Chapter-Microorganisms: Friend and Foe (Class 8th)

Chapter- Microorganisms:
Friend and Foe

Topics
 Topics in the Chapter Introduction • Where do
microorganisms live • Classifications of microorganisms •
Importance of microorganisms → In food industry → In
beverage industry → In medicine production → In vaccine
production → In increasing soil fertility → In cleaning the
environment • Harmful microrganisms • Food Preservation
• Methods of food preservation → Chemical methods →
Heat and cold Treatments → Storage and Packing •
Nitrogen cycle • Examples of carriers • Diseases in
humans, animals and plants by microorganisms
Introduction
 Those living organisms around us which we
cannot be seen with naked eyes are called
microorganisms or microbes. Some of these
can be seen with a magnifying glass while
some cannot be seen without the help of a
microscope. That is why these are called
microorganisms or microbes.
Where do Microorganisms live
 Microorganisms are classified into four major
groups. These groups are bacteria, fungi,
protozoa and some algae.
(i) Bacteria
  Single-celled organisms
 Mode of nutrition may be autotrophic or
heterotrophic(saprophytic or parasitic)  Size can
be from 0.2 to 100 microns(1 micron=1/100
mm)  Found in wide range of habitats ranging
from glaciers to deserts and hot springs  Mode
of reproduction is binary fission  For example:
curd bacteria (Lactobacillus)
Microorganisms and Us:
 Some of Microorganisms are beneficial in
many ways while some others are harmful
and cause diseases.
Useful Microorganisms:
 Microorganisms are used for various purposes. (i) Some
microorganisms are used in the production of curd,
bread and cake. (ii) Some microorganisms have been
used for the production of alcohol since ages. (iii) They
are also used in cleaning up of the environment as
composers. For example, the organic wastes (vegetable
peels, remains of animals, faeces, etc.) are broken down
into harmless and usable substances by bacteria. (iv) In
agriculture fields, microorganisms are used to increase
soil fertility by fixing nitrogen
Commercial Use of Microorganisms:
 (i) For large scale production of alcohol, wine
and acetic acid (Vinegar) Microorganisms are
used (ii) For commercial production of alcohol
and wine yeast is grown on natural sugars
present in grains like barley, wheat, rice and
crushed fruit juices, etc.
Medicinal Use of Microorganisms:
 (i) Whenever we fall ill the doctor may give us some antibiotic tablets,
capsules or injections like peenicillin which are made up of
microorganism. (ii) These days the medicines produced from Bactria and
fungi kill or stop the growth of the disease-causing microorganisms.
Such medicines are called antibiotics. (iii) Streptomycin, tetracycline and
erythromycin medicines which are made from fungi and bacteria are
some of the commonly known antibiotics. (iv) The antibiotics are made
by growing specific microorganisms and are used to cure a variety of
diseases. Antibiotics should be taken only on the advice of a qualified
doctor. (v) Antibiotics are even added with the feed of livestock and
poultry for checking microbial infection in animals. (vi) Microorganisms
are also used to control many plant diseases.
Vaccine:
 (i) When a disease-carrying microbe enters our body, the
antibodies produced by our body fight with the invader.
If microbes enter again, the body also remembers that
how to fight with the microbes. (ii) If dead or weakened
microbes are injected in a healthy body, the body fights
and kills them by producing suitable antibodies. (iii) The
antibodies remain in the body for protecting from the
disease causing microbes. This is how a vaccine works.
(iv) Several diseases like cholera, tuberculosis, smallpox
and hepatitis can be prevented by vaccination.
Increasing Soil Fertility:
 (i) Some bacteria and blue green algae are
able increase the fertility of soil by fix
nitrogen from the atmosphere to enrich soil
with nitrogen. These microbes are commonly
called biological nitrogen fixers.
Cleaning the Environment:
 At the time of making manure, we collect
wastes of plants, vegetables and fruits from
nearby houses and gardens. They put them in
a pit meant for waste disposal. After some
time, it decomposed by microorganisms and
gets converted to manure. By this method
environment is cleaned.
Harmful Microorganisms:
 (i) Some of microorganisms are harmful in
many ways. (ii) In human beings, plants and
animals, some of the microorganisms cause
diseases. Such disease-causing
microorganisms are called pathogens. (iii)
Food, clothing and leather are spoiled due to
some harmful microorganisms.
Disease— causing Microorganisms in Humans:
 (i) Pathogens enter our body through the
different way like air when we breathe, the
water when we drink or the food when we
eat. They can also get transmitted by direct
contact with an infected person or carried
through an animal.
 . (ii) Microbial diseases such as cholera, common cold,
chicken pox and tuberculosis that can spread from an
infected person to a healthy person through air, water, food
or physical contact are called communicable diseases. (iii)
There are some insects and animals which act as carriers of
disease causing microbes. For example housefly is one such
carrier that flies sit on the garbage and animal excreta etc.
Pathogens stick to their bodies. When these flies sit on
uncovered food they transfer the pathogens. Whoever eats
the contaminated food is likely to get sick. Some more
examples of carrier microbes are the female Anopheles
mosquito, which carries the parasite of malaria. Female
Aedes mosquito acts as carrier of dengue virus. (iv) All
mosquitoes breed in water. So, one should not let water
collect anywhere like in coolers, tyres, flower pot etc. By
keeping the surroundings clean and dry we can prevent
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Friend and Foe

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