BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT
MICROBES IN INDUSTRIAL
PRODUCTS

-NAME:SHRINIVAS.U
CLASS: XII SEC: A
ROLL NO: 12135
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY
GRATITUDE TO MY BIOLOGY TEACHER
MRS.KUMUDHA MADAME AND MY LAB
TEACHER MRS.AGNES MADAME FOR
HELPING AND GUIDING ME TO DO MY
PROJECT .I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO
THANK MY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL MRS.
VASANTHI VISWANATHAN FOR GIVING
ME THIS WONDERFUL OPPURTUNITY.I
WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK MY
FRIENDS AND PARENTS FOR
MOTIVATING ME TO COMPLETE MY
PROJECT SUCCESSFULLY.
 CONTENTS
 Acknowledgement
 Introduction
 Uses in food
 Cheese making
 Wine making
 making
 Water treatment
 Uses in energy
Biogas
Cellulosic ethanol
Algae fuel
 Production of Chemicals
 Importance in ecology
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
A microorganism is a microscopic living organism, which
may be single celled or multicellular. Microorganism was
discovered in 1674 by Antoine van Leeuwenhoek, using a
microscope of his own design. They are very diverse and
include all the Bacteria and archaea and almost all the
protozoa. They also include some fungi, algae, and certain
animals, such as rotifers. Microbes are present
everywhere – in soil, water, air, inside our bodies and that
of other animals and plants and even in Hot springs and
Oceans. Some are even observed in vacuum under
certain test conditions. Microorganisms are crucial to
nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as
decomposers. As some microorganisms can fix nitrogen,
they are a vital part of the nitrogen cycle. Microorganisms
are also exploited in biotechnology, both in traditional food
and beverage preparation, and in modern technologies
based on genetic engineering. Microbes are vital to
humans and the environment as they participate in the
carbon and nitrogen cycle as well as fulfilling other vital
role in virtually all ecosystem such as recycling other
organism’s dead remains and waste products through
decomposition
USES IN FOOD
CHEESE MAKING

 Milk is often pasteurized to destroy pathogenic

microorganisms and to eliminate spoilage and effects
induced by bacteria. The milk is then inoculated with
fermenting microorganisms and rennet, which promote
curdling.
 The fermenting microorganisms carry out the anaerobic
conversion of lactose to lactic.. In the presence of lactic
acid, rennet, or both, the milk protein casein clumps
together and precipitates out of solution; this is the
process known as curdling, or coagulation. Coagulated
 casein assumes a solid or gel like structure (the curd),
which traps most of the fat, bacteria, calcium,
phosphate, and other particulates. The remaining liquid
(the whey) contains water, proteins resistant to acidic
and enzymatic denaturation (e.g., antibodies),
carbohydrates (lactose), and minerals.
 Enzymes released by the bacterial cells also influence
flavour development during ripening. The curd is then
gently heated, causing it to shrink. The degree of
shrinkage determines the moisture content and the final
consistency of the cheese. Whey is removed by draining
or dipping.
 Most cheese is ripened for varying amounts of time in
order to bring about the chemical changes necessary for
transforming fresh curd into a distinctive aged cheese.
The ripening of cheese is influenced by the interaction
of bacteria, enzymes, and physical conditions in the
curing room. The speed of the reactions is determined
by temperature and humidity conditions in the room as
well as by the moisture content of the cheese
WINE MAKING
The process of winemaking involves numerous stages
starting with the grapes being harvested, taken into a
winery and then prepared for fermentation. At this
stage, red wine is created during the fermentation of
the pulp (or "must") and skins of the red or black
grapes, which gives the wine its colour. White wine,
on the other hand, does not include the grape skins in
the fermentation process; only the juices are
extracted. To start primary fermentation, a process
that typically takes between one to two weeks, yeast
is added which converts the sugars in the grape juice
into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which then
evaporates into the atmosphere

The produced liquid, which is known as "free wine," is then

pumped into tanks and the skins are pressed in order to
extract the remaining wine and juice. This wine, known as
the "press wine," can be added to the free wine to bring
more character and longevity to the wine. Secondary
fermentation is the next step, which is the bacterial
fermentation involving the conversion of malic acid to
lactic acid. This decreases the amount of acid in the wine
and softens the taste. The wine can then be transferred to
oak barrels for maturation, with further adjustments to
taste and colour being made prior to filtering and bottling.
CURD MAKING
Curds are a dairy product obtained by coagulating milk in a process called
curdling. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic
substance such as lemon juice or vinegar, and then allowing it to sit. The
increased acidity causes the milk proteins to tangle into solid masses.
Lactobacillus is a genus of bacteria which can convert sugars into lactic acid by
means of fermentation. Milk contains a sugar called lactose, a disaccharide
(compound sugar) made by the glycosidic bonding between glucose and
galactose (monosaccharide). When pasteurized milk is heated to a temperature
of 30-40 °C, or even at room temperature or refrigerator temperature, and a small
amount of old curd or whey added to it, the lactobacillus in that curd or whey
sample starts to grow. These convert the lactose into lactic acid, which imparts
the sour taste to curd. Raw milk naturally contains lactobacillus. And in this way
Curd is made.

Lactobacillus bacteria

USES IN WATER TREATMENT

Microbes play a Major role in treating million of Gallons of
wastewater everyday across the globe. Water pollution is
due to presence of particulate matter or presence of
inorganic or organic Compounds or because of too many
or non native microorganisms. Sewage Treatment
consists of three stages called Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary Treatment.
Primary treatment
In the primary sedimentation stage, sewage flows through
large tanks, commonly called “pre-settling basins”,
“primary sedimentation tanks” or “primary clarifiers". The
tanks are used to settle sludge while grease and oils rise
to the surface and are skimmed off. Primary settling tanks
are usually equipped with mechanically driven scrapers
that continually drive the collected sludge towards a
hopper in the base of the tank where it is pumped to
sludge treatment facilities.
Secondary Treatment
Secondary treatment is designed to substantially degrade
the biological content of the sewage which are derived
from human waste, food waste, soaps and detergent. The
majority of municipal plants treat the settled sewage liquor
using aerobic biological processes. To be effective, the
biota requires both oxygen and food to live. The bacteria
and protozoa consume biodegradable soluble organic
contaminants (e.g. sugars, fats, organic short-chain
carbon molecules, etc.) and bind much of the less soluble
fractions into floc. Secondary treatment systems are
classified as fixed-film or suspended-growth systems.

Tertiary Treatment
The purpose of tertiary treatment is to provide a final
treatment stage to further improve the effluent quality
before it is discharged to the receiving environment (sea,
river, lake, wet lands, ground, etc.). More than one tertiary
treatment process may be used at any treatment plant. If
disinfection is practised, it is always the final process. It is
also called “effluent polishing
USES IN ENERGY
Microorganisms are used in fermentation to produce
ethanol, and in biogas reactors to produce methane.
Scientist are researching the use of algae to produce
liquid fuels and bacteria to convert various form of
agricultural and urban waste into usable fuels.

Biogas
Biogas, naturally occurring gas that is generated by the
breakdown of organic matter by anaerobic bacteria and is
used in energy production. Biogas is primarily composed
of methane gas, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of
nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. Biogas differs
from natural gas in that it is a renewable energy source
produced biologically through anaerobic digestion rather
than a fossil fuel produced by geological processes.
Biogas occurs naturally in compost heaps, as swamp gas,
and as a result of enteric fermentation in cattle and other
ruminants. Biogas produced in anaerobic digesters can be
burned to generate heat or used in combustion engines to
produce electricity. Organic material used to produce
biogas industrially includes animal waste, such as manure
and sewage, and municipal solid waste (MSW) harnessed
from landfills.
Animal and plant wastes can be used to produce biogas.
They are processed in anaerobic digesters as a liquid or
as slurry mixed with water. Anaerobic digesters are
generally composed of a feedstock source holder, a
digestion tank, a biogas recovery unit, and heat
exchangers to maintain the temperature necessary for
bacterial digestion. Heat is usually required in digesters to
maintain a constant temperature of about 35 °C (95 °F) for
bacteria to decompose the organic material into gas. The
use of biogas is a green technology with environmental
benefits. Biogas technology enables the effective use of
accumulated animal waste from food production and of
municipal solid waste from urbanization. The conversion of
animal waste into biogas reduces production of the
greenhouse gas methane, as efficient combustion
replaces methane with carbon dioxide.

Cellulosic ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood,
grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants. It is a type of
biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material
that comprises much of the mass of plants. Lignocellulose
is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
Corn stover, switchgrass, miscanthus, woodchips and the
by products of lawn and tree maintenance are some of the
more popular cellulosic materials for ethanol production.
Production of ethanol from lignocellulose has the
advantage of abundant and diverse raw material
compared to sources like corn and cane sugars, but
requires a greater amount of processing to make the
sugar monomers available to the microorganisms that are
typically used to produce ethanol by fermentation.The
main advantage of Cellulosic ethanol is that it reduces
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85% over
reformulated gasoline
Algae Fuel
Algae fuel or algal bio fuel is an alternative to liquid fossil
fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils.
Several companies and government agencies are funding
efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make
algae fuel production commercially viable. Like fossil fuel,
algae fuel releases CO2 when burnt, but unlike fossil fuel,
algae fuel and other bio fuels only release CO2 recently
removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis as the
algae or plant grew. The energy crisis and the world food
crisis have ignited interest in alga culture (farming algae)
for making biodiesel and other bio fuels using land
unsuitable for agriculture. Among algal fuels' attractive
characteristics are that they can be grown with minimal
impact on fresh water resources can be produced using
saline and wastewater, have a high flash point and are
biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment
if spilled.
Uses in Production of Chemicals
Use in production of chemicals, enzymes ,antibiotics etc.
Many microbes are used for commercial and industrial
production of chemicals, enzymes and other bioactive
molecules. Examples of organic acid produced include
Acetic acid : Produced by the bacterium Acetobacter aceti
and other acetic acid bacteria (AAB) Acetic acid bacteria
(AAB) are bacteria that derive their energy from the
oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid during fermentation.
They are Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria.
They are not to be confused with the genus
Acetobacterium, which are anaerobic homoacetogenic
facultative autotrophs and can reduce carbon dioxide to
produce acetic acid, for example, Acetobacterium woodii .
Butyric acid (butanoic acid): Produced by the bacterium
Clostridium butyricum.
Clostridium butyricum is a strictly anaerobic endospore-
forming Gram-positive butyric acid producing bacillus
subsisting by means of fermentation using an
intracellularly accumulated amylopectin-like α-polyglucan
(granulose) as a substrate. It is uncommonly reported as a
human pathogen and widely used as a probiotic in Asia
(particularly Japan). C. butyricum is a soil inhabitant in
various parts of the world, has been cultured from the
stool of healthy children and adults, and is common in
soured milk and cheeses. Lactic acid: Lactobacillus and
others commonly called as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) The
lactic acid bacteria (LAB) comprise a clade of Gram-
positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating,
non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their
common metabolic and physiological characteristics.
These bacteria, usually found in decomposing plants and
lactic products, produce lactic acid as the major metabolic
end-product of carbohydrate fermentation. This trait has,
throughout history, linked LAB with food fermentations, as
acidification inhibits the growth of spoilage agents.
Proteinaceous bacteriocins are produced by several LAB
strains and provide an additional hurdle for spoilage and
pathogenic microorganisms. Furthermore, lactic acid and
other metabolic products contribute to the organoleptic
and textural profile of a food item. The industrial
importance of the LAB is further evinced by their generally
recognized as safe (GRAS) status, due to their ubiquitous
appearance in food and their contribution to the healthy
microflora of human mucosal surfaces.
Citric acid : Produced by the fungus Aspergillus niger
.Aspergillus niger is a fungus and one of the most
common species of the genus Aspergillus. It is ubiquitous
in soil and is commonly reported from indoor
environments, where its black colonies can be confused
with those of Stachybotrys (species of which have also
been called "black mould"). Antibiotics are chemical
substances, which are produced by some microbes and
can kill or retard the growth of other (disease-causing)
microbes. You are familiar with the commonly used
antibiotic Penicillin. Alexander Fleming while working on
Staphylococci bacteria, once observed a mould growing in
one of his unwashed culture plates around which
Staphylococci could not grow. He found out that it was due
to a chemical produced by the mould and he named it
Penicillin after the mould Penicillium notatum. However, its
full potential as an effective antibiotic was established
much later by Ernest Chain and Howard Florey. This
antibiotic was extensively used to treat American soldiers
wounded in World War II. Fleming, Chain and Florey were
awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945, for this discovery.
Microbes are used for preparation of bioactive molecules
and enzymes. Streptokinase produced by the bacterium
Streptococcus and modified by genetic engineering is
used as a clot buster for removing clots from the blood
vessels of patients who have undergone myocardial
infarctions leading to heart attack. Cyclosporin A is a
bioactive molecule used as an immunosuppressive agent
in organ transplantation Stains produced by the yeast
Monascus purpureus is commercialised as blood
cholesterol lowering agents which acts by competitively
inhibiting the enzyme responsible for synthesis of
cholesterol.

Importance in Ecology
One of the most important roles of microbes is breaking up
the complex substances in decaying plants and animals
so that they can be used again by living plants. This
involves microbes as catalysts in a number of natural
cycles, among the most prominent being the nitrogen, and
sulfur cycles.
Proteins are the basic stuff of organic tissues, and
nitrogen is an essential element of all proteins. The
availability of nitrogen in forms that plants can use is a
basic determinant of the fertility of soils; the role of
microbes in facilitating the nitrogen cycle is therefore of
great importance. When a plant or animal dies, microbes
break up the complex proteins, polypeptides, and nucleic
acids in their bodies and produce ammonium, ions,
nitrates, and nitrites that plants then use to build their body
tissues.
Both bacteria and blue-green algae can fix nitrogen
directly from the atmosphere, but this is less vital to plant
development than the symbiotic relationship between the
bacteria genus Rhizobium and leguminous plants and
certain trees and shrubs. In return for secretions from their
host that encourage their growth and multiplication,
Rhizobia fix nitrogen in nodules of the host plant’s roots,
providing nitrogen in a form usable by the plant.
Microbes also participate in the sulfur cycle, mostly by
breaking up the naturally abundant sulfur compounds in
the soil so that this vital element is available to plants.
Sulfur cycle, is the circulation of sulfur in various forms
through nature. Sulfur occurs in all living matter as a
component of certain amino acids. It is abundant in the
soil in proteins and, through a series of microbial
transformations, ends up as sulfates usable by plants.
Sulfur-containing proteins are degraded into their
constituent amino acids by the action of a variety of soil
organisms. The sulfur of the amino acids is converted to
hydrogen sulfide (H2S) by another series of soil microbes.
In the presence of oxygen, H2S is converted to sulfur and
then to sulfate by sulfur bacteria. Eventually the sulfate
becomes H2S.
CONCLUSION
Microbes are a very important component of life on earth.
Not all microbes are pathogenic. Many microbes are very
useful to human beings. We use microbes and microbially
derived products almost every day. Microbes are essential
in processes like Wine making and Cheese making.
Bacteria called lactic acid bacteria (LAB) grow in milk to
convert it into curd. The dough, which is used to make
bread, is fermented by yeast called Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. Certain dishes such as idli and dosa, are made
from dough fermented by microbes. Bacteria and fungi are
used to impart particular texture, taste and flavour to
cheese.
Many microbes are used for commercial and industrial
production of chemicals, enzymes and other bioactive
molecules .Antibiotics like penicillins produced by useful
microbes are used to kill disease-causing harmful
microbes. For more than a hundred years, microbes are
being used to treat sewage (waste water) by the process
of activated sludge formation and this helps in recycling of
water in nature. Microorganisms are used in fermentation
to produce ethanol, and in biogas reactors to produce
methane Methanogens produce methane (biogas) while
degrading plant waste. Biogas produced by microbes is
used as a source of energy in rural areas. It is clear from
the diverse uses human beings have put microbes to that
they play an important role in the welfare of human
society.
Bibliography
Biological Science: Third Edition By, N. P.
O. Green (Author), G. W. Stout (Author), D.
J. Taylor (Author), R. Soper (Editor).
Exploring Biology By, Ella Thea Smith.
NCERT Text Book
Tell Me Why
Encyclopaedia Britannica