Microorganism

A microorganism, or microbe ,[a] is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in it s single-
celled form or as a colony of cells.

A cluster of Escherichia coli bacteria

magnified 10,000 times

The possible exist ence of unseen microbial life was suspect ed from ancient t imes, such as in Jain
script ures from sixt h cent ury BC India. The scient ific st udy of microorganisms began wit h t heir
observat ion under t he microscope in t he 1670s by Ant on van Leeuwenhoek. In t he 1850s, Louis
Past eur found t hat microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking t he t heory of spont aneous
generat ion. In t he 1880s, Robert Koch discovered t hat microorganisms caused t he diseases
t uberculosis, cholera, dipht heria, and ant hrax.

Because microorganisms include most unicellular organisms from all t hree domains of life t hey can
be ext remely diverse. Two of t he t hree domains, Archaea and Bact eria, only cont ain microorganisms.
The t hird domain Eukaryot a includes all mult icellular organisms as well as many unicellular prot ist s
and prot ozoans t hat are microbes. Some prot ist s are relat ed t o animals and some t o green plant s.
There are also many mult icellular organisms t hat are microscopic, namely micro-animals, some fungi,
and some algae, but t hese are generally not considered microorganisms.

Microorganisms can have very different habit at s, and live everywhere from t he poles t o t he equat or,
desert s, geysers, rocks, and t he deep sea. Some are adapt ed t o ext remes such as very hot or very
cold condit ions, ot hers t o high pressure, and a few, such as Deinococcus radiodurans , t o high
radiat ion environment s. Microorganisms also make up t he microbiot a found in and on all mult icellular
organisms. There is evidence t hat 3.45-billion-year-old Aust ralian rocks once cont ained
microorganisms, t he earliest direct evidence of life on Eart h.[1][2]

Microbes are import ant in human cult ure and healt h in many ways, serving t o ferment foods and
t reat sewage, and t o produce fuel, enzymes, and ot her bioact ive compounds. Microbes are essent ial
t ools in biology as model organisms and have been put t o use in biological warfare and biot errorism.
Microbes are a vit al component of fert ile soil. In t he human body, microorganisms make up t he
human microbiot a, including t he essent ial gut flora. The pat hogens responsible for many infect ious
diseases are microbes and, as such, are t he t arget of hygiene measures.

Discovery

Ancient precursors

Mahavira postulated the

existence of microscopic
creatures in the 6th century
BC

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

was the first to study
microscopic organisms.
 Lazzaro Spallanzani showed
that boiling a broth stopped
it from decaying.

The possible exist ence of microscopic organisms was discussed for many cent uries before t heir
discovery in t he sevent eent h cent ury. By t he 6t h cent ury BC, t he Jains of present -day India
post ulat ed t he exist ence of t iny organisms called nigodas.[3] These nigodas are said t o be born in
clust ers; t hey live everywhere, including t he bodies of plant s, animals, and people; and t heir life last s
only for a fract ion of a second.[4] According t o Mahavira, t he 24t h preacher of Jainism, t he humans
dest roy t hese nigodas on a massive scale, when t hey eat , breat he, sit , and move.[3] Many modern
Jains assert t hat Mahavira's t eachings presage t he exist ence of microorganisms as discovered by
modern science.[5]

The earliest known idea t o indicat e t he possibilit y of diseases spreading by yet unseen organisms
was t hat of t he Roman scholar Marcus Terent ius Varro in a first -cent ury BC book ent it led On
Agriculture in which he called t he unseen creat ures animalia minut a, and warns against locat ing a
homest ead near a swamp:[6]

… and because there are bred certain minute creatures that cannot be seen by the
eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and
they cause serious diseases.[6]

In The Canon of Medicine (1020), Avicenna suggest ed t hat t uberculosis and ot her diseases might be
cont agious.[7][8]

Early modern

Turkish scient ist Akshamsaddin ment ioned t he microbe in his work Maddat ul-Hayat (The Mat erial of
Life) about t wo cent uries prior t o Ant onie van Leeuwenhoek's discovery t hrough experiment at ion:
 It is incorrect to assume that diseases appear one by one in humans. Disease infects
by spreading from one person to another. This infection occurs through seeds that
are so small they cannot be seen but are alive.[9][10]

In 1546, Girolamo Fracast oro proposed t hat epidemic diseases were caused by t ransferable seedlike
ent it ies t hat could t ransmit infect ion by direct or indirect cont act , or even wit hout cont act over
long dist ances.[11]

Ant onie van Leeuwenhoek is considered t o be one of t he fat hers of microbiology. He was t he first in
1673 t o discover and conduct scient ific experiment s wit h microorganisms, using simple single-
lensed microscopes of his own design.[12][13][14][15] Robert Hooke, a cont emporary of Leeuwenhoek,
also used microscopy t o observe microbial life in t he form of t he fruit ing bodies of moulds. In his
1665 book Micrographia , he made drawings of st udies, and he coined t he t erm cell.[16]

19th century

Louis Pasteur showed that

Spallanzani's findings held
even if air could enter
through a filter that kept
particles out.

Louis Past eur (1822–1895) exposed boiled brot hs t o t he air, in vessels t hat cont ained a filt er t o
prevent part icles from passing t hrough t o t he growt h medium, and also in vessels wit hout a filt er,
but wit h air allowed in via a curved t ube so dust part icles would set t le and not come in cont act wit h
t he brot h. By boiling t he brot h beforehand, Past eur ensured t hat no microorganisms survived wit hin
t he brot hs at t he beginning of his experiment . Not hing grew in t he brot hs in t he course of Past eur's
experiment . This meant t hat t he living organisms t hat grew in such brot hs came from out side, as
spores on dust , rat her t han spont aneously generat ed wit hin t he brot h. Thus, Past eur refut ed t he
t heory of spont aneous generat ion and support ed t he germ t heory of disease.[17]
 Robert Koch showed that
microorganisms caused
disease.

In 1876, Robert Koch (1843–1910) est ablished t hat microorganisms can cause disease. He found
t hat t he blood of cat t le t hat were infect ed wit h ant hrax always had large numbers of Bacillus
anthracis . Koch found t hat he could t ransmit ant hrax from one animal t o anot her by t aking a small
sample of blood from t he infect ed animal and inject ing it int o a healt hy one, and t his caused t he
healt hy animal t o become sick. He also found t hat he could grow t he bact eria in a nut rient brot h,
t hen inject it int o a healt hy animal, and cause illness. Based on t hese experiment s, he devised crit eria
for est ablishing a causal link bet ween a microorganism and a disease and t hese are now known as
Koch's post ulat es.[18] Alt hough t hese post ulat es cannot be applied in all cases, t hey do ret ain
hist orical import ance t o t he development of scient ific t hought and are st ill being used t oday.[19]

The discovery of microorganisms such as Euglena t hat did not fit int o eit her t he animal or plant
kingdoms, since t hey were phot osynt het ic like plant s, but mot ile like animals, led t o t he naming of a
t hird kingdom in t he 1860s. In 1860 John Hogg called t his t he Prot oct ist a, and in 1866 Ernst Haeckel
named it t he Prot ist a.[20][21][22]

The work of Past eur and Koch did not accurat ely reflect t he t rue diversit y of t he microbial world
because of t heir exclusive focus on microorganisms having direct medical relevance. It was not unt il
t he work of Mart inus Beijerinck and Sergei Winogradsky lat e in t he ninet eent h cent ury t hat t he t rue
breadt h of microbiology was revealed.[23] Beijerinck made t wo major cont ribut ions t o microbiology:
t he discovery of viruses and t he development of enrichment cult ure t echniques.[24] While his work
on t he t obacco mosaic virus est ablished t he basic principles of virology, it was his development of
enrichment cult uring t hat had t he most immediat e impact on microbiology by allowing for t he
cult ivat ion of a wide range of microbes wit h wildly different physiologies. Winogradsky was t he first
t o develop t he concept of chemolit hot rophy and t o t hereby reveal t he essent ial role played by
microorganisms in geochemical processes.[25] He was responsible for t he first isolat ion and
descript ion of bot h nit rifying and nit rogen-fixing bact eria.[23] French-Canadian microbiologist Felix
d'Herelle co-discovered bact eriophages and was one of t he earliest applied microbiologist s.[26]

Classification and structure

Microorganisms can be found almost anywhere on Eart h. Bact eria and archaea are almost always
microscopic, while a number of eukaryot es are also microscopic, including most prot ist s, some fungi,
as well as some micro-animals and plant s. Viruses are generally regarded as not living and t herefore
not considered t o be microorganisms, alt hough a subfield of microbiology is virology, t he st udy of
viruses.[27][28][29]

Evolution

Carl Woese's 1990 phylogenetic tree based on rRNA

data shows the domains of Bacteria, Archaea, and
Eukaryota. All are microorganisms except some
eukaryote groups.

Single-celled microorganisms were t he first forms of life t o develop on Eart h, approximat ely 3.5
billion years ago.[30][31][32] Furt her evolut ion was slow,[33] and for about 3 billion years in t he
Precambrian eon, (much of t he hist ory of life on Eart h), all organisms were microorganisms.[34][35]
Bact eria, algae and fungi have been ident ified in amber t hat is 220 million years old, which shows t hat
t he morphology of microorganisms has changed lit t le since at least t he Triassic period.[36] The newly
discovered biological role played by nickel, however – especially t hat brought about by volcanic
erupt ions from t he Siberian Traps – may have accelerat ed t he evolut ion of met hanogens t owards
t he end of t he Permian–Triassic ext inct ion event .[37]

Microorganisms t end t o have a relat ively fast rat e of evolut ion. Most microorganisms can reproduce
rapidly, and bact eria are also able t o freely exchange genes t hrough conjugat ion, t ransformat ion and
t ransduct ion, even bet ween widely divergent species.[38] This horizont al gene t ransfer, coupled wit h
a high mut at ion rat e and ot her means of t ransformat ion, allows microorganisms t o swift ly evolve (via
nat ural select ion) t o survive in new environment s and respond t o environment al st resses. This rapid
evolut ion is import ant in medicine, as it has led t o t he development of mult idrug resist ant
pat hogenic bact eria, superbugs , t hat are resist ant t o ant ibiot ics.[39]

A possible t ransit ional form of microorganism bet ween a prokaryot e and a eukaryot e was discovered
in 2012 by Japanese scient ist s. Parakaryon myojinensis is a unique microorganism larger t han a
t ypical prokaryot e, but wit h nuclear mat erial enclosed in a membrane as in a eukaryot e, and t he
presence of endosymbiont s. This is seen t o be t he first plausible evolut ionary form of
microorganism, showing a st age of development from t he prokaryot e t o t he eukaryot e.[40][41]

Archaea

Archaea are prokaryot ic unicellular organisms, and form t he first domain of life in Carl Woese's t hree-
domain syst em. A prokaryot e is defined as having no cell nucleus or ot her membrane bound-
organelle. Archaea share t his defining feat ure wit h t he bact eria wit h which t hey were once grouped.
In 1990 t he microbiologist Woese proposed t he t hree-domain syst em t hat divided living t hings int o
bact eria, archaea and eukaryot es,[42] and t hereby split t he prokaryot e domain.

Archaea differ from bact eria in bot h t heir genet ics and biochemist ry. For example, while bact erial
cell membranes are made from phosphoglycerides wit h est er bonds, archaean membranes are made
of et her lipids.[43] Archaea were originally described as ext remophiles living in ext reme environment s,
such as hot springs, but have since been found in all t ypes of habit at s.[44] Only now are scient ist s
beginning t o realize how common archaea are in t he environment , wit h Thermoprot eot a (formerly
Crenarchaeot a) being t he most common form of life in t he ocean, dominat ing ecosyst ems below
150 met res (490 ft ) in dept h.[45][46] These organisms are also common in soil and play a vit al role in
ammonia oxidat ion.[47]

The combined domains of archaea and bact eria make up t he most diverse and abundant group of
organisms on Eart h and inhabit pract ically all environment s where t he t emperat ure is below +140 °C
(284 °F). They are found in wat er, soil, air, as t he microbiome of an organism, hot springs and even
deep beneat h t he Eart h's crust in rocks.[48] The number of prokaryot es is est imat ed t o be around
five nonillion, or 5 × 1030, account ing for at least half t he biomass on Eart h.[49]

The biodiversit y of t he prokaryot es is unknown, but may be very large. A May 2016 est imat e, based
on laws of scaling from known numbers of species against t he size of organism, gives an est imat e
of perhaps 1 t rillion species on t he planet , of which most would be microorganisms. Current ly, only
one-t housandt h of one percent of t hat t ot al have been described.[50] Archael cells of some species
aggregat e and t ransfer DNA from one cell t o anot her t hrough direct cont act , part icularly under
st ressful environment al condit ions t hat cause DNA damage.[51][52]

Bacteria

S taphylococcus aureus bacteria

magnified about 10,000x

Like archaea, bact eria are prokaryot ic – unicellular, and having no cell nucleus or ot her membrane-
bound organelle. Bact eria are microscopic, wit h a few ext remely rare except ions, such as
Thiomargarita namibiensis .[53] Bact eria funct ion and reproduce as individual cells, but t hey can oft en
aggregat e in mult icellular colonies.[54] Some species such as myxobact eria can aggregat e int o
complex swarming st ruct ures, operat ing as mult icellular groups as part of t heir life cycle,[55] or form
clust ers in bact erial colonies such as E.coli.

Their genome is usually a circular bact erial chromosome – a single loop of DNA, alt hough t hey can
also harbor small pieces of DNA called plasmids. These plasmids can be t ransferred bet ween cells
t hrough bact erial conjugat ion. Bact eria have an enclosing cell wall, which provides st rengt h and
rigidit y t o t heir cells. They reproduce by binary fission or somet imes by budding, but do not undergo
meiot ic sexual reproduct ion. However, many bact erial species can t ransfer DNA bet ween individual
cells by a horizont al gene t ransfer process referred t o as nat ural t ransformat ion.[56] Some species
form ext raordinarily resilient spores, but for bact eria t his is a mechanism for survival, not
reproduct ion. Under opt imal condit ions bact eria can grow ext remely rapidly and t heir numbers can
double as quickly as every 20 minut es.[57]

Eukaryotes

Most living t hings t hat are visible t o t he naked eye in t heir adult form are eukaryot es, including
humans. However, many eukaryot es are also microorganisms. Unlike bact eria and archaea, eukaryot es
cont ain organelles such as t he cell nucleus, t he Golgi apparat us and mit ochondria in t heir cells. The
nucleus is an organelle t hat houses t he DNA t hat makes up a cell's genome. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic
acid) it self is arranged in complex chromosomes.[58] Mit ochondria are organelles vit al in met abolism
as t hey are t he sit e of t he cit ric acid cycle and oxidat ive phosphorylat ion. They evolved from
symbiot ic bact eria and ret ain a remnant genome.[59] Like bact eria, plant cells have cell walls, and
cont ain organelles such as chloroplast s in addit ion t o t he organelles in ot her eukaryot es.
Chloroplast s produce energy from light by phot osynt hesis, and were also originally symbiot ic
bact eria.[59]

Unicellular eukaryot es consist of a single cell t hroughout t heir life cycle. This qualificat ion is
significant since most mult icellular eukaryot es consist of a single cell called a zygot e only at t he
beginning of t heir life cycles. Microbial eukaryot es can be eit her haploid or diploid, and some
organisms have mult iple cell nuclei.[60]

Unicellular eukaryot es usually reproduce asexually by mit osis under favorable condit ions. However,
under st ressful condit ions such as nut rient limit at ions and ot her condit ions associat ed wit h DNA
damage, t hey t end t o reproduce sexually by meiosis and syngamy.[61]

Protists

Euglena mutabilis , a
photosynthetic flagellate

Of eukaryot ic groups, t he prot ist s are most commonly unicellular and microscopic. This is a highly
diverse group of organisms t hat are not easy t o classify.[62][63] Several algae species are mult icellular
prot ist s, and slime molds have unique life cycles t hat involve swit ching bet ween unicellular, colonial,
and mult icellular forms.[64] The number of species of prot ist s is unknown since only a small
proport ion has been ident ified. Prot ist diversit y is high in oceans, deep sea-vent s, river sediment and
an acidic river, suggest ing t hat many eukaryot ic microbial communit ies may yet be discovered.[65][66]
Fungi

Fungi Diver sity

The fungi have several unicellular species, such as baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and
fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). Some fungi, such as t he pat hogenic yeast Candida
albicans , can undergo phenot ypic swit ching and grow as single cells in some environment s, and
filament ous hyphae in ot hers.[67]

Plants

Diversity of plants

The green algae are a large group of phot osynt het ic eukaryot es t hat include many microscopic
organisms. Alt hough some green algae are classified as prot ist s, ot hers such as charophyt a are
classified wit h embryophyt e plant s, which are t he most familiar group of land plant s. Algae can grow
as single cells, or in long chains of cells. The green algae include unicellular and colonial flagellat es,
usually but not always wit h t wo flagella per cell, as well as various colonial, coccoid, and filament ous
forms. In t he Charales, which are t he algae most closely relat ed t o higher plant s, cells different iat e
int o several dist inct t issues wit hin t he organism. There are about 6000 species of green algae.[68]

Ecology

Microorganisms are found in almost every habit at present in nat ure, including host ile environment s
such as t he Nort h and Sout h poles, desert s, geysers, and rocks. They also include all t he marine
microorganisms of t he oceans and deep sea. Some t ypes of microorganisms have adapt ed t o
ext reme environment s and sust ained colonies; t hese organisms are known as ext remophiles.
Ext remophiles have been isolat ed from rocks as much as 7 kilomet res below t he Eart h's surface,[69]
and it has been suggest ed t hat t he amount of organisms living below t he Eart h's surface is
comparable wit h t he amount of life on or above t he surface.[48] Ext remophiles have been known t o
survive for a prolonged t ime in a vacuum, and can be highly resist ant t o radiat ion, which may even
allow t hem t o survive in space.[70] Many t ypes of microorganisms have int imat e symbiot ic
relat ionships wit h ot her larger organisms; some of which are mut ually beneficial (mut ualism), while
ot hers can be damaging t o t he host organism (parasit ism). If microorganisms can cause disease in a
host t hey are known as pat hogens and t hen t hey are somet imes referred t o as microbes .
Microorganisms play crit ical roles in Eart h's biogeochemical cycles as t hey are responsible for
decomposit ion and nit rogen fixat ion.[71]

Bact eria use regulat ory net works t hat allow t hem t o adapt t o almost every environment al niche on
eart h.[72][73] A net work of int eract ions among diverse t ypes of molecules including DNA, RNA,
prot eins and met abolit es, is ut ilised by t he bact eria t o achieve regulat ion of gene expression. In
bact eria, t he principal funct ion of regulat ory net works is t o cont rol t he response t o environment al
changes, for example nut rit ional st at us and environment al st ress.[74] A complex organizat ion of
net works permit s t he microorganism t o coordinat e and int egrat e mult iple environment al signals.[72]
Extremophiles

A tetrad of Deinococcus
radiodurans , a radioresistant
extremophile bacterium

Ext remophiles are microorganisms t hat have adapt ed so t hat t hey can survive and even t hrive in
ext reme environment s t hat are normally fat al t o most life-forms. Thermophiles and
hypert hermophiles t hrive in high t emperat ures. Psychrophiles t hrive in ext remely low t emperat ures.
– Temperat ures as high as 130 °C (266 °F),[75] as low as −17 °C (1 °F)[76] Halophiles such as
Halobacterium salinarum (an archaean) t hrive in high salt condit ions, up t o sat urat ion.[77] Alkaliphiles
t hrive in an alkaline pH of about 8.5–11.[78] Acidophiles can t hrive in a pH of 2.0 or less.[79] Piezophiles
t hrive at very high pressures: up t o 1,000–2,000 at m, down t o 0 at m as in a vacuum of space.[b] A few
ext remophiles such as Deinococcus radiodurans are radioresist ant ,[81] resist ing radiat ion exposure
of up t o 5k Gy. Ext remophiles are significant in different ways. They ext end t errest rial life int o much
of t he Eart h's hydrosphere, crust and at mosphere, t heir specific evolut ionary adapt at ion mechanisms
t o t heir ext reme environment can be exploit ed in biot echnology, and t heir very exist ence under such
ext reme condit ions increases t he pot ent ial for ext rat errest rial life.[82]

Mec hanistic model of soil-bor ne

legac ies induc ed by foliar
pathogens.

Plants and soil

The nit rogen cycle in soils depends on t he fixat ion of at mospheric nit rogen. This is achieved by a
number of diazot rophs. One way t his can occur is in t he root nodules of legumes t hat cont ain
symbiot ic bact eria of t he genera Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, and
Azorhizobium.[83]

The root s of plant s creat e a narrow region known as t he rhizosphere t hat support s many
microorganisms known as t he root microbiome.[84]

These microorganisms in t he root microbiome are able t o int eract wit h each ot her and surrounding
plant s t hrough signals and cues. For example, mycorrhizal fungi are able t o communicat e wit h t he
root syst ems of many plant s t hrough chemical signals bet ween bot h t he plant and fungi. This
result s in a mut ualist ic symbiosis bet ween t he t wo. However, t hese signals can be eavesdropped by
ot her microorganisms, such as t he soil bact eria, Myxococcus xanthus , which preys on ot her bact eria.
Eavesdropping, or t he int ercept ion of signals from unint ended receivers, such as plant s and
microorganisms, can lead t o large-scale, evolut ionary consequences. For example, signaler-receiver
pairs, like plant -microorganism pairs, may lose t he abilit y t o communicat e wit h neighboring
populat ions because of variabilit y in eavesdroppers. In adapt ing t o avoid local eavesdroppers, signal
divergence could occur and t hus, lead t o t he isolat ion of plant s and microorganisms from t he
inabilit y t o communicat e wit h ot her populat ions.[85]

Symbiosis

The photosynthetic cyanobacterium

Hyella caespitosa (round shapes)
with fungal hyphae (translucent
threads) in the lichen Pyrenocollema
halodytes

A lichen is a symbiosis of a macroscopic fungus wit h phot osynt het ic microbial algae or
cyanobact eria.[86][87]
Applications

Microorganisms are useful in producing foods, t reat ing wast e wat er, creat ing biofuels and a wide
range of chemicals and enzymes. They are invaluable in research as model organisms. They have
been weaponised and somet imes used in warfare and biot errorism. They are vit al t o agricult ure
t hrough t heir roles in maint aining soil fert ilit y and in decomposing organic mat t er.

Food production

Representation of Symbiotic
Fer mentation

Microorganisms are used in a ferment at ion process t o make yoghurt , cheese, curd, kefir, ayran,
xynogala, and ot her t ypes of food. Ferment at ion cult ures provide flavour and aroma, and inhibit
undesirable organisms.[88] They are used t o leaven bread, and t o convert sugars t o alcohol in wine
and beer. Microorganisms are used in brewing, wine making, baking, pickling and ot her food-making
processes.[89]

Example industrial uses of microorganisms

Product Contribution of microorganisms

Growth of microorganisms contributes to ripening and flavor. The flavor and appearance of a particular
Cheese cheese is due in large part to the microorganisms associated with it. Lac tobac illus Bulgaric us is one
of the microbes used in production of dairy products

yeast is used to convert sugar, grape juice, or malt-treated grain into alcohol. other microorganisms
Alcoholic
may also be used; a mold converts starch into sugar to make the Japanese rice wine, sake.
beverages
Ac etobac ter Ac eti a kind of bacterium is used in production of Alcoholic beverages

Certain bacteria are used to convert alcohol into acetic acid, which gives vinegar its acid taste.
Vinegar Ac etobac ter Ac eti is used on production of vinegar, which gives vinegar odor of alcohol and alcoholic
taste

Citric acid Certain fungi are used to make citric acid, a common ingredient of soft drinks and other foods.

Vitamins Microorganisms are used to make vitamins, including C, B2 , B12.

With only a few exceptions, microorganisms are used to make antibiotics. Penic illin, Amoxic illin,
Antibiotics
Tetrac yc line, and Erythromyc in
Water treatment

Wastewater treatment plants rely

largely on microorganisms to oxidise
organic matter.

These depend for t heir abilit y t o clean up wat er cont aminat ed wit h organic mat erial on
microorganisms t hat can respire dissolved subst ances. Respirat ion may be aerobic, wit h a well-
oxygenat ed filt er bed such as a slow sand filt er.[90] Anaerobic digest ion by met hanogens generat e
useful met hane gas as a by-product .[91]

Energy

Microorganisms are used in ferment at ion t o produce et hanol,[92] and in biogas react ors t o produce
met hane.[93] Scient ist s are researching t he use of algae t o produce liquid fuels,[94] and bact eria t o
convert various forms of agricult ural and urban wast e int o usable fuels.[95]

Chemicals, enzymes

Microorganisms are used t o produce many commercial and indust rial chemicals, enzymes and ot her
bioact ive molecules. Organic acids produced on a large indust rial scale by microbial ferment at ion
include acet ic acid produced by acet ic acid bact eria such as Acetobacter aceti, but yric acid made by
t he bact erium Clostridium butyricum, lact ic acid made by Lactobacillus and ot her lact ic acid
bact eria,[96] and cit ric acid produced by t he mould fungus Aspergillus niger.[96]

Microorganisms are used t o prepare bioact ive molecules such as St rept okinase from t he bact erium
Streptococcus ,[97] Cyclosporin A from t he ascomycet e fungus Tolypocladium inflatum,[98] and
st at ins produced by t he yeast Monascus purpureus .[99]
Science

A laboratory fermentation vessel

Microorganisms are essent ial t ools in biot echnology, biochemist ry, genet ics, and molecular biology.
The yeast s Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe are import ant model
organisms in science, since t hey are simple eukaryot es t hat can be grown rapidly in large numbers
and are easily manipulat ed.[100] They are part icularly valuable in genet ics, genomics and
prot eomics.[101][102] Microorganisms can be harnessed for uses such as creat ing st eroids and
t reat ing skin diseases. Scient ist s are also considering using microorganisms for living fuel cells,[103]
and as a solut ion for pollut ion.[104]

Warfare

In t he Middle Ages, as an early example of biological warfare, diseased corpses were t hrown int o
cast les during sieges using cat apult s or ot her siege engines. Individuals near t he corpses were
exposed t o t he pat hogen and were likely t o spread t hat pat hogen t o ot hers.[105]

In modern t imes, biot errorism has included t he 1984 Rajneeshee biot error at t ack[106] and t he 1993
release of ant hrax by Aum Shinrikyo in Tokyo.[107]

Soil

Microbes can make nut rient s and minerals in t he soil available t o plant s, produce hormones t hat spur
growt h, st imulat e t he plant immune syst em and t rigger or dampen st ress responses. In general a
more diverse set of soil microbes result s in fewer plant diseases and higher yield.[108]
Human health

Human gut flora

Microorganisms can form an endosymbiot ic relat ionship wit h ot her, larger organisms. For example,
microbial symbiosis plays a crucial role in t he immune syst em. The microorganisms t hat make up t he
gut flora in t he gast roint est inal t ract cont ribut e t o gut immunit y, synt hesize vit amins such as folic
acid and biot in, and ferment complex indigest ible carbohydrat es.[109] Some microorganisms t hat are
seen t o be beneficial t o healt h are t ermed probiot ics and are available as diet ary supplement s, or
food addit ives.[110]

Disease

The eukaryotic parasite

Plasmodium falciparum
(spiky blue shapes), a
causative agent of malaria, in
human blood

Microorganisms are t he causat ive agent s (pat hogens) in many infect ious diseases. The organisms
involved include pat hogenic bact eria, causing diseases such as plague, t uberculosis and ant hrax;
prot ozoan parasit es, causing diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness, dysent ery and
t oxoplasmosis; and also fungi causing diseases such as ringworm, candidiasis or hist oplasmosis.
However, ot her diseases such as influenza, yellow fever or AIDS are caused by pat hogenic viruses,
which are not usually classified as living organisms and are not , t herefore, microorganisms by t he
st rict definit ion. No clear examples of archaean pat hogens are known,[111] alt hough a relat ionship has
been proposed bet ween t he presence of some archaean met hanogens and human periodont al
disease.[112] Numerous microbial pat hogens are capable of sexual processes t hat appear t o
facilit at e t heir survival in t heir infect ed host .[113]
Hygiene

Hygiene is a set of pract ices t o avoid infect ion or food spoilage by eliminat ing microorganisms from
t he surroundings. As microorganisms, in part icular bact eria, are found virt ually everywhere, harmful
microorganisms may be reduced t o accept able levels rat her t han act ually eliminat ed. In food
preparat ion, microorganisms are reduced by preservat ion met hods such as cooking, cleanliness of
ut ensils, short st orage periods, or by low t emperat ures. If complet e st erilit y is needed, as wit h
surgical equipment , an aut oclave is used t o kill microorganisms wit h heat and pressure.[114][115]

In fiction

Osmosis Jones , a 2001 film, and it s show Ozzy & Drix, set in a st ylized version of t he human body,
feat ured ant hropomorphic microorganisms.

War of the Worlds (2005 film), when Alien lifeforms at t empt t o conquer eart h, t hey are ult imat ely
defeat ed by a common Microbe t o which Humans are immune.

See also

Cat alogue of Life

Impedance microbiology

Microbial biogeography

Microbial int elligence

Microbiological cult ure

Microbivory, an eat ing behavior of some animals feeding on living microbes

Nanobact erium

Nylon-eat ing bact eria

Pet ri dish

St aining

Budapest Treat y (Budapest Treat y on t he Int ernat ional Recognit ion of t he Deposit of
Microorganisms for t he Purposes of Pat ent Procedure)
Notes

a. The word microorganism (/ˌmaɪkroʊˈɔːrɡənɪzəm/) uses combining forms of micro- (from the Greek:
μικρός, mikros , "small") and organism from the Greek: ὀργανισμός, organismós , "organism"). It is
usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (micro-organism), especially in older
texts. The informal synonym microbe (/ˈmaɪkroʊb/) comes from μικρός, mikrós, "small" and βίος,
bíos, "life".

b. The piezophilic bacteria Halomonas salaria requires a pressure of 1,000 atm; nanobes, a speculative
organism, have been reportedly found in the earth's crust at 2,000 atm.[80]

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115. "The Five Keys to Safer Food Programme" (https://web.archive.org/web/20031207063202/http://www.

who.int/foodsafety/consumer/5keys/en/) . World Health Organization. Archived from the original (ht
tps://www.who.int/foodsafety/consumer/5keys/en/) on 7 December 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2021.

External links

Microbes.info (ht t p://www.microbes.info/) is a microbiology informat ion port al cont aining a vast
collect ion of resources including art icles, news, frequent ly asked quest ions, and links pert aining t o
t he field of microbiology.

Our Microbial Planet (ht t p://dels.nas.edu/met agenomics) Archived (ht t ps://web.archive.org/we

b/20130215152557/ht t p://dels.nas.edu/met agenomics) 15 February 2013 at t he Wayback
Machine A free post er from t he Nat ional Academy of Sciences about t he posit ive roles of micro-
organisms.

"Unchart ed Microbial World: Microbes and Their Act ivit ies in t he Environment " (ht t ps://web.archive.
org/web/20080527234727/ht t p://www.asm.org/ASM/files/ccLibraryFiles/Filename/0000000036
91/Unchart ed_ Microbial_ World.pdf) Report from t he American Academy of Microbiology

Underst anding Our Microbial Planet : The New Science of Met agenomics (ht t p://dels.nas.edu/del
s/rpt _ briefs/met agenomics_ final.pdf) Archived (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/2013021515260
0/ht t p://dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt _ briefs/met agenomics_ final.pdf) 15 February 2013 at t he
Wayback Machine A 20-page educat ional booklet providing a basic overview of met agenomics
and our microbial planet .

Tree of Life Eukaryot es (ht t p://t olweb.org/Eukaryot es/3)

Microbe News from Genome News Net work (ht t p://www.genomenewsnet work.org/cat egories/ind
ex/microbes.php)

Medical Microbiology (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/20051101012902/ht t p://gsbs.ut mb.edu/micr

obook/t oc.ht m) On-line t ext book

Through t he microscope: A look at all t hings small (ht t p://www.microbiologyt ext .com/index.php?m
odule=Book&func=t oc&book_ id=4) Archived (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/20080913035245/ht
t p://www.microbiologyt ext .com/index.php?module=Book&func=t oc&book_ id=4) 13 Sept ember
2008 at t he Wayback Machine On-line microbiology t ext book by Timot hy Paust ian and Gary
Robert s, Universit y of Wisconsin–Madison

Microorganisms in t he pond wat er (ht t ps://www.yout ube.com/wat ch?v=sDacX2Xs0X4) on

YouTube

Met hane-spewing microbe blamed in worst mass ext inct ion. CBCNews (ht t p://www.cbc.ca/news/
t echnology/met hane-spewing-microbe-blamed-in-worst -mass-ext inct ion-1.2595797)