INTRODUCTION

We know that the microorganisms are livings things, but, What are they? Are they harmful or useful? What do they produce? We are going to know about the world of the microorganisms.

• Microorganisms are unicellular or multicellar organisms, that are microscopic (you can not see them with your naked eye). Micro-organisms are classified into four major groups; Bacteria; Fungi; Protozoa; and Viruses.

BacteriaFungi

PROTOZOAVIRUSES

Green algae Influenza Virus

BACTERIA

Bacteria constitute a large domain or kingdom of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most habitats on the planet.

VIR

USES

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea .

viruses are both living and non-living. viruses are living inside the host and non-living outside the host body.

viruses cause diseases like polio,chickenp0x,and etc.

ProtozoaProtozoa

Protozoa, a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile. Originally, protozoa had been defined as unicellular protists with animal-like behaviour, e.g., movement. Protozoa were regarded as the partner group of protists to protophyta, which have plant-like behaviour, e.g., photosynthesis.

Protozoa caused diseases like Dysentery and malaria.

FUNGI

Fungi is a group of simple plants that have no chlorophyll. There are some species of fungi that are single celled organisms, and there are other kinds of fungi that are multi-cellular organisms.

Fungi caused diseases like Aspergillosis, Blastomycosis and etc.

• Micro-organisms may be single-celled like Bacteria, some Viruses and some Protozoa, or Multicellar, such as Virus and Fungi.• They can survive under all types of environment, ranging from ice cold climate to hot springs and deserts to marshy lands. • Microorganisms like amoeba can live alone, while fungi and bacteria may live in colonies.

WHERE DO MICROORGANISMS LIVE?

HOW DO MICROORGANISMS HELP US?

• In agriculture they are used to increase soil fertility by

fixing nitrogen.

• Milk is turned into curd by bacteria.

• Of these, the bacterium Lactobacillus promotes the

formation of curd. Bacteria are also involved in the

making of cheese, pickles and many other food items

• Microorganisms are used for the large scale production of alcohol, wine and acetic acid (vinegar. For this purpose yeast is grown on natural sugars present in grains like barley, wheat, rice and crushed fruit juices, etc.

• The process of conversion of sugar into alcohol is known as fermentation.

• Microorganisms are used in the production of antibiotic tablets, capsules or injections such as of penicillin.

• Such medicines are called antibiotics. These days a number of antibiotics are being produced from bacteria and fungi. Streptomycin, tetracycline and erythromycin are some of the commonly known antibiotics.

• When a disease-carrying microbe enters our body, the body produces antibodies to fight the invader.

• Children are given injections to protect themselves against several diseases.

• Polio drops given to children are actually a vaccine.

• These days vaccines are made on a large scale from microorganisms to protect humans and other animals from several diseases.

• Some bacteria and blue green algae are able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere to enrich soil with nitrogen and increase its fertility. These microbes are commonly called biological nitrogen fixers.

• Microorganisms are harmful in many ways. Some of the microorganisms cause diseases in human beings, plants and animals. Such disease-causing microorganisms are called pathogens.

• Examples of such diseases include cholera, common cold, chicken pox and tuberculosis.

• There are some insects and animals which act as carriers of disease-causing microbes.

• Housefly is one such carrier.• Examples of carriers are: the female Anopheles

mosquito which carries the parasite of malaria;

• Female Aedes mosquito acts as carrier of dengue virus.

• Boiling kills many microorganisms in milk. Low temperature inhibits the growth of microbes.

• The milk is heated to about 70 Degrees Celsius for 15 to 30 seconds and then suddenly chilled and stored. By doing so, it prevents the growth of microbes. This process was discovered by Louis Pasteur. It is called pasteurization.

• Rhizobium bacteria is involved in the fixation of nitrogen in leguminous plants (pulses). Rhizobium lives in the root nodules of leguminous plants , such as beans and peas, with which it has a symbiotic relationship.

• Sometimes nitrogen gets fixed through the action of lightning.

NITROGEN CYCLE

REFERENREFERENCESCES

http://www.slideshare.net/sunilbhil/microorganisms?qid=961bd56c-5a6d-41e4-915c-2c8edb9cfaba&v=default&b=&from_search=2

http://www.slideshare.net/jgalde2001/microorganisms-27901923?qid=5e5cb6f7-9eef-4fd1-9459-b8962d000b4b&v=qf1&b=&from_search=2

http://www.slideshare.net/jgalde2001/microorganisms-27901923?qid=5e5cb6f7-9eef-4fd1-9459-b8962d000b4b&v=qf1&b=&from_search=2

PICTURESPICTURES

http://www.shutterstock.com/s/bacteria/search.html

http://mycorrhizas.info/ecmf.html

http://biology.tutorvista.com/organism/kingdom-protista.html

http://www.freelearningchannel.com/l/Content/Materials/Sciences/Biology/textbooks/CK12_Biology/html/24/1.html

https://www.google.co.za/search?q=Some+Common+Human+Diseases+caused+by+Microorganisms&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jksYU4DQIMaShQfn_oGADg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=929#q=mosquito&tbm=isch

http://www.mesaportuguesa.co.za/wines.html

ByChauke A201115531

THE ENDTHE END