VIVEKANANDA RESIDENTIAL

SCHOOL

BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

TOPIC:MICROBES IN HUMAN WELFARE
Submitted by-Madiha Zuffain
Class-XII BiPC
Board Roll No.-
Submitted to-Mrs.P.Samatha
Academic Year:2023-24
 CERTIFICATE
This is here to certify that, the original and
genuine investigation work on the content of the
Project entitled, "MICROBES IN HUMAN
WELFARE" of the subject "BIOLOGY" has
been successfully carried out by MADIHA
ZUFFAIN of class 12(Science) under the
supervision of subject teacher Mrs.P.SAMATHA as
per the guidelines given by CENTRAL BOARD
OF SECONDARY EDUCATION(CBSE).
PRASANJIT KARMAKAR of Class 12 (Science)
under the supervision of the subject teacher Mr.
APARAJIT

DAS as per the

guidelines given by
CENTRAL BOARD
OF THE
SECONDARY
EDUCATION
(CBSE)
PRASANJIT KARMAKAR of Class 12
(Science) under
the supervision of the subject teacher
Mrs.P.Samatha

DAS as per the

guidelines given by
CENTRAL BOARD
OF THE
SECONDARY
EDUCATION
(CBSE

INTERNAL SIGN PRINCIPAL SIGN

EXTERNAL SIGN SCHOOL STAMP

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 Acknowledgement is the most beautiful page in ant
project’s final pages. More than a formality, this appears to
be the best opportunity to express my gratitude.
I must thank my parents who helped me in all ways for
completion of this project.
I am very thankful to my biology teacher Mrs.P.SAMATHA
who supported me for the completion of this project. My
project would never have been possible without your
guidance. Thank you so much.
Special thanks to my Principal Mrs.RENUKA BALIVADA
mam, who gave support to me and the library which
provides me with helpful books related to this project.
Next on the list are my friends, and teachers, who really
showed conctructive feedback and suggestions without
which this project would not have been in its present form!

S.NO TOPIC
01. INTRODUCTION
02. USES IN FOOD

03. USES IN WATER TREATEMENT

04. USES IN ENERGY

05. USES IN PRODUCTION OF

CHEMICALS
06. IMPORTANCE IN ECOLOGY

07. CONCLUSION

08. BIBLIOGRAPHY

S.NO TOPIC
 INTRODUCTION:
A microorganism is a microscopic living organism, which may
be single celled or multicellular. Microorganism was
discovered in 1674 by Antonie 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:
Microorganisms are used in brewing, wine making,
baking, pickling and other food-making processes. They
are also used to control the fermentation process in the
production of cultured dairy products such as yogurt
and cheese. The cultures also provide flavour and
aroma, and inhibit undesirable organisms.

Cheese aking process:

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 process:
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 process:
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.

USES IN WATER TREATEMENT:

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 12 bacteria to convert various form of agricultural and
urban waste into usable fuels.

 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.

 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.

 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 a
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.

 USES IN PRODUCTION OF CHEMICLAS:

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 Gramnegative, 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

endosporeforming 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 nonsporulating, 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, it 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:

 NCERT textbook
 Wikipedia
 Encyclopedia Britannica

THANK YOU!