MICROORGANISM

S
NAISHA SAHA
Microorganisms or Microbes
 The organisms which cannot be seen through our naked eyes are called
Microorganisms or Microbes.
 The study of Science that deals with microorganisms and their effects on
animals is called Microbiology.
 It can be Unicellular like Bacteria, Algae, Protozoa or Multicellular like Algae
and Fungi.
 A Dutch Merchant, Antonie Van Leewenhoek made observations on structure
of seeds and embryos of plants. He was also the first person to give a
detailed description of Red Blood Cell or single-celled bacteria and protozoa.
 He scraped some tartar from his own teeth, and looked under a microscope
and found a world of living organisms.
WHERE DO MICROBES LIVE?

 Microbes are present everywhere-Air, Water and Soil.

 They are also present inside plants and animals.Also, they are
present in dead organic matter.
 They can survive in severe temperatures of the conditions by
forming spores- Snow, Hot Climate, Bottom of the sea.
 When they get favourable conditions and food they become
active.
 Nutrition and Growth: Some
BACTERIA bacteria are autotrophic , while
others are saprozoic or parasitic.
Some bacteria show aerobic
respiration while some show
anaerobic respiration.
 Bacteria are the simplest and most Method of Reproduction: Binary
abundant of all microbes. They are fission(cell divides and give rise to
unicellular and prokaryotic. A bacterial cell two new cells).
varies from 0.2 to 100 microns in size. Cyanobacteria/Blue green algae
occur in rivers, lakes, damp soil,
 STRUCTURE: It has a rigid cell wall tree trunks, hot springs and snow.
surrounded by covering called capsule. They can vary in shape, size and
 colour.
Nuclear material is scattered in cytoplasm.
 It has Hair like structures called Fimbriae Round-Coccus Rod-Bacillus Comma-Vibrios
helping to attach to a surface. Eg: Streptococcus Eg: Lactobacillus Eg: Vibrio
Cholerae

 Some bacteria have whip like structure

helping in movement. Example: Flagella
and Cilia.
Spiral-Spirillium
Eg: Spirillium
Minus
BACTERIA
Useful Bacteria
 Bacteria help in making pickle, curd and cheese from milk.(Lactobacillus
Acidophilus)
 Bacteria oxidise ethanol to acetic acid and produce vinegar, wine and fruit juice.
(Acetobacter)
 Bacteria play an important role in water treatment.
 Bacteria in ruminants(grass eating animals) help in digesting cellulose.
 Antibiotics such are Streptomycin and Chloromycetin are made of bacteria.
 Rhizobium(in roots) and Azotobactor(help in converting nitrogen into useful form for
plants) are important in agriculture.
 It helps in converting Nitrogen compound into atmospheric nitrogen.
 Bacteria help in producing jute fibres. The fibres are softened and separated by
bacteria.
 Cyanobacteria trap nitrogen from air and change to nitrogenous compounds. They
are often used in soil where crops are growing to make it rich in nutrients.
 Bacteria help in cleaning the environment. It decomposes the dead and decaying
plant and animal matter by converting them into simple substances. They convert it
into manure which is used by plants. Biogas is also produced by the action of
bacteria.
BACTERIA
Harmful Bacteria
 Bacteria cause various diseases like Cholera , Typhoid,
Tuberculosis and Leprosy in human beings; Citrus Canker in plants;
Anthrax in cattle.
 Bacteria produce toxins that cause disease in living tissues.
 Botulism is a serious kind of food poisoning caused by Clostridium
bacteria.These bacteria grow in improperly preserved home cooked
food.
 Souring of milk and putrefaction of meat is caused due to action of
bacteria.
ALGAE
 The green scum found in moist places such as lakes, ponds, on
rocks and damp areas are algae.
 These are microbes that contain chlorophyll and make their own
food.(autotrophic)
 Algae can be unicellular or multicellular.(in the form of a filament)
 Apart from green pigments algae also have other colour pigments.
 They are classified as Green algae, Brown algae, Red algae and
blue green/golden brown algae.
ALGAE
Green Algae
Brown Algae
Golden Brown Red Algae
Algae
• Spirogyra,
Chlamydomonas, • They are mostly sea • They are diatoms. • Other name of Red
Volvox, Chlorella are weeds. • They are one of the algae is
a variety of green • They are found in most common types Rhodophyta which
algae. oceans. of phytoplanktons is one of the oldest
• Chlamydomonas is • They have found in both group if eukaryotic
a unicellular alga, chlorophyll masked marine and fresh algae.
Spirogyra is by brown pigment. water. • They are mostly
filamentous and • Example Kelps and • Mostly they are multicellular
Volvox is colonial. Wracks. unicellular but they marine algae and
• A cell wall and can exist in colonies include many
chloroplast can be in the shape of notable types of
seen in the cell. ribbons, zig zags or sea weeds.
• The chloroplast has star shaped also. The red sea is
chlorophyll which • Diatoms are the called so because
helps in producers within the of the availability
photosynthesis. food chain. of red algae.
• Diatoms are
encased with the
cell wall made up of
silica.
GROWTH IN ALGAE
 They reproduce sexually as well as asexually.
 Asexual reproduction is Binary Fission and Fragmentation.
 Spores are also produced by some algae which give rise to new
plants.
 In sexual reproduction fusion of two cells happen and a new alga
is formed.
ALGAE
Useful Algae Harmful Effects of Algae
 Sea weeds, Phytoplanktons and Kelps are food  Some algae release poisonous substances
for some animals. which pollute the water.
 Some sea weeds are also eaten by human  Sometimes algae grow rapidly in water
beings.
which is known as algal bloom.
 Agar is a jelly like product obtained from red
 The dense algae at the surface don’t allow
and brown algae that is used for making soups,
salads, dressing, medicine, in laboratory work, sunlight and oxygen to the aquatic
paints, toothpaste, fabric and creams. animals.
 Agar is also used as a solid substrate to contain  Due to this the organisms fail t grow and
culture medium for microbiological work. die.
 Iodine is used to make medicines that is
obtained from brown algae.
 Remains of diatoms having silica are used to
make crockery and building material.
 Sea weeds form good manure as they are rich
in nitrogen and potassium.
FUNGI
 Fungi are the microbes that lack chlorophyll, and hence they cannot prepare their
own food. They depend on other plants and animals for food.
 Some fungi live on dead and decaying organic matter(Saprozoic). Others live on
living bodies(Parasitic).They mostly grow in dark and damp places.
 They can be unicellular or multicellular. Each cell is bounded by a cell wall.

 Growth: They reproduce sexually as well as asexually.

 Asexual Reproduction is by budding and with the help of spores.
 Sexual Reproduction is when sporangia of two different hyphae fuse with each
other.
FUNGI
Useful Fungi Harmful Fungi
 Yeast is a fungus that respires
anaerobically in fruit juice