Applications of Microbiology

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Some of the major applications of microbiology are as

follows:
Microbiology is one of the most applied branches of science. Its
outstanding applications in the field of food microbiology, medical
microbiology, industrial microbiology, soil microbiology, water and
wastewater microbiology, microbial technology (biotechnology),
extraction of metals and environmental microbiology including the
use of microorganisms as biosensors is as given below.

1. It provides us with information about different types of

microorganisms enabling us to understand their structure and
functions; identifications and differentiations; their classifications;
nomenclatures (naming), requirements regarding their nutrition; their
isolation and purification; as plant and human pathogens; to derive
phylogenetic relationships (relationships according to developmental
stages in the evolution of an organism) and to understand the origin of
life itself.

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2. Microorganisms as food: Besides comestible fungi like mushrooms,

microorganisms are also being used as single cell protein in the form
of yeasts, bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi as human food or animal feed.
The production of the algal microbes as Chlorella (green alga and
Spirulina (cyanobacterium) are being produced in Japan, Taiwan,
Mexico, Israel, Thailand and America. Production of cellulose or
lignocellulose utilizing microorganisms serves as human food as such
or in the form of their products. Microbial products are also used as
animal feed.
3. Microorganisms are used in production of a large number of,
fermented foods such as leavened bread, sourdough bread, fermented
milk products and flavours. The fermented milk products are yoghurt,
cheese and several other products.

4. The important fermented vegetables are sauerkraut (from cabbage)

and Kimchi (from other fermented vegetables in Korea).

5. Fermented meats and fermented fish are used in different parts of

the world due to their increased retentivity, otherwise the meats and
fish are highly perishable.

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6. Beer, vinegar, tempeh, soya sauce, rice wine too are fermented
products.

7. Microbiology has been very useful in preservation of food by heat

processing, by pasteurization and appertization (commercially sterile
food), by calculating thermal death values, prevention of spoilage of
canned foods, aspectic packaging, irradiation, UV radiation, ionizing
radiation, high pressure processing, i.e., pascalization, low
temperature storage (chill storage and freezing), chemical
preservatives (organic acids, esters, nitrite, and sulphur dioxide).

In food microbiology one learns about bacterial and nonbacterial

agents of food borne illness. Among the helminthes and nematodes
are: Platyhelminthus (i.e. liver flukes and tapeworms) and
roundworms (e.g., Trichinella spiralis). The protozoa that cause food
borne diseases are Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica.

8. Microbial diseases: Microorganisms are the causative agents of a

large number of diseases which have been described under a separate
chapter.

9. Industrial Microbiology: A large number of products of microbial

metabolism after microbial processing of raw materials are produced
on industrial scale. A separate chapter has been given on ‘Industrial
Microbiology’.

10. Energy from microbial sources: A number of substrates can be

used as a source of energy as biogas from methanogenic
microorganisms. The microbes like Methanobacterium and
Methanococcus can utilize CO2 as an electron acceptor finally
producing methane. A new species of Methanobacterium, i.e., M.
cadomensis strain 23 has been evolved in Japan for faster production
of methane. Ethanol can also be used for the production of gasohol by
mixing 80 per cent gasoline and 20 per cent ethanol.
11 .Degradation of cellulose and lignin:

Trichoderina reesei can be used to degrade cellulose since it produces

extracellular cellulase. The white rot fungus Sporotrichum
pulverulentum is a cellulase negative organism but a mutant of it has
been prepared which can degrade kraft and wood lignocellulase
actively. It has been possible to produce biological pulp without any
chemical treatment for delignification.

12. Mining and extraction of metals:

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Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and combination of Leptospirillum

ferroxidans and Thiobacillus organoparpus can be used to degrade
pyrite (FeS2) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). The archaeal species
Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and S. brierlevi are capable of oxidizing
sulphur and iron for energy depending on C02 or other simple organic
compounds for carbon. The pyrite and chalcopyrite are also degraded
by these archaeobacterial species.
13. Recombinant DNA and genetic recombination:

Recombinant DNA is a wonderful product of genetic engineering, i.e.,

manufacturing and manipulating genetic material in vitro. The
process of joining DNA from different sources is genetic
recombination. A large number of restriction enzymes/restriction
endonucleases have been obtained from various microorganisms that
can cut or cleave double stranded DNA leaving staggered ends.

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14. Hybridoma and preparation of monoclonal antibodies:

Hybridoma is a cell made by fusing an antibody-producing B-cell with

a cancer cell. The resulting hybrid myeloma or hybridoma cells have
properties of both parent cells immortality and the ability to secrete
large amounts of a single specific type of antibody. This was
discovered by Kohler.

15. Harvesting DNA biotechnology for public health engineering

programmes:

Such programmes include production of interferon which is an

antiviral protein produced by certain animal cells in response to a viral
infection, production of human insulin production of somatotropin a
human growth hormone and production of a large number of other
hormones and vaccines.

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The vaccines for cholera, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, viral hepatitis

type A, type B, influenza, mumps, measles (rubella) plague,
poliomyelitis, rabies, rubbela, typhoid, typhus and yellow fever have
been developed so far.

16. Microbial technology of nitrogen fixation exploiting symbiotic

microorganisms in association with lower or higher plants and
asymbiotic or nonsymbiotic (by nitrogen fixing microorganisms
independently).
Detailed information is covered under a separate chapter on
‘biofertilizers’. In nature, in legume root nodules a red pigment
containing protein called leghaemoglobin is involved in the process of
nitrogen fixation. The key enzyme responsible for biological
conversion of molecular nitrogen to ammonia is nitrogenase.

17. Making faster and smarter computers:

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The Archaeobacterium Halobacterium halobium grows in nature in

solar evaporation ponds having high concentration of salts. Such salty
ponds are found around San Francisco Bay located on the Western
coast of USA.

It has been found that the plasma membrane of Halobacterium

halobium fragments into two fractions, when the cell is broken down.
These two fractions are red and purple. The purple fraction is
important in making computer parts (chips). The purple colour is due
to a protein which is 75% of purple membrane and has been referred
to as bacteriorhodopsin.

Robert Birge at Syracuse University’s Centre of Molecular Electronics

has grown Halobacerium halobium in 5-litre batches and has
extracted the protein bacteriorhodopsin from the cells and developed
the computer chips which are made up of a thin layer of
bacteriorhodopsin.

The chips so made from the bacterial source can store more
information than the conventional silicon chips and process the
information faster more like a human brain. The only drawback is that
one needs to store the protein chips at -4°C. But Birge believes that
this problem will be overcome soon.