KENDRIYA

VIDHYALAYA
BSF
DANTIWADA

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
NAME –Ashish Ezhuva
CLASS – XIIth
ROLL NO -
SUBJECT – Biology
TITLE – Microbes In Human
Welfare
SUBMITTED TO – Mr. Sunil
Goswami

INDEX
S. Topic Page
No No.
.
1. Acknowledgem
 ent
2. Introduction
3. Presentation
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography

Certificate
This is to certify that this
project work has been
satisfactorily conducted under
the guidance of Mr. Sunil
Goswami and Mr. R.K. Vyas and
hence recorded here is the
bonafied work of Ashish Ezhuva
,Class XIIth (SCIENCE) of K.V.
BSF DANTIWADA during the
academic year 2017-2018.

External Examiner Mr. Sunil

Goswami Mr. R.K. Vyas
(The PGT Biology)
(The Principal)
ACHKNOWLEG
EMENT
I would like to convey our
sincere gratitude to our
Biology teacher for letting
us to do this project. I
would like to thank my
friends for helping me in
this project and a special
thanks to Mr. Sunil
Goswami (Biology teacher)
for guiding throughout the
project. I sincerely have
worked hard to complete
this project. I tried to make
this project as Good as
possible. Last but not least
I would like to thank my
classmate and parents for
their valuable suggestion
about this project.

Submitted to: Mr.

Sunil Goswami
INTRODUCTIO
N
What Are Microbes?
A microorganism or microbe is a
microscopic organism that comprises
either a single cell (unicellular), cell
clusters, or multicellular relatively
complex 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. Microorganisms are very
diverse; they include bacteria, fungi,
algae, and protozoa; microscopic
plants (green algae); and animals
such as rotifers and planarians.
Some microbiologists also include
viruses, but others consider these as
nonliving. 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.
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.
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
humans, other animals and plants.
But they have a lot of uses too. Let’s
discuss about some of them.

A little description: 
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 on an improper balance of
microbes.

PRESENTATIO
N
Microbes are very important part of
ecology the main or general function
of microbes to or environmental well
fare is to work as decomposers.
Microbes like bacteria and fungi are
also used in industrial production of
enzymes and proteins or some
antibiotics. Some fungi like yeast are
also used in making wine and other
in dairy products. The another useful
function of microbe is to study the
action and mechanisms of genetic
disease as E.coli is many time taken
as model to study genetic diseases.

Uses 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. Fermentation in food
processing typically is the conversion of
carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon
dioxide or organic acids using yeasts,
bacteria, or a combination thereof,
under anaerobic conditions.
Fermentation in simple terms is the
chemical conversion of sugars into
ethanol. The science of fermentation is
also known as zymology, or zymurgy.
Fermentation usually implies that the
action of microorganisms is desirable,
and the process is used to produce
alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer,
and cider. Fermentation is also
employed in the leavening of bread (CO
2 produced by yeast activity), and for
preservation techniques to produce
lactic acid in sour foods such as
sauerkraut, dry sausages, kimchi and
yogurt, or vinegar (acetic acid) for use in
pickling foods.

Uses in Water Treatment 

Specially-cultured microbes are used in
the biological treatment of sewage and
industrial waste effluent, a process
known as bioaugmentation.
Bioaugmentation is the introduction of a
group of natural microbial strains or a
genetically engineered variant to treat
contaminated soil or water. Usually the
steps involve studying the indigenous
varieties present in the location to
determine if biostimulation is possible. If
the indigenous variety do not have the
metabolic capability to perform the
remediation process, exogenous
varieties with such sophisticated
pathways are introduced.
Bioaugmentation is commonly used in
municipal wastewater treatment to
restart activated sludge bioreactors.
Most cultures available contain a
research based consortium of Microbial
cultures, containing all necessary
microorganisms ( B. licheniformis , B.
thurengensis , P. polymyxa , B.
sterothemophilus , Penicillium sp.,
Aspergillus sp., Flavobacterium,
Arthrobacter, Pseudomonas,
Streptomyces, Saccaromyces,
Triphoderma, etc.). Whereas activated
sludge systems are generally based on
microorganisms like bacteria, protozoa,
nematodes, rotifers and fungi capable to
degrade bio degradable organic matter.
Uses in Energy Generation 
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. Ethanol fermentation ,
also referred to as alcoholic
fermentation , is a biological process
in which sugars such as glucose,
fructose, and sucrose are converted
into cellular energy and thereby
produce ethanol and carbon dioxide
as metabolic waste products.
Because yeasts perform this
conversion in the absence of oxygen,
ethanol fermentation is classified as
anaerobic. Ethanol fermentation
occurs in the production of alcoholic
beverages and ethanol fuel, and in
the rising of bread dough. Cellulosic
ethanol is a biofuel produced from
wood, grasses, or the non-edible
parts of plants. It is a type of biofuel
produced from lignocellulose, a
structural material that comprises
much of the mass of plants.
Lignocellulose is composed mainly of
cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
Corn stover, switchgrass,
miscanthus, woodchips and the by
products of lawn and tree
maintenance are some of the more
popular cellulosic materials for
ethanol production. Production of
ethanol from lignocellulose has the
advantage of abundant and diverse
raw material compared to sources
like corn and cane sugars, but
requires a greater amount of
processing to make the sugar
monomers available to the
microorganisms that are typically
used to produce ethanol by
fermentation.
Algae fuel is an alternative to fossil
fuel that uses algae as its source of
natural deposits. Several companies
and government agencies are
funding efforts to reduce capital and
operating costs and make algae fuel
production commercially viable.
Harvested algae, like fossil fuel,
release CO 2 when burnt but unlike
fossil fuel the CO 2 is taken out of
the atmosphere by the growing
algae. High oil prices, competing
demands between foods and other
biofuel sources, and the world food
crisis, have ignited interest in
algaculture (farming algae) for
making vegetable oil, biodiesel,
bioethanol, biogasoline, biomethanol,
biobutanol and other biofuels, using
land that is not suitable for
agriculture.

Among algal fuels' attractive

characteristics: they can be grown
with minimal impact on fresh water
resources, can be produced using
ocean and wastewater, and are
biodegradable and relatively
harmless to the environment if
spilled. Algae cost more per unit
mass (as of 2010, food grade algae
costs ~$5000/tonne), due to high
capital and operating costs, yet are
claimed to yield between 10 and 100
times more fuel per unit area than
other second-generation biofuel
crops. One biofuels company has
claimed that algae can produce more
oil in an area the size of a two car
garage than a football field of
soybeans, because almost the entire
algal organism can use sunlight to
produce lipids, or oil. The United
States Department of Energy
estimates that if algae fuel replaced
all the petroleum fuel in the United
States, it would require 15,000
square miles (39,000 km 2) which is
only 0.42% of the U.S. map, or about
half of the land area of Maine. This is
less than 1 ⁄ 7 the area of corn
harvested in the United States in
2000. However, these claims remain
unrealized, commercially. According
to the head of the Algal Biomass
Organization algae fuel can reach
price parity with oil in 2018 if
granted production tax credits.
Use in Production of Chemicals,
Enzymes etc.  
Many microbes are used for
commercial and industrial production
of chemicals, enzymes and other
bioactive molecules. Examples of
organic acid produced include
Acetic acid : Produced by the
bacterium Acetobacter aceti and
other acetic acid bacteria (AAB)
Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are
bacteria that derive their energy
from the oxidation of ethanol to
acetic acid during fermentation. They
are Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-
shaped bacteria. They are not to be
confused with the genus
Acetobacterium , which are
anaerobic homoacetogenic
facultative autotrophs and can
reduce carbon dioxide to produce
acetic acid, for example,
Acetobacterium woodii .

Butyric acid (butanoic acid):

Produced by the bacterium
Clostridium butyricum.

Clostridium butyricum is a strictly

anaerobic endospore-forming Gram-
positive butyric acid producing
bacillus subsisting by means of
fermentation using an intracellularly
accumulated amylopectin-like α-
polyglucan (granulose) as a
substrate. It is uncommonly reported
as a human pathogen and widely
used as a probiotic in Asia
(particularly Japan). C. butyricum is a
soil inhabitant in various parts of the
world, has been cultured from the
stool of healthy children and adults,
and is common in soured milk and
cheeses.

Lactic acid : Lactobacillus and

others commonly called as lactic acid
bacteria (LAB) The lactic acid
bacteria (LAB) comprise a clade of
Gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant,
generally non-sporulating, non-
respiring rod or cocci that are
associated by their common
metabolic and physiological
characteristics.
These bacteria, usually found in
decomposing plants and lactic
products, produce lactic acid as the
major metabolic end-product of
carbohydrate fermentation. This trait
has, throughout history, linked LAB
with food fermentations, as
acidification inhibits the growth of
spoilage agents. Proteinaceous
bacteriocins are produced by several
LAB strains and provide an additional
hurdle for spoilage and pathogenic
microorganisms. Furthermore, lactic
acid and other metabolic products
contribute to the organoleptic and
textural profile of a food item. The
industrial importance of the LAB is
further evinced by their generally
recognized as safe (GRAS) status,
due to their ubiquitous appearance
in food and their contribution to the
healthy microflora of human mucosal
surfaces.

Citric acid : Produced by the fungus

Aspergillus niger Aspergillus niger is
a fungus and one of the most
common species of the genus
Aspergillus . It causes a disease
called black mold on certain fruits
and vegetables such as grapes,
onions, and peanuts, and is a
common contaminant of food. It is
ubiquitous in soil and is commonly
reported from indoor environments,
where its black colonies can be
confused with those of Stachybotrys
(species of which have also been
called "black mould").
 Microbes are used for preparation of
bioactive molecules and enzymes.
Streptokinase produced by the
bacterium Streptococcus and
modified by genetic engineering is
used as a clot buster for removing
clots from the blood vessels of
patients who have undergone
myocardial infarctions leading to
heart attack. Cyclosporin A is a
bioactive molecule used as an
immunosuppressive agent in organ
transplantation Stains produced by
the yeast Monascus purpureus is
commercialised as blood cholesterol
lowering agents which acts by
competitively inhibiting the enzyme
responsible for synthesis of
cholesterol.
Uses 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. 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.
Uses 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. Biological
warfare (also known as germ warfare
) is the use of biological toxins or
infectious agents such as bacteria,
viruses, and fungi with intent to kill
or incapacitate humans, animals or
plants as an act of war.
Biological weapons (often termed
"bio-weapons" or "bio-agents") are
living organisms or replicating
entities (viruses) that reproduce or
replicate within their host victims.
Entomological (insect) warfare is also
considered a type of biological
warfare. Biological weapons may be
employed in various ways to gain a
strategic or tactical advantage over
an adversary, either by threats or by
actual deployments. Like some of the
chemical weapons, biological
weapons may also be useful as area
denial weapons. These agents may
be lethal or non-lethal, and may be
targeted against a single individual,
a group of people, or even an entire
population. They may be developed,
acquired, stockpiled or deployed by
nation states or by non-national
groups. In the latter case, or if a
nation-state uses it clandestinely, it
may also be considered bioterrorism.

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.
 The human microbiome (or human
microbiota ) is the aggregate of
microorganisms that reside on the
surface and in deep layers of skin, in
the saliva and oral mucosa, in the
conjunctiva, and in the
gastrointestinal tracts. They include
bacteria, fungi, and archaea. Some
of these organisms perform tasks
that are useful for the human host.
However, the majority have no
known beneficial or harmful effect.
Those that are expected to be
present, and that under normal
circumstances do not cause disease,
but instead participate in
maintaining health, are deemed
members of the normal flora .
Though widely known as
"microflora", this is, in technical
terms, a misnomer, since the word
root "flora" pertains to plants, and
biota refers to the total collection of
organisms in a particular ecosystem.
Recently, the more appropriate term
"microbiota" is applied, though its
use has not eclipsed the entrenched
use and recognition of "flora" with
regard to bacteria and other
microorganisms. Both terms are
being used in different literature.
Studies in 2009 questioned whether
the decline in biota (including
microfauna) as a result of human
intervention might impede human
health

Importance in Ecology 
Microbes are critical to the processes
of decomposition required to cycle
nitrogen and other elements back to
the natural world. Decomposition (or
rotting ) is the process by which
organic substances are broken down
into simpler forms of matter. The
process is essential for recycling the
finite matter that occupies physical
space in the biome. Bodies of living
organisms begin to decompose
shortly after death. Although no two
organisms decompose in the same
way, they all undergo the same
sequential stages of decomposition.
The science which studies
decomposition is generally referred
to as taphonomy from the Greek
word taphos , meaning tomb. One
can differentiate abiotic from biotic
decomposition (biodegradation). The
former means "degradation of a
substance by chemical or physical
processes, eg hydrolysis).
The latter one means "the metabolic
breakdown of materials into simpler
components by living organisms",
typically by microorganisms.

Hygiene
Hygiene is the avoidance of infection
or food spoiling by eliminating
microorganisms from the
surroundings. As microorganisms, in
particular bacteria, are found
virtually everywhere, the levels of
harmful microorganisms can be
reduced to acceptable levels.
However, in some cases, it is
required that an object or substance
be completely sterile, i.e. devoid of
all living entities and viruses. A good
example of this is a hypodermic
needle. In food preparation
microorganisms are reduced by
preservation methods (such as the
addition of vinegar), clean utensils
used in preparation, short storage
periods, or by cool temperatures. If
complete sterility is needed, the two
most common methods are
irradiation and the use of an
autoclave, which resembles a
pressure cooker.

There are several methods for

investigating the level of hygiene in
a sample of food, drinking water,
equipment, etc. Water samples can
be filtrated through an extremely
fine filter. This filter is then placed in
a nutrient medium. Microorganisms
on the filter then grow to form a
visible colony. Harmful
microorganisms can be detected in
food by placing a sample in a
nutrient broth designed to enrich the
organisms in question. Various
methods, such as selective media or
PCR, can then be used for detection.
The hygiene of hard surfaces, such
as cooking pots, can be tested by
touching them with a solid piece of
nutrient medium and then allowing
the microorganisms to grow on it.
There are no conditions where all
microorganisms would grow, and
therefore often several different
methods are needed. For example, a
food sample might be analyzed on
three different nutrient mediums
designed to indicate the presence of
"total" bacteria (conditions where
many, but not all, bacteria grow),
molds (conditions where the growth
of bacteria is prevented by, e.g.,
antibiotics) and coliform bacteria
(these indicate a sewage
contamination).
CONCLUSION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

NCERT CLASS XIIth.

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