Module 7

MODULE 7
Module Title: Microbial Ecology and Microbial Biotechnology

Overview:
This module introduces students to the numerous interrelationships between microorganisms
and the world around them; how microbes interact with other microbes, how microbes interact with
organisms other than microbes and how microbes interact with nonliving world around them.
Interaction between microorganisms and animals, plants and other microbes, soil and the atmosphere
have far-reaching effects on our lives. Most relationships between humans and microbes are beneficial
rather than harmful. The module also deals with biotechnology; a technique that uses living organisms
to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals and to develop microorganisms for specific
uses. Microbes are used in a variety of industries, including the production of certain foods and
beverages, food additives, amino acids, enzymes, chemicals, vitamins, vaccines and antibiotics as well as
in the mining of ores such as copper and uranium.
Module Objectives:
At the end of the module, the student should be able to:
1. Define ecology, human ecology and microbial ecology.
2. Describe 3 categories of symbiotic relationships.
3. Differentiate between mutualism and commensalism.
4. Discuss the beneficial roles of the indigenous microflora of the human body.
5. Explain the nitrogen cycle.
6. Define biotechnology and discuss how microbes are used in the industry.
7. Cite 10 foods that require microbial activity for their production.
8. Explain bioremediation.
Module Coverage:
A. Topic: Microbial Ecology
B. Topic: Microbial Biotechnology
TOPIC A
Topic Title: Microbial Ecology
Introduction:
This topic introduces students to the interactions between microorganisms and humans. The
most intimate association that humans have with microorganisms is their presence both on and within
the human body. Microbes also play important roles in agriculture, various industries, disposal of
industrial and toxic wastes, sewage treatment and water purification.
Topic Objectives:
At the end of the topic, the student should be able to:
1. Explain symbiotic relationship.
2. Discuss the 3 categories of symbiotic relationship.
3. Differentiate between mutualism and commensalism.
4. Discuss the beneficial roles of indigenous microflora of the human body.
5. Describe biofilms and their impact on human health.
6. Identify foods that require microbial activity for their production.
Topic Contents:
 PPP
 Use the internet or print resources to research one example of mutualism involving a microbe
and another species (microbe, human, plants, animal). Describe the benefits each organism
obtains from the relationship.
 Use the internet or other resources to research one example of parasitism involving a microbe
and another species (microbe, human, plant, animal). Describe the benefits the parasite obtains
from the relationship and the damage caused to the host.
 Use the internet or print resources to research the different types of fermentation used in food
production and examples of foods produced using each method.
TOPIC B
Topic Title: Microbial Biotechnology
Introduction:
This topic acquaints the students with the role microbes play in the fields of biotechnology and
bioremediation. Biotechnology includes the industrial use of microbes in the production of certain foods
and beverages, food additives, chemicals, amnio acids, enzymes, vitamins B12 and C and antibiotics, as
well as in the refining of ores to obtain copper, uranium and gold. Bioremediation includes the use of
microbes to dispose of industrial and toxic wastes and other environmental pollutants, such as
pesticides, herbicides and petroleum spills. Many of the microbes used in bioremediation are found in
nature, but others are genetically engineered to digest specific wastes.
Topic Objectives:
At the end of the topic, the student should be able to:
1. Define biotechnology.
2. Cite four examples of how microbes are used in industry.
3. Identify foods that require microbial activity for their production.
4. Explain bioremediation and cite examples.
Topic Contents:
 PPP
 Use the internet or other resources to research examples of microbes used in manufacturing or
bioremediation and how the process is performed. Include information on how the microbe was
discovered or engineered to perform the desired task.
Review of Key Points

 Microbial ecology is the study of the numerous interrelationships between microbes
and the living and nonliving world around them.
 Most relationships between humans and microbes are beneficial rather than harmful.
 Microbes play important roles in agriculture, industrial processes, sewage treatment,
and water purification, as well as in the fields of genetic engineering, gene therapy, and
bioremediation.
 Symbiosis is defined as the living together or close association of two dissimilar
organisms – usually two different species.
 A mutualistic relationship is of benefit to both parties (both symbionts), whereas a
commensalistic relationship is of benefit to one symbiont and of no consequence (i.e.,
neither beneficial nor harmful) to the other
 A parasitic relationship is beneficial to one symbiont (the parasite) and detrimental to
the other symbiont (the host). Although many parasites cause disease, others do not.
 A person’s indigenous microflora (sometimes referred to as indigenous microbiota or
normal flora) includes all of the microbes (viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi) that
reside on and within that person.
 Opportunistic pathogens (opportunists) can be thought of as organisms that are hanging
around, awaiting the opportunity to cause infections.
 A usually harmless opportunist may cause complications when an abnormal situation
occurs, such as entry of the organism into a wound, the bloodstream, or an organ (e.g.,
the urinary bladder), or after destruction of much of the indigenous microflora by
antibiotic therapy.
 Destruction of the resident microflora disturbs the delicate balance established between
a host and its microorganisms.
 An overgrowth or population explosion of an organism that is usually present in low
numbers is referred to as a superinfection.
 As many as 300 different species of bacteria and fungi can live on the skin. The
number of different types varies greatly from body part to body part and from person to
person.
 The most common bacteria on the skin are Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and
Propionibacterium spp.
 Frequent washing with soap and water removes most of the potentially harmful
transient microbes harbored in sweat, oil, and other secretions from moist body parts,
as well as the dead epithelial cells on which they feed.
 The most common organisms in the indigenous microflora of the mouth are various
species of α-hemolytic streptococci.
 The colon contains as many as 500 to 600 different species – primarily bacteria.
 Certain of our intestinal bacteria are beneficial to us in that they produce useful
vitamins and other nutrients.
 Many members of our indigenous microflora serve a beneficial role by preventing
other microbes from becoming established in or colonizing a particular anatomic
location. Microbial antagonism is the killing, injury, or inhibition of one microbe by
substances produced by another.
 In nature, microbes are often organized into complex and persistent communities of
assorted organisms called biofilms.
 Biofilms have been implicated in diseases such as endocarditis, cystic fibrosis, middle
ear infections, kidney stones, periodontal disease, and prostate infections.
 Biofilms are very resistant to antibiotics, disinfectants, and certain types of host
defense mechanisms.
 When two or more microbes “team up” to produce a disease that neither could cause
by itself, the phenomenon is referred to as synergism or a synergistic relationship. The
diseases they cause are referred to as synergistic infections, polymicrobial infections,
or mixed infections.
 Inorganic nutrients, returned to the soil by saprophytes, are used by chemotrophic
bacteria and plants for synthesis of biologic molecules necessary for growth. The
plants are eaten by animals, which eventually die and are recycled again with the aid of
saprophytes.
 In nature, bacteria play very important roles in the cycling of nutrients, as in the
nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and phosporous cycles.
 The nitrogen cycle involves the participation of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, nitrifying
bacteria, and denitrifying bacteria.
 The spores of many human pathogens can be found in soil, including those of
Clostridium spp., Bacillus anthracis, and Cryptococcus neoformans.
 Microbes cause many diseases of farm animals, wild animals, zoo animals, and
domestic pets.
 Microbes cause thousands of different types of plant diseases, with names such as
blights, cankers, galls, leaf spots, mildews, mosaics, rots, rusts, scabs, smuts, and wilts.
 Biotechnology is defined as any technological application that uses biological systems,
living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for
specific use.
 Microbes are used in many aspects of biotechnology, such as production of therapeutic
proteins, DNA vaccines, and vitamins; the use of microbial metabolites as
antimicrobial agents and other types of therapeutic agents; agricultural appications;
food technology; production of chemicals; biomining; and bioremediation.
 Bioremediation refers to the use of microbes to clean up various types of wastes,
including industrial and toxic wastes, and environmental pollutants (such as pesticides
and herbicides). Many of the microbes used in bioremediation are found in nature, but
others are genetically engineered to digest specific wastes.
Learning Activities:
Post summative assessment
Matching Questions
_____ 1. When two microorganisms occupying the same environmental A. commensalism
niche have absolutely no effect on each other, it is known B. mutualism
as ___________. C. neutralism
_____ 2. Bacterial vaginosis is an example of ______________. D. parasitism
_____ 3. It is a symbiotic relationship of benefit to one of the E. synergism
symbionts, but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other.
_____ 4. It is a symbiotic relationship of benefit to one of the symbionts
and detrimental to the other.
_____ 5. A lichen is a classic example of ________________.
_____ 6. In nitrogen cycle, bacteria called ____________ convert A. cyanobacteria

atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia in the soil. B. denitrifying bacteria
_____ 7. They live in the root nodules of legumes such peanuts C. nitrifying bacteria
and mungbean. D. nitrogen-fixing
_____ 8. They are capable of converting the nitrogen within a dead plant bacteria
or animal into ammonia in the soil E. saprophytes
_____ 9. In the nitrogen cycle, soil organisms called _____________
convert ammonia into nitrites, and nitrites into nitrates.
_____ 10. In the nitrogen cycle, soil organisms called _____________
convert the nitrogen in nitrates to nitrogen gas in the atmosphere.
True/False Questions
_____ 1. No microorganisms are able to live in the stomach, owing to the extremely low pH of the
stomach contents.
_____ 2. Microbial communities known as biofilms are interesting, but they have no medical
significance.
_____ 3. Microorganisms are unable to live in the colon because of the lack of oxygen there.
_____ 4. Some of the bacteria used in bioremediation are naturally occurring, but others have been
genetically engineered.
_____ 5. Many of the members of our indigenous microflora have the potential to cause disease.
_____ 6. There could be as many as 100 trillion microorganisms that live on us and in us.
_____ 7. The most common organisms in the indigenous microflora of the mouth are various species of
B-hemolytic streptococci.
_____ 8. Microbes cause thousands of different types of plant diseases.
_____ 9. Most relationships between humans and microbes are beneficial rather than harmful.
_____ 10. Beneficial microorganisms far outnumber harmful ones.
Answers:
Matching Questions Ture/False Questions
1. C 1. False (the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, lives in the stomach)
2. E 2. False (certain types of biofilms have medical significance)
3. A 3. False (many different types of microorganisms live in the colon)
4. D 4. True
5. B 5. True
6. D 6. True
7. D 7. False (a-hemolytic streptococci, not B-hemolytic streptococci)
8. E 8. True
9. C 9. True
10 B 10. True
Reference:
Engelkirk, P. G. and G. R. W. Burton. 2011. Burton’s Microbiology for the Health Sciences. Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins. Baltimore, MD, 398 pp.

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MODULE 7

Module Title: Microbial Ecology and Microbial Biotechnology

Review of Key Points

_ 6. In nitrogen cycle, bacteria called ________ convert A. cyanobacteria

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