Microbesinhumanwelfare

MicrobesHouseholdandIndustrialapplications
HouseholdApplications

Lacticacidbacteria(LAB)

Milk

Curd

LABproducesacidsthatcoagulateandpartiallydigestmilkproteins.

Smallamountofcurdthatisaddedtothemilkforcurdlingactsasan
inoculumcontainingthousandsofLABS,whichfurthermultiply.

LABenhancesthenutritionalvalueofmilkbyincreasingVitaminB
.
12

LABpresentinstomachpreventsinfections.

Fermentation

Dosaandidlidoughisfermentedbybacteria,whichproducesCO
gas
2
andgivesitapuffedupappearance.

Doughusedformakingbreadsisfermentedbybakersyeast
(
Saccharomyces

cerevisiae
).

Toddy(atraditionaldrinkfromSouthIndiamadebyfermentingsapfrom
palmtrees)

Cheesemaking

Thebacterium
Propionibacteriumsharmanii
isusedinSwisscheeseto
giveititscharacteristicholesbyproducinglargeamountofcarbon
dioxide.

Roquefortcheeseisripenedbygrowingcertainfungionthemtogive
themtheirspecificflavour.

Industrialapplications

Forindustrialpurposes,microbesaregrowninlargevesselscalled
fermentors.

Onindustrialscale,fermentedbeverages,antibiotics,enzymes,andother
bioactivemoleculesarepreparedusingmicrobes.

Fermentedbeverages
Saccharomycescerevisiae
,alsocalledbrewersyeast,isusedtoprepare
wine,beer,whisky,brandy,rum,etc.dependinguponthetypeofraw
materialandprocessing.

Iffermentedbrothisdistilled,thenbrandyandrumareproducedwhilewine
andbeerareproducedwithoutdistillation.

Antibiotics

Certainmicroorganismsinhibitthegrowthofothermicroorganisms
wherevertheygrow.

Antibioticsarechemicalsubstancesproducedbycertainmicrobesthat
killorretardthegrowthofothermicrobes(diseasecausingmicrobes).

PenicillindiscoveredbyAlexanderFlemingwasthefirstantibiotictobe
discovered.

Flemingdiscovereditbychancewhenhewasworkingonthe
bacterium
Staphylococcus.
Hediscoveredthatgrowthof

Staphylococcus
ceasesinthecultureplateswhere
Penicilliumnotatum
wasgrown.

Lateron,itsuseasaneffectiveantibioticwasestablishedbyChain
andFlorey.

Chemicals,enzymes,andbioactiveagents

Microorganism

Substanceproduced

Fungus
Aspergillus

Citricacid

niger
Bacterium

Aceticacid

Acetobacteraceti
Bacterium

Butyricacid

Clostridiumbutylicum
Bacterium

Lacticacid

Lactobacillus
Yeast
S.cerevisiae

Ethanol

Bacterium

Streptokinase(usedasaclotbusterfor

Streptococcus

removingclotsfrombloodvesselsofpatients
withmyocardialinfarction)

Fungus
Trichoderma

CyclosporinA(usedasimmunesuppressive

polysporum

agentinorgantransplantation)

Yeast
Monascus

Statins(lowerbloodcholesterollevels)

purpureus

Microbes:ApplicationsinSewageTreatmentand
BiogasProduction
MicrobesinSewageTreatment

Sewagebasicallyconsistsofhumanexcreta.Itmaycontainmanymicrobes,
whichmaybepathogenicalso.

Sewagedisposalisahugeproblem.Itcannotbedirectlydisposedintorivers
andstreams.Hence,ithastobetreatedfirstinsewagetreatmentplants
(STPs).

Theheterotrophicmicrobespresentinthesewageitselfaidinitstreatment.

Treatmentofsewageincludestwostagesprimarytreatmentand
secondarytreatment.

PrimaryTreatment
Involvesphysicalremovalofparticlesbyfiltration
andsedimentation

Initially,
sequentialfiltration
isusedtoremovefloatingdebris.

Then,grit(soil+smallpebbles)areremovedby
sedimentation
.
Solidsthatsettledownformthesludgewhilethesupernatantforms
theeffluent.

Effluentistakenforsecondarytreatment.

SecondaryTreatment

Effluentispassedtoaerationtank

Constantagitation

Airpumped

Vigorousgrowthofbacteria

Flocformation

Consumptionof
organicmatterbybacteria

DecreaseinBOD

BODistheamountofoxygenrequiredbybacteriatooxidiseallthe
organicmatterpresentintheeffluent.

Naturally,iforganicmatterdecreases

BODdecreases

Pollution
decreases

Whatisafloc?
Floc=Bacteria+Fungalfilaments(inameshlikestructure)

WhenBODandhencepollutionisreduced,effluentispassedintoa
settlingtank.Here,flocssettledownanditisknownas
Activated
Sludge
.

Inanaerobicsludgedigesters,anaerobicbacteriaactontheactivated
sludgetoproducebiogas(CH
,CO
,H
S).
4
2
2

Theeffluentfromsecondarytreatmentplantisreleasedintowater
bodies.

Microbialtechnologyforsewagetreatmentissoeffectivethatno
humantechnologyhasbeenabletobeatittilldate.

MicrobesinProductionofBiogas

Microbesproducemanygasesduringtheirmetabolism.

Thetypeofgasproduceddependsuponthesubstratetheygrowonandthe
typeofmicrobe.

AnaerobicbacteriausuallyproducemethanealongwithCO
andH
.Such
2
2
bacteriaarecalledmethanogens.Example
Methanobacterium

Methanogensarecommonlyfoundinanaerobicsludge(asinsewage
treatment)andintherumenofcattle.Intherumenofcattle,thesebacteria
helpincellulosedigestion.

Hence,excretaofcattle(
gobar
)arerichinmethanogens.Biogasisalso
called
gobargas
.

BiogasPlant
Componentsofbiogasplant:

ConcretetankHere,slurryofdungisfed.Itisa1015feetdeep
tank.

FloatingcoverPlacedonslurryrisesasthegasisproduced

utletItisconnectedtothepipe.

PipeItsuppliesthebiogastonearbyhouses.

OutletforspentslurrySpentslurrycanbeusedasafertiliser.

Biogasplantisusuallysetupinruralareassincecowdungisavailablein
abundancethere.

Biogasisusedforcookingandlighting.

BiogastechnologyinIndiaisduetotheeffortsof:

IARI(IndianAgriculturalResearchInstitute)

KVCI(KhadiandVillageIndustriesCommission)

Microbes:BiocontrolAgentsandBiofertilizers
MicrobesasBiocontrolAgents

Chemicalinsecticidesandpesticidesareharmfulas:

Theykilltheusefulandharmfullifeformsindiscriminately.

Theyaretoxictohumanbeingsaswellasinthelongrun.

Ifallinsectsofaparticularspeciesarekilled,thenthenatural
predatorpreyrelationshipandfoodchainswillgetdistorted.

Hence,biologicalmeanstoeradicatepestscanbeused.Thisrequires
knowledgeofthelifeforms(predator+prey)thatinhabitaparticulararea,
theirlifecycles,andpatternsoffeedingandpreferredhabitats.
ExampleLadybirdsanddragonfliesareusedtogetridofaphidsand
mosquitoes.

Microbescanalsoactinthesamemanner.
Bacillusthuringiensis(
Bt)

isused
tocontrolbutterflycaterpillars.

Thisbacteriumisavailableinsachetsasdriedspores,whicharesprayedon
thecrops.Thesporesgetintothegutofthelarvaeandkillitwhiletheother
insectsremainunperturbed.

Bymethodsofgeneticengineering,thegenesof
B.thuringiensis
responsible
forkillingthelarvaehavebeenincorporatedintotheplants.

Cottonplantwith
Bt
geneincorporatediscalled
Bt
cotton.

Thefungus
Trichoderma
livinginrootsofplantsactsasabiocontrolagent
againstseveralplantpathogens.

Baculoviruses,particularlygenus
Nucleopolyhedrovirus,
arealsousedas
narrowspectruminsecticidalagents.

Biocontrolagentsareparticularlyusefulwhenusefulinsectsarerequiredto
beconservedunderIPM(integratedpestmanagementprogrammes).

Microbesasbiofertilizers

Chemicalfertilizerscontributetothepollution.

Biofertilizersareorganismsthatenrichthenutrientqualityofthesoil.

Manybacteria,fungi,andcyanobacteriaactasbiofertilizers.

Theyactasbiofertilizersbylivinginsymbioticassociationwithrootnodules

ofleguminousplantssuchas
Rhizobuim.

Thesebacteriafixatmosphericnitrogenandenrichthenitrogencontentof
soil.

Fungialsoformsymbioticassociationswithplants(Mycorrhiza)suchas
Glomus
.Theyabsorbphosphorusandpassittoplants.

Cyanobacteriasuchas
Nostoc,Anabaena,
etc.alsofixatmosphericnitrogenandact
asbiofertilizersespeciallyinpaddyfields.