaccines

Microbes in Household Products

 Lactic Corrosive Bacteria (LAB) develop in milk and

change it into curd.
 LAB produces acids that coagulate and incompletely
process milk proteins.
 LAB enhances dietary nature of milk by expanding vitamin
B12
 LAB assumes a critical role in checking disease bringing
about microbes.
 Dough used to make dosa and idli is likewise matured by
bacteria.
 The puffed-up appearance of the mixture is because of the
creation of CO2.
  Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is accustomed to
making bread.
 Large openings in 'Swiss cheddar' are because of the
creation of a huge measure of CO2 by a bacterium named
Propionibacterium shermanii.
 The 'Roquefort cheddar' is aged by particular fungi,
which gives particular flavor.

Microbes as Source of Food

It alludes to the microbial biomass or aggregate protein add

up to separated from uncontaminated microbial cell culture
(monoculture) and this may be utilized as a protein
supplement. It is utilized in light of the fact that: -

 They have high protein and low-fat substance.

 It is a great wellspring of vitamins especially B-complex.
 It can be created consistently.
 Waste materials are utilized as a substrate for the
generation of these proteins.
 SCP life forms develop easily and quickly.
 Fig: Single Cell Protein: Filamentous Fungi

Glucose → Sweeter Fructose

Glucose Isomerase

The above procedure describes the manufacture of Pruteen a

tasteless and odorless SCP, used as animal feed.

Microbes in Industrial Products

  Microbes are utilized as a part of industry to combine and
develop various items
 Beverages, chemicals, natural acids, vitamins and anti-
infection agents are a few cases.
 Microbes are developed in huge vessels called fermenters.

Fig: A fermenter in industry

Fermented Beverages

 Yeasts are utilized for generation of beverages like rum,

beer, wine, brew, whiskey, liquor or rum.
 Saccharomyces cerevisiae ordinarily called 'brewer's yeast
utilized for fermenting malted oats and natural product
juices to deliver ethanol.
  The sort of crude material utilized for fermentation and
preparing diverse sorts of mixed beverages are delivered.
 Wine and lager are delivered without distillation.
 Whisky, rum, and brandy are delivered by distillation of the
fermented soup.

Fig: Beer is made from malted barley

Antibiotics

 Antibiotics are the synthetic substances which are

delivered by a few microbes and can kill or retard the
development of different microbes.
 The first anti-infection found is the penicillin, prepared
from a fungus Penicillium notatum.
 Antibiotics have extraordinarily enhanced our ability to
treat dangerous diseases, for example, diphtheria, plague,
leprosy and whooping cough.

Name of Antibiotic Obtained From

Terramycin Streptomyces rimosus

Erythromycin Streptomyces erythraeus

Chloromycetin Streptomyces venezuelae

Aureomycin Streptomyces aureofaciens

Neomycin, novaboium Streptomyces spp.

Penicillin Pencillium notatum

 Tetramycin Streptomyces griseus

Streptomycin Streptomyces griseus

Actinomycetes Micromonospora spp.

Chemicals, Enzymes and other Bioactive Molecules

 Aspergillus niger (a fungus) produces citric acid.

 Clostridium butylicum (a bacterium) deliver butyric acid.
 Acetobacter aceti (a bacterium) gives acetic acid.
 Lactobacillus (a bacterium) gives lactic acid.
 Lipases are utilized as a part of cleanser delivered by
microbes.
 Pectinase, proteases, and cellulase make packaged
organic product juices clearer.
 Streptokinase delivered by Streptococcus is utilized as a
'coagulation buster', for expelling clumps from the
veins.
 Cyclosporin-A delivered by a fungus called Trichoderma
polysporum is utilized as an immunosuppressive drug as
a part of organ transplantation.
 Statins delivered by Monascus purpureus are utilized as
agents that lower the blood cholesterol levels. It goes
about as a competitive inhibitor for the compound in
charge of amalgamation of cholesterol.
 Gibberellins are created in more noteworthy mass by
soil fungi Gibberella fujikuroi.
Some commercial enzymes and source microorganisms:

Microbes in Sewage Treatment

  The squander water is produced in urban communities and
town containing human excreta. This metropolitan water-
water is called sewage.
 Before transfer to the common body, sewage is dealt with
inside sewage treatment plants (STPs) to make it less
contaminating.
 Treatment is finished by heterotrophic microbes normally
introduce in sewage.

Primary treatment

 Involves the physical expulsion of particles – small and big

from sewage through sedimentation and filtration.
 Initially, the debris that is found floating is expelled by
consecutive filtration.
 The grit (small rock pieces and soil) are evacuated by
sedimentation.
 The solids that settle down frame the primary sludge, and
the supernatant structures the effluents.
 The effluents obtained from the primary or initial settling
tank is further taken for secondary treatment.
 Fig: Above diagram illustrates the process of waste water
treatment

Secondary treatment or Biological treatment

 The initial effluent is passed into huge air circulation tanks.

 This permits a vigorous development of helpful high-
impact microbes into flocs.
 The development of microbes devours the significant part
of the natural matter in the profluent. This altogether
 decreases the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) of the
profluent.
 BOD alludes to the measure of oxygen required to oxidize
total natural matter by bacteria that is present in one liter of
water.
 BOD is the measures of the natural matter present in the
water.
 More the BOD of the wastewater more is its
contaminating potential.
 Once the BOD of sewage is lessened essentially, the
effluent is then passed into the settling tank where the
bacterial "flocs" are permitted to settle down. This
sediment is alluded as activated sludge.
 Small portion of activated sludge is pumped back to air
circulation tank to serve as the inoculums.
 The remaining slop is pumped into anaerobic sludge
digester.
 In the anaerobic sludge digester, there are different sorts of
bacteria which develop anaerobically and digest and
process the bacteria and fungi in the sludge.
  During this assimilation bacterium create biogas, (blend of
methane, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide)
 The effluent obtained from secondary treatment plant is
discharged into normal water body like waterways and
streams.
 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.
  A few bacteria develop anaerobically on cellulosic
material; deliver a huge measure of methane alongside CO2
and H2S. These bacteria together are known as
methanogens. One basic 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 (fertilizer)
utilized for the creation of biogas.

This is a multistep chemical as well as a biological process

that is useful in waste administration as well as vitality
creation. There are four essential strides of anaerobic
processing that incorporate hydrolysis, acidogenesis,
acetogenesis, and methanogenesis. All through this whole
procedure, vast natural polymers that make up Biomass
are separated into smaller particles by microorganisms
and chemicals. Towards the end of the anaerobic
assimilation process, the Biomass is changed over into
Biogas, to be specific carbon dioxide and methane, and in
addition digestate and wastewater.
 Fig: Procedure of biogas production

Fig: Biogas production from human waste

 Fig: Schematic diagram of biogas process

Biogas microbes comprise of an expansive gathering of

complex and diversely acting microorganism species. Three
sorts of bacteria are included: Clostridium, Pseudomonas,
Methanobacillus and Methanococcous spp.

Microbes as a Biocontrol Agent

 Biocontrol alludes to the utilization of organic techniques

for controlling plant diseases and vermin.
 Effect of utilization of concoction, bug spray, and pesticide
to control disease and vermin:
o These chemicals are dangerous and to a great degree
destructive to people and creatures
 o Polluting our surroundings (soil, ground water),
natural products, and vegetables.
o Soil is contaminated through utilization of weedicides
to evacuate weeds.

Biological control of pest and disease

 Use of biocontrol measures will extraordinarily diminish

our reliance on lethal concoction and pesticides.
 The Dragonflies and Ladybird are utilized to dispose of
aphids and mosquitoes.
 Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are used to control caterpillars of
butterfly.
 Spores that have been dried are blended with water and
showered onto powerless plants, where these are eaten by
the larvae of insects.
 In the gut of the hatchlings, the poison is discharged and
the hatchlings die.
 Trichoderma, a free-living fungus is used to control a few
plant pathogens.
 Baculoviruses are pathogen that assault different arthropods
and insects.
  The greater part of baculoviruses utilized as organic control
specialists are in the family Nucleopolyhedrovirus.
 These viruses are an excellent contender for narrow- range,
species- specific insecticidal application.
 They have no negative effects on plants, warm-blooded
creatures, fowls, fishes, and so forth.
 This is exceptionally useful in integrated pest managements
(IPM).

Fig: Soil microorganisms as Biocontrol

Microbes as Biofertilizers
 Biofertilizers are living organisms that improve the
supplement nature of the soil.
 Important biofertilizers include fungi, bacteria, and
cyanobacteria.
 Rhizobium frame root knobs in leguminous plants and fixes
nitrogen present in the air.
 Azospirilium and Azotobacter are free-living bacteria that
fix nitrogen present in the atmosphere and in this way
expanding nitrogen content of soil.
 Mycorrhiza: fungi that are symbiotically connected with
the roots of the plants.

Fig: Rhizobium bacteria

Fig: Azzola biofertilizer

Fig: Mycorrhizae
 Fig: Different types of Biofertilizers

 Mycorrhiza:
o Provide phosphorus present in the soil to the plants.
o Make the plant impervious to the root-borne pathogen.
o Increase resistance to drought and salinity.
 Cyanobacteria like Nostoc, Anabaena, and Oscillatoria
and so on:
o Fix air nitrogen.
o Add natural matter to the soil and
o Increases the fertility of the soil.