Question

What are the different roles played by microorganisms in our world? Give examples to illustrate your answer. Find at least two of your examples by referring to any two recent articles on microorganisms, whether from a newspaper, magazine or Internet.

Answer 1

Answer

A microorganism is a living thing that is too small to be seen with the naked eye. Examples of microorganisms include bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa, and microscopic animals such as the dust mite.

Microorganisms are ubiquitous in the environment, where they have a variety of essential functions. Many microbes are uniquely adapted to specific environmental niches, such as those that inhabit the Dead Sea (Halobacterium), the bacteria and cyanobacteria that inhabit the boiling water springs in Yellowstone National Park, and Chlamydomonas nivalis, the algae that causes "pink snow." Microbes also play an essential role in the natural recycling of living materials. All naturally produced substances are biodegradable, which means that they can be broken down by living organisms, such as bacteria or fungi. Composting is an example of biodegradation that is easy to investigate the classroom. An examination of foster or impede composting gives insight to growth conditions of microorganisms as well as the proper function of the ecosystem.

bioremediation (the use of microorganisms to remove or detoxify undesired or toxic chemicals from the environment); bioaugmentation (the addition of necessary nutrients required to speed up the rate of degradation of a contaminant); xenobiotic compounds (compounds that are chemically synthesized and do not exist naturally); microbial plastic (a product produced by microbes that is an alternative to plastic, having similar qualities but is biodegradable)