Microorganisms Examples

For this essay I have chosen three topics which I will go into detail about. These three are examples of how microorganisms and microbial communities have been manipulated for the benefit of mankind. The first example is Azospirillium brasilense, a plant growth promoting hormone which can promote nitrogen fixation which is very beneficial to the plant as they have more nitrogen available to use so they can grow more and in turn, is beneficial to mankind as we have bigger and better plants to chose from without the use of artificial fertilizers. The second example is a bacterium which was produced so it is able to glow when in the presence of a landmine. This very interesting quality of the bacteria is massively beneficial as it could prevent

This group of proteobacteria are capable of photosynthesis, using light to produce energy. Although purple bacteria are capable of photosynthesising, they are quite different to photosynthesising plants as they are anoxygenic meaning they consume carbon dioxide but do not release oxygen. There are two types of these bacteria- Chromatiaceae who produce sulphur particles inside their cells and Ectothiorhodospiraceae who produce sulphur outside their cells. These bacteria are found typically in places with little oxygen e.g. stagnant water or hot sulphuric springs. Purple sulphur bacteria use hydrogen sulphide as their reducing agent, the reason behind their production of sulphur. A lot of work has been done on these bacteria over the last number of years to explore their genetic make-up and map their genes. As a result of many studies on these, most of their genes have been classified with particular focus on the ones involved in the photosynthesis process but also ones involved in nitrogen fixation. Many different techniques have been used to identify mutant strains of the bacteria and as well as this, improve the ability of their genes to complete their job. Genes involved in photosynthesis have been manipulated to be able to capture more light so they will be able to produce more energy and genes involved in nitrogen fixation have

The three examples I have discussed here are only a small introduction into the huge world of microorganisms which are constantly being tested and studied to produce more benefits for humans. Because microorganisms are constantly developing and changing and can be severely dangerous microbiologists must keep a close eye on them as if they get into the wrong hands they could have a detrimental effect on mankind. However, as I have discussed previously, microorganisms can have hugely beneficial effects and products which we will start to rely more on in the future as they can be produced in bulk, quite cheaply once the experimental process is out of the way, and better methods of testing the safety of the microorganisms are