Introduction
All unicellular creatures are considered to be microorganisms, which are small and in a single-celled structure. In addition, they are the leading producers of enzymes, the effective and reliable biocatalysts used in a variety of industrial fields, including livestock feed, foodstuff, personal care, and fabric, among others (Paul, R., et al. 2018). Being among the first known living forms on Earth, they include “fungus”, “bacteria”, “viruses”, and “archaea”. In addition, they may be found almost anywhere, more particularly on land where there is liquid water. They degrade; thus, they are crucial to recirculating nutrients in ecosystems. As a crucial component of the nitrogen cycle, some of these bacteria have the ability to remove nitrogen from the atmosphere. It is important to recognize the importance and benefits of these microorganisms to human life in general and the entire environment.
Waste Management Benefits
Since bacteria are a natural recycling agent, they are essential to the environment. Numerous natural substances, such as “carbon”, “nitrogen”, and “phosphorus”, are released throughout the bacterial process. The aforementioned components are beneficial to the biosphere since they serve as the foundation for new types of plants and animals. Therefore, microorganisms are the cause of the degradation process. The biosphere’s natural process for recycling natural waste products by microbes like bacteria is called decomposition. The wastewater regeneration depends on microbes like bacteria (Dik, D. A., et al. 2018). Sludge, effluent from people, and waste from animals are essentially used as food substrates for bacteria and other microbes. Organic waste from people and animals is transformed by bacteria into stable materials hence reducing the environmental pollution.
In essence, the amount of bacteria in “natural sources of water” relies on the water body’s degree of pollution (Divyashree, M., et al., 2020). Three processes, which involve “aerobic reactions”, “anaerobic reactions”, and “photosynthetic reactions”, are used by microorganisms to remediate wastewater. As a result, “facultative microbes”, “anaerobic microbes”, and “aerobic bacteria” are among the many types of bacteria. Notably, facultative bacteria may thrive in both oxygen-rich environments and those with insufficient oxygen levels.
Today, scientists have discovered a wide range of other applications for bacteria’s cleaning abilities. As a consequence, microorganisms are utilized to clean up nuclear waste in addition to converting human and livestock waste into stable chemicals. Recent studies have shown that “Deinococcus radiodurans” may be used as a cleaning agent to eliminate radioactive waste. To develop distinct strains of Deinococcus that can handle various types of mercury and toluene, a genetic product from other bacteria is introduced into the bacterium.
Additionally, numerous essential elements of the atmosphere, including “nitrogen”, “carbon”, and “sulfur”, are recycled by microorganisms. Nitrogen is transformed into ammonia by a bacteria called “Azotobacter and Clostridium”, which is subsequently used by plants and other microorganisms. “The nitrogen cycle” in the atmosphere is usually done by denitrification, which is made possible by the bacterium Paracoccus denitrificans.
Due to the past presence of wastes that were deposited on the ground and reduced soil acidity, land may no longer be suitable for growing crops. Acid is created when the bacterium “Thiobacillus thiooxidans” oxidizes sulfur waste into sulfate. As a result of the release of acid during the process, the soil’s pH of alkaline is lowered, which makes land efficient for cultivation.
Food Benefits
Microorganisms are required to produce food products like liquor, butter, loaf, and coffee. Furthermore, probiotic foods put beneficial microorganisms into our “digestive systems”. Molds, yeast, and acteria are the most frequently used organisms. These microorganisms produce unique “new food products” and aid in food preservation (Ju, J., et al. 2019). Since lactose cannot be broken down and incorporated into the body, the majority of people probably have found milk products to be quite unbearable. The sugar component of milk is referred to as lactose. Individuals who are lactose intolerant tend to favor “fermented milk” and its products because when the fragment enters the stomach in its initial state, it generates acid and gastric air, ultimately leading to ache and diarrhea.
Also, Since there are numerous distinctive substances of the microorganism, the bacteria used to make yogurt, Lactobacilli, differ greatly in both their structures and their functions. For instance, “Lactobacillus acidophilus” is used to make “Acidophilus milk”. The human intestinal tract is where “Lactobacillus bacteria” are typically found. The health of humans depends heavily on these bacteria. In addition to sweating lactase, which breaks down lactose in milk to create milk products like yogurt, Lactobacillus also contributes to the treatment of “lactose intolerance”, “Crohn’s syndrome”, and excessive bacterial growth in the intestines.
Also, microorganisms are employed to produce other food items like butter. Pasteurized cream is the primary raw material used to make butter. However, to aid in the entire fermentation process, heated milk is added with lactic acid initiators made of “Streptococcus cremoris” or “Streptococcus lactis”. Butter is additionally supplemented with “Lactobacillus diacetylactis” to give it its distinctive taste and fragrance. Furthermore, other bacteria, including “Leuconostoc cremoris” and “Lactococcus lactis”, are used in the production of cheese. When making yogurt, additional bacteria such as “Lactobacillus Bulgaria”, “Lactococcus Thermophilus”, and “Streptococcus thermophilus” must be added to the milk. Bacteria are used to manufacture food in a wide variety of ways beyond fermentation in the milk sector.
For instance, different bacterial strains are used in the production of coffee, food additives, and vinegar. Evidently, vinegar inhibits most bacteria’s ability to develop since they cannot tolerate acid by nature. Furthermore, microorganisms play a crucial role in the bread-baking process. “Saccharomyces cerevisiae”, a component of baking yeast, makes it easier for carbon dioxide to be broken down, giving dough its distinctive texture.
In addition, “Natural yeast” and grape peels were used to judge the beer’s quality in ancient times. Since it was unregulated, the latter procedure was sensitive. However, today’s beer-making businesses utilize various bacteria, including “Saccharomyces cerevisiae” and “Saccharomyces ellipsoideus”, in the brewing process.
On the other hand, Olives need fermentation with “Lactobacillus Plantarum” in order to become edible (Perpetuini, G., et al. 2020). Moreover, Lactobacillus mesenteroides may also be used to evaporate olives.
Contrarily, “Erwinia dissolvens” is used in the production of beverages, such as coffee and chocolate, in partnership with yeast from the “Saccharomyces genus”. The taste of coffee is often not significantly impacted by bacteria, although cocoa and chocolate are frequently affected. On the other hand, soy sauce is manufactured from a mixture of “fermented soybeans” and rice utilizing various bacteria and fungi.
“Aspergillus soyae”, “Lactobacillus delbrueckii”, “Saccharomyces rouxii”, and “Aspergillus oryzae” are a few of the bacteria that have already been identified as being helpful in fermentation. Contrarily, meat products like “bologna sausages” need a significant quantity of fermentation employing “Pediucoccus cerevisae”, “Lactobacillus plantarum”, as well as other Bacillus-class bacteria. For instance, “lactobacilli” are used in the fermentation process to make sushi.
Environmental benefits
For starters, the preservation of a healthy environment requires the presence of microorganisms like fungus and bacteria. They produce most of the nutrients required for plant growth, and these microbes also recycle wastes, including bio waste and decaying plants and animals. Furthermore, only bacteria have the ability to synthesize nitrogen for plant purposes. They do, however, cooperate with other plants to aid them. Moreover, a significant proportion of bacteria are found in soil. These bacteria do differ because they depend on a variety of soil factors, including moisture content, temperatures, the presence of salts in the soil, and other substances. As a result of the presence of nutrients like “amino acids”, “sugars”, and “organic acids”, among others, which may make up as much as a third of the carbon dioxide released by a plant, bacteria are also not equitably spread in the soil. Their concentration is typically higher around root zone than in the entire soil’s composition.
Additionally, the nitrogen cycle depends on “atmospheric nitrogen”, which “nitrogen-fixing bacteria” convert into fixed nitrogen (Pajares, S., & Ramos, R. 2019). There are two types of bacteria that fix nitrogen. “Cyanobacteria”, “nostoc”, and “Anabaena” are examples of “free-living bacteria” which could be classified as the first category of bacteria with the fixing effect. “Mutualistic bacteria” in the second category include “Rhizobium”, which is linked to Frankia and leguminous plants and is associated with certain “dicotyledonous species”.
The mutualistic “nitrogen-fixing bacteria”, also referred to as “symbiotic bacteria”, infiltrate the plant’s hair roots, where they multiply and initiate the formation of “root swelling”, which results in the expansion of plant tissue and bacteria in close proximity. Bacteria in the vicinity of the root nodules convert “air nitrogen” to “ammonia”, which the plant requires for growth.
Furthermore, bacteria play a key role in pollution control as a result of the dangers that heavy metals from industrial sources and toxic organic substances like ammunition, herbicides, and explosives bring to the atmosphere and all living organisms. Since they are resistant to decomposition processes and penetrate the air, soil, and water, bioremediation uses bacteria that may break down hazardous compounds and convert them into less dangerous molecules.
Conclusion
The use of bacteria in medicine is, in my opinion, their most intriguing feature as a microorganism that is extremely beneficial to both humans and the environment. Typically, the same strain of bacteria can be found in humans in both healthy and disease-related states, as seen in the case of “periodontitis”. However, “oral bacteria” have also been observed to behave differently in conditions like “diabetes” and “Crohn’s disease”.
In light of this, I believe it would be fascinating to conduct additional research on the connections between bacteria and the sickness types stated above because it could be useful in creating “diagnostic biomarkers” for particular ailments. Further investigation should be done to see if the bacteria stated earlier can be reverted to their health conditions. The aforementioned illnesses, especially diabetes and Crohn’s disease, could be treated using the alterations that were just mentioned. Furthermore, by developing bacteria that rely on nutrients rather than naturally occurring nutrients, anxieties related to genetic modifications of bacteria and their consequences on humans and the environment might be completely dispelled.
References
Paul, R., Singh, R. D., Patra, A. K., Biswas, D. R., Bhattacharyya, R., & Arunkumar, K. (2018). Phosphorus dynamics and solubilizing microorganisms in acid soils under different land uses of Lesser Himalayas of India. Agroforestry Systems, 92(2), 449-461.
Dik, D. A., Fisher, J. F., & Mobashery, S. (2018). Cell-wall recycling of the Gram-negative bacteria and the nexus to antibiotic resistance. Chemical reviews, 118(12), 5952-5984.
Divyashree, M., Mani, M. K., Shama Prakash, K., Vijaya Kumar, D., Veena Shetty, A., Shetty, A. K., & Karunasagar, I. (2020). Hospital wastewater treatment reduces NDM‐positive bacteria being discharged into water bodies. Water Environment Research, 92(4), 562-568.
Ju, J., Xie, Y., Guo, Y., Cheng, Y., Qian, H., & Yao, W. (2019). Application of edible coating with essential oil in food preservation. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 59(15), 2467-2480.
Perpetuini, G., Prete, R., Garcia-Gonzalez, N., Khairul Alam, M., & Corsetti, A. (2020). Table olives more than a fermented food. Foods, 9(2), 178.
Pajares, S., & Ramos, R. (2019). Processes and microorganisms involved in the marine nitrogen cycle: knowledge and gaps. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 739.
write