Fungi

The fungi have several unicellular species, such as baker's yeast

and fission yeast. Some fungi, such as the pathogenic yeast
Candida albicans, can undergo phenotypic switching and grow as
single cells in some environments, and filamentous hyphae in
others. Fungi reproduce both asexually, by budding or binary fission,
as well by producing spores, which are called conidia when
produced asexually, or basidiospores when produced sexually.

Animals

Mostly animals are multicellular, but some are too small to be seen
by the naked eye. Microscopic arthropods include dust mites and
spider mites. Microscopic crustaceans include copepods and the
cladocera, while many nematodes are too small to be seen with the
naked eye. Another particularly common group of microscopic
animals are the rotifers, which are filter feeders that are usually
found in fresh water. Micro-animals reproduce both sexually and
asexually and may reach new habitats as eggs that survive harsh
environments that would kill the adult animal. However, some
simple animals, such as rotifers and nematodes, can dry out
completely and remain dormant for long periods of time

Importance
Microorganisms are vital to humans and the environment, as they
participate in the Earth's element cycles such as the carbon cycle
and nitrogen cycle, as well as fulfilling other vital roles in virtually all
ecosystems, such as recycling other organisms' dead remains and
waste products through decomposition. Microbes also have an
important place in most higher-order multicellular organisms as
symbionts. Many blame the failure of Biosphere 2 on an improper
balance of microbes.

Use in food

Microorganisms are used in brewing, winemaking, baking, pickling

and other food-making processes.
They are also used to control the fermentation process in the
production of cultured dairy products such as yogurt and cheese.
The cultures also provide flavour and aroma, and inhibit undesirable
organisms.

Use in water treatment

Specially-cultured microbes are used in the biological treatment of
sewage and industrial waste effluent, a process known as
bioaugmentation.

Use in energy

Microbes are used in fermentation to produce ethanol, and in biogas

reactors to produce methane. Scientists are researching the use of
algae to produce liquid fuels, and bacteria to convert various forms
of agricultural and urban waste into usable fuels.

Use in science

Microbes are also essential tools in biotechnology, biochemistry,

genetics, and molecular biology. The yeasts and fission yeast are
important model organisms in science, since they are simple
eukaryotes that can be grown rapidly in large numbers and are
easily manipulated. They are particularly valuable in genetics,
genomics and proteomics. Microbes can be harnessed for uses such
as creating steroids and treating skin diseases. Scientists are also
considering using microbes for living fuel cells, and as a solution for
pollution.

Use in warfare

In the Middle Ages, diseased corpses were thrown into castles

during sieges using catapults or other siege engines. Individuals
near the corpses were exposed to the deadly pathogen and were
likely to spread that pathogen to others

Importance in human health

Human digestion

Microorganisms can form an endosymbiotic relationship with other,

larger organisms. For example, the bacteria that live within the
human digestive system contribute to gut immunity, synthesise
vitamins such as folic acid and biotin, and ferment complex
indigestible carbohydrates.

Diseases and immunology

Main article: Pathogenic microbes

Microorganisms are the cause of many infectious diseases. The
organisms involved include pathogenic bacteria, causing diseases
such as plague, tuberculosis and anthrax; protozoa, causing
diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness and toxoplasmosis; and
also fungi causing diseases such as ringworm, candidiasis or
histoplasmosis. However, other diseases such as influenza, yellow
fever or AIDS are caused by pathogenic viruses, which are not
usually classified as living organisms and are not therefore
microorganisms by the strict definition. As of 2007, no clear
examples of archaean pathogens are known, although a relationship
has been proposed between the presence of some methanogens
and human periodontal disease.

File:Tree of life int.svg

Microorganisms can be found almost anywhere in the taxonomic

organization of life on the planet. Bacteria and archaea are almost
always microscopic, while a number of eukaryotes are also
microscopic, including most protists, some fungi, as well as some
animals and plants. Viruses are generally regarded as not living and
therefore are not microbes, although the field of microbiology also
encompasses the study of viruses

Evolutionary tree showing the common ancestry of all three domains of life.[23]
Bacteria are colored blue, eukaryotes red, and archaea green. Relative positions of
some phyla are shown around the tree.

A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic (too small to be

seen by the human eye). The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a
subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in
1675, using a microscope of his own design.

Microorganisms are very diverse; they include bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists;
microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as plankton and the planarian.
Some microbiologists also include viruses, but others consider these as non-living.[1][2]
Most microorganisms are unicellular (single-celled), but this is not universal, since
some multicellular organisms are microscopic, while some unicellular protists and
bacteria, like Thiomargarita namibiensis, are macroscopic and visible to the naked
eye.[3]

Microbes are also exploited by people in biotechnology, both in

traditional food and beverage preparation, and in modern
technologies based on genetic engineering. However, pathogenic
microbes are harmful, since they invade and grow within other
organisms, causing diseases that kill millions of people, other
animals, and plants.[5]

FIXING NITROGEN IN SOIL

There are bacteria that go through a process called fixing nitrogen. These
bacteria, living in the roots of plants, actually help them absorb nitrogen from
the surrounding soil. The nitrogen is very important for the growth of the plant,
and these little bacteria give them an advantage for survival.

ANTIBIOTICS
Scientists have even discovered fungi that will help you battle bacterial
diseases. So you get sick, the doctor looks at you and says you have a
bacterial infection, maybe bronchitis. He prescribes an antibiotic to help you
get better. Antibiotics are drugs designed to destroy bacteria by weakening
their cell walls. When the bacterial cell walls are weak, your immune cells
can go in and destroy the bacteria. Although there are many types now, one
of the first antibiotics was called penicillin. It was developed from a fungus (a
fungus named Penicillium found on an orange, to be exact).

Microbes are much more our friends than our enemies. Although
some microbes cause health problems such as strep throat,
chickenpox and the common cold, most microbes make our lives
better such as:

Bacillus thuringiensis - a common soil bacterium that is a natural

pest-killer in gardens and on crops.
Arbuscular mycorrhizas - fungus living in the soil that helps crops
take up nutrients from the soil.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - baker's yeast that makes bread rise.
Escherichia coli - one of many kinds of microbes that live in your
digestive system to help you digest your food every day.
Streptomyces - bacteria in soil that makes an antibiotic used to treat
infections.
Pseudomonas putida - one of many microbes that clean wastes from
sewage water at water treatment plants.
Lactobacillus acidophilus - one of the bacteria that turn milk into
yogurt

There are many other important jobs microbes do. They are used to
make medicine. They break down the oil from oil spills. They make
about half of the oxygen we breathe. They are the foundation of the
food chain that feeds all living things on earth.

We've been using microbes for thousands of years to make products

we need and enjoy. For example, you can thank fungi for the cheese
on your cheeseburger and yeast for your bun. Cheese and bread are
two microbe-made foods people have been enjoying since time
began.

Over the past 50 years, we've begun using microbes to do all kinds
of new work for us. Here are some examples of microbes at work in
pollution control and medicine.

In pollution control, researchers are using bacteria that eat methane

gas to clean up hazardous waste dumps and landfills. These
methane-eating bacteria make an enzyme that can break down
more than 250 pollutants into harmless cells. By piping methane
into the soil, researchers can increase growth of the bacteria that
normally live in the polluted soil. More bacteria means faster
pollution break up. Also, bacteria is being used as one of the tools to
clean up oil spills. These bacteria eat the oil, turning it into carbon
dioxide and other harmless by-products.

Fungi and bacteria produce antibiotics such as penicillin and

tetracycline . These are medicines we use to fight off harmful
bacteria that cause sore throats, ear infections, diarrhea and other
discomforts. Scientists have changed the genetic material of
bacteria and yeasts to turn them into medicine. They inject genes
for medicines they want to make into the microbe cells, as if adding
new building information to the microbe's cell DNA. The scientists
then grow the microbes in huge containers called fermenters where
they reproduce into billions, all making new medicines.

Useful Microbes

Bacteria are vital in recycling nutrients, with many steps in nutrient

cycles depending on these organisms, such as the fixation of
nitrogen from the atmosphere and putrefaction. However, most
bacteria have not been characterized, and only about half of the
phyla of bacteria have species that can be grown in the laboratory.[4]
The study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of
microbiology.