Name some reasons why microbes are useful to us ?

Question

Name some reasons why microbes are useful to us ?

Answer 1

Microbes break down organic material and help revitalize the soil so plants can grow.

Answer 2

IN SOIL:

Microorganisms, especially algae and lichen, are pioneering colonizers of barren rock surfaces. Colonization by these organisms begins the process of soil formation necessary for the growth of higher plants. After plants have been established, decomposition by microorganisms recycles the energy, carbon, and nutrients in dead plant and animal tissues into forms usable by plants. Therefore, microorganisms have a key role in the processing of materials that maintain life on the Earth. The transformations of elements between forms are described conceptually as the elemental cycles.

In the carbon cycle, microorganisms transform plant and animal residues into carbon dioxide and the soil organic matter known as humus. Humus improves the water-holding capacity of soil, supplies plant nutrients, and contributes to soil aggregation. Microorganisms may also directly affect soil aggregation. The extent of soil aggregation determines the workability or tilth of the soil. A soil with good tilth is suitable for plant growth because it is permeable to water, air, and roots.

Soil microorganisms play key roles in the nitrogen cycle. The atmosphere is approximately 80% nitrogen gas (N2), a form of nitrogen that is available to plants only when it is transformed to ammonia (NH3) by either soil bacteria (N2 fixation) or by humans (manufacture of fertilizers). Soil bacteria also mediate denitrification, which returns nitrogen to the atmosphere by transforming NO3− to N2 or nitrous oxide (N2O) gas. Microorganisms are crucial to the cycling of sulfur, phosphorus, iron, and many micronutrient trace elements.

In addition to the elemental cycles, there are several interactions between plants and microbes which are detrimental or beneficial to plant growth. Some soil microorganisms are pathogenic to plants and cause plant diseases such as root rots and wilts. Many plants form symbiotic relationships with fungi called mycorrhizae (literally fungus-root). Mycorrhizae increase the ability of plants to take up nutrients and water. The region of soil surrounding plant roots, the rhizosphere, may contain beneficial microorganisms which protect the plant root from pathogens or supply stimulating growth factors. The interactions between plant roots and soil microorganisms is an area of active research in soil microbiology.

Microbes that Clean Sewage

Microbes are very small creatures, so small that they can only be seen with a microscope. They live in sewage and are very useful to us because they clean sewage water and make it possible for us to use the water again. They are so small that until the early part of the twenieth cenury people did not know of their existence or the good they were doing cleaning up sewage.

    

Now that people know about microbes and how they live, they encourage them in their work of cleaning sewage. Microbes need oxygen and as long as they are provided with air they multiply and work very rapidly. Sewage treatment works use different methods of supplying air to microbes. At the sewage works on the River Lea compressed air is forced through sewage water

IN INDUSTRY

Interest in microbial fermentations is experiencing a renaissance. In 1995, J. W. Frost and K. M. Draths wrote that "chemistry is moving into a new era" in which renewable resources and microbial biocatalysts will be prominent. Plant starch, cellulose from agricultural waste, and whey from cheese manufacture are abundant and renewable sources of fermentable carbohydrates. Additionally these materials, not utilized, represent solid waste that must be buried in dumps or treated with waste water.

Microbial fermentations have other benefits. For one, they don't use toxic reagents or require the addition of intermediate reagents. Microbiologists are now looking for naturally occurring microbes that produce desired chemicals. In addition, they are now capable of engineering microbes to enhance production of these chemicals. In recent years, microbial fermentations have been revolutionized by the application of genetically-engineered organisms. Many fermentations use bacteria but a growing number involve culturing mammalian cells.