Benefits of Microbes in Industrial Production

INTRODUCTION

The tiny organisms can not be seen by naked eye, or require the use of microscopes for their visualization are called microbes. These are studied under the branch of biology known as microbiology. Microbiology mainly involves the study of virus, fungi, parasites and bacteria. It also includes the study of immune system.

Microbes are present in all parts of biosphere i.e soil, hotsprings, ocean floor, atmosphere and deep inside Earth’s crust. They are the first form of life on Earth. Their fossils date back more than three and a half billion years to a time when the Earth was covered with oceans. They have a fast rate of evolution. They reproduce rapidly and are highly versatile organisms.

The first person to observe microbes was Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. He established that there were form of life which were not visible to the naked eye. Along with leeuwenhoek, Spallanzani and Pasteur ended the long held believe that life spontaneously appeared from non-living substance during the process of spoilage. Later in 1876, Roberto Koch proved that diseased were caused by micro organisms.

FEATURES

Microbes play a very important role in industries. Following are some important features of microbes which make them industrially important:

• They produce rapidly. Billions of microble cells can reproduce in single day. For example, under optimal conditions of growth E.coli double itself in 15-20 minutes.

• The medium require for their growth is cheap and easily available throughout year.

• They are very versatile and have great biodiversity. They can reproduce and live under extreme conditions of temperature, pH, pressure, salt etc.

• Industrially important microbes’s genotype if fully known, which is helpful to unde...

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