MICROOGANISM-FRIEND OR FOE

Prepared by Priya Jha

MICROSCOPE

• Living organisms invisible to the naked eye are called microorganisms. Some microbes can be seen on bread with the help of a magnifying glass, while others are visible only under a microscope.

MICROORGANISM

• A microorganism (from the Greek: μικρός, mikrós, "small" and ργανισμός, ὀ organismós, "organism"; also spelt micro-organism, micro organism or microörganism) or microbe is an organism that is unicellular or lives in a colony of cellular organisms. 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

MICROSCOPE

COMPOUND MICROSCOPE

CLASSIFICATION OF MICROORGANISM

• Microorganisms are everywhere, in the air, water and soil. Bread mould belongs to the fungi group. Microbes can be classified into four groups – bacteria, fungi, algae and protozoa.

Bacteria: Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli

Fungi

Algae

Protozoas

• Microorganisms live in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within the Earth's crust. Microorganisms are critical to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. As some microorganisms can fix nitrogen, they are a vital part of the nitrogen cycle, and recent studies indicate that airborne microbes may play a role in precipitation and weather

Friendly Microorganisms

Use of Microbes in Industry and Agriculture -

• The use of micro organisms for large scale industrial processes is not new, although it has assumed renewed emphasis in recent years. Centuries ago, people in Asia and Africa learned to make wine, beer, vinegar and saki with bacteria and yeast, without knowing the scientific basis of such productions.

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.[

Commercial Use of Microorganisms

• The technology related to microbial production of metabolites such as ethanol, lactic acid, butanol, riboflavin, etc. and enzymes such as protease, amylase and Invertase was also developed as early as first few decades of the 20th century. Large scale production of the antibiotic penicillin, was perfected during World War II and the production of many other antibiotics, amino acids, nucleotides, enzymes, etc. had been successfully accomplished in the 1950's and later.

MEDICINAL USES OF MICROBES

• The genetically engineered micro organisms are also being used for the commercial production of some non microbial products such as insulin, interferon, human growth hormone and viral vaccines..

MICROBES AND INDUSTRIES

• Microbes are also being used to meet effectively the crisis in both environment and energy sectors. They can reduce environmental pollution through a variety of processes and other means including the following:

• (i) recovery of metals from polluted waterways, (ii) elimination of sulphur from metal ores and coal fired power and (iii) use of biofertilizers and biopesticides

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 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

• 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.

Importance in ecology

• Microbes are critical to the processes of decomposition required to cycle nitrogen and other elements back to the natural world.

Use in science

• Microbes are also essential tools in biotechnology, biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. The yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) are important model organisms in science, since they are simple eukaryotes that can be grown rapidly in large numbers and are easily manipulated.[68] 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.[

VACCINATION

• Vaccination only began in the 18th century with the work of Edward Jenner(1798).

• Vaccination (Latin: vacca—cow) is so named because the first vaccine was derived from a virus affecting cows—the relatively benign cowpox virus—which provides a degree of immunity to smallpox, a contagious and deadly disease. In common speech, 'vaccination' and 'immunization' generally have the same colloquial meaning.

IDEAL IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE FOR THE INFANTS (Recommended by the Ministry of Health, Searchvt. of

INDIA)

• At 11/2 monthsB.C.G. (injection)*D.P.T. - 1 (injection) and O.P.V. - 1 (dose)

• At 21/2 monthsD.P.T. - 2 (injection) and O.P.V. - 2 (dose)

• At 31/2 monthsD.P.T. - 3 (injection) and O.P.V. - 3 (dose)

• At 9 monthsMeasles (injection)• 16 to 24 monthsD.P.T. Booster (injection) and

O.P.V. Booster (dose)

• Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material (a vaccine) to stimulate adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens. There is strong evidence for the efficacy of many vaccines, such as the influenza vaccine the HPV vaccine and the chicken pox vaccine among others. Vaccination is generally considered to be the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases[citation needed]. The material administered can either be live but weakened forms of pathogens (bacteria or viruses), killed or inactivated forms of these pathogens, or purified material such as proteins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_cow_pock.jpg

ANTIBODY

• An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen.

• Antibodies are produced by a kind of white blood cell called a plasma cell.

PENICILLUM

• The first use of the term "antibody" occurred in a text by Paul Ehrlich. The term Antikörper (the German word for antibody) appears in the conclusion of his article "Experimental Studies on Immunity", published in October 1891, which states that "if two substances give rise to two different antikörper, then they themselves must be different". However, the term was not accepted immediately and several other terms for antibody were proposed; these included Immunkörper, Amboceptor, Zwischenkörper, substance sensibilisatrice, copula, Desmon, philocytase, fixateur, and Immunisin. The word antibody has formal analogy to the word antitoxin and a similar concept to Immunkörper.

ANTIBIOTIC

• The term "antibiotic" was coined by Selman Waksman in 1942 to describe any substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution.[3] This definition excluded substances that kill bacteria but are not produced by microorganisms (such as gastric juices and hydrogen peroxide). It also excluded synthetic antibacterial compounds such as the sulfonamides. Many antibacterial compounds are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight of less than 2000 atomic mass units.

• With advances in medicinal chemistry, most of today

• With advances in medicinal chemistry, most of today's antibacterials chemically are semisynthetic modifications of various natural compounds. These include, for example, the beta-lactam antibacterials, which include the penicillins (produced by fungi in the genus 'Penicillium'), the cephalosporins, and the carbapenems.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/FluorescentCells.jpg

• English: Alexander Fleming receives the Nobel Prize from King Gustaf V of Sweden.Date10 December 1945)

Penicillium

• Penicillium (from Latin penicillus: paintbrush) is a genus of ascomycetous fungi of major importance in the natural environment as well as food and drug production. It produces penicillin, a molecule that is used as an antibiotic, which kills or stops the growth of certain kinds of bacteria inside the body.

How does antibiotic act?

• Antibiotics work to kill bacteria. Bacteria are single-cell organisms. If bacteria make it past our immune systems and start reproducing inside our bodies, they cause disease. We want to kill the bacteria to eliminate the disease.

• Certain bacteria produce chemicals that damage or disable parts of our bodies. In an ear infection, for example, bacteria have gotten into the inner ear. The body is working to fight the bacteria, but the immune system's natural processes produce inflammation. Inflammation in your ear is painful. So you take an antibiotic to kill the bacteria and eliminate the inflammation.

• An antibiotic is a selective poison. It has been chosen so that it will kill the desired bacteria, but not the cells in your body. Each different type of antibiotic affects different bacteria in different ways. For example, an antibiotic might inhibit a bacterium's ability to turn glucose into energy, or its ability to construct its cell wall. When this happens, the bacterium dies instead of reproducing. At the same time, the antibiotic acts only on the bacterium's cell-wall-building mechanism, not on a normal cell's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CDC_Get_Smart_poster_healthy_adult.png

• Antibiotics do not work on viruses because viruses are not alive. A bacterium is a living, reproducing lifeform. A virus is just a piece of DNA (or RNA). A virus injects its DNA into a living cell and has that cell reproduce more of the viral DNA. With a virus there is nothing to "kill," so antibiotics don't work on it.

USES OF MICROORGANISM• Microorganisms are used for various purposes—

(1) They are used in the preparation of curd, bread and cake.(2) They are used in cleaning up of the environment, e.g., the organic wastes like vegetable peels, remains of animals, faeces, etc. are broken down into harmless and usable substances by bacteria.(3) Microorganisms have been used for the production of alcohol since ages.(4) Bacteria are used in the preparation of medicines.(5) In agriculture bacteria are used to increase the fertility of soil by fixing nitrogen.(6) Curd contains several micro-organisms. Of these, the bacterium, Lactobacillus promotes the formation of curd. It multiplies in milk and converts it into curd.(7) Bacteria are also involved in the making of cheese, pickles and many other food items.(8) Yeast reproduces rapidly and produces carbon dioxide during respiration. Bubbles of the gas fill the dough and increase its volume. That is why yeast is used in the baking industry for making breads, pastries and cakes.(9) Some microorganisms are used as preservatives in food items.(10) Microorganisms are used to prepare vaccines.

HARMS OF MICROBES

• . Some microorganisms harm us in various ways. Many organisms cause diseases. Disease causing microorganisms are called pathogens. Ailments like cold, influenza (flu) and most coughs are caused by viruses and even foot and mouth disease of cattle is also caused to virus. Serious diseases like, chicken pox and polio are also caused by viruses. Diseases like dysentery and malaria are caused by protozoan. Some bacteria cause typhoid and tuberculosis (TB) anthrax, a dangerous human and cattle disease, is also caused by a bacteria. Some microorganisms spoil leather items and wooden-work. Apart from these harmful effects, some microorganisms release toxic substances when grow on food items. Thus we see that microorganisms harm us in many ways.

Diseases and immunology

• 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.

• ………to be continued.