THE MICROBIAL WORLD ~ Beyond Man's imagination
steemstem·@a-condor·
0.000 HBDTHE MICROBIAL WORLD ~ Beyond Man's imagination
I'm quite sure we’ve been hearing a lot about microorganisms (or may be bacteria which is the commonest one).
The microbial world is not made up of Bacteria (singular- bacterium) alone but others such as organisms in the kingdom Archaea (singular- archeon, single-celled microbes lacking a well-defined nucleus), some certain eukaryotes, Fungi, Algae, Protozoans and other minute animals (especially in the water bodies) that cannot be seen with the in aided eye.
**Microbes generally known as Microorganisms are living organisms that cannot be seen with the unaided eye.** Unaided in the sense that, optical instruments that are used for enlarging particles (microscope) are not used.
For microbes to be observed, Microscope or Microscopic techniques must be used.
The existence of microbes is a thing man cannot fathom. They exist in numbers beyond our imagination and exist in place you won’t believe they do.
Microorganisms are so diverse to that extent that hundreds are been discovered yearly (from strains to species and so on) and lots are yet to be discovered or known in their habitat.
**UBIQUITOUS**
Man has failed in adding this _adjective_ to his profile. Lol. But not microbes.
Microbes have been proved to exist in every place man can ever imagine. Although depending on the species but still it’s a microbe.
Microbes appear everywhere. I mean everywhere you can ever think of, there is always a kind of microbe harbouring the site.
They’ve been discovered
- In and on surface of the soil or land masses
- In hot and cold springs
- In Arctic regions
- In the deepest part of the oceans and seas
- In the desert and volcanic regions
- In the atmosphere
- In every single organ of your body as a whole from in and on the skin, stomach, in the blood, nails, liver,_ just mention it_.
Astonishingly, as if these sites are not enough, microbes have also been observed to thrive in vacuum.
- In vacuum I.e outer space
**POPULATION**
The population of Humans on Earth as at 2017 was estimated to be 7.5 billion. Yeah, that quite much. But the population of microbes in the world in incomprehensible and it would be foolish to embark on such research. Although statistics have been made given certain situation confided to specific sites.
- The average human body has been estimated to contain at least 100 billion cells and researchers have testified that there is at least 10times as many of Bacterial cells in and on the body. The ratio was rated 1014 to 1013. These bacteria include beneficial and detrimental ones.
_NB: I only cited Bacteria, other microbes and not included._
- Also in the soil, soil microbes have been able to make a rough estimate of the population of microbes according to their biomass in g/m2 of an average good soil.
Bacteria – 160, Actinomyces - 160, Fungi – 200, Algae – 32, Protozoans – 38, Nematodes – 12, Earthworms – 80.
**MICROBIOLOGY**
Microbiology is simply the study of microscopic organisms.
It is formed from three Greek words,
> μῑκρος, mīkros, "small"; βίος, bios, "life"; and -λογία, “logia” study
The study of microbes have shown how important they are in the Ecosystem. They’ve also been used in industry and at home for several processes.
**ECONOMIC IMPORTANCES OF MICROORGANISMS**
My list may not be comprehensive but I would try to give be concise.
• Microbes (nitrogen fixing bacteria) in the soil aids plant growth.
• Microbes helps in the fermentation process in Brewery industries.
• They are used in making foods such as cheese, yoghurt and bread.
• Production of antibiotics such as Penicillin from a species of fungus _Penicillum_.
• Production of organic acids and enzymes and biogas.
• They are used in sewage treatment since some of them can degrade organic matter which is the major component of sewages.
• Pest control using certain microbes that attack and kill specific pest.
• In animals, microbes present the stomach aids digestion of food particles.
• They are used in treating oil spillage. Some microbes degrade hydrocarbons which is the main component of oil.
• During war, dangerous toxin or spore producing microbes such as B. anthrax which causes anthrax is used as a biological warfare.
• They also cause several diseases in plants and animals.
• They also cause food spoilage.
REFERENCES
http://www.dummies.com/education/science/biology/10-great-uses-for-microbes/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-humans-carry-more-bacterial-cells-than-human-ones/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population
http://archive.bio.ed.ac.uk/jdeacon/microbes/
https://www.asm.org/index.php/colloquium-reports/item/4520-the-microbial-world-foundation-of-the-biosphere
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganism
http://www.imsc.res.in/~indu/JM/2009/JanFeb/Microbio/Microbiology.html
Image sources @pixabay.com, freeimages.com👍 a-condor, yminesandblogs, wolvesabyss, dean-mno, annaarthur, gavvet, xeldal, nomoreheroes7, steve-walschot, dragonslayer109, jacor, crazymumzysa, timsaid, funnyman, vannour, keuudeip, oluwoleolaide, velimir, isteemit, steemcultures, cih, indiantraveller, pharesim, mata, dollface, sudhanshu107, freecreative, black-eye, steemstem, anarchyhasnogods, dber, vandaze, camelot, analisa, zawlay, hungrypanda, joviandres, infovore, bue, healthcare, bunny, daniel.pan, craigslist, flc, bitcoin-hoy, josephumosen, anthonyjek,