Microorganisms have an essential role in life processes and cycles on Earth.

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Microorganisms have an essential role in life
processes and cycles on Earth.

• What are microorganisms?

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Microorganisms

• Unicellular
• Prokaryotic
• Microbes
• Typically need a microscope to view
• Make up the largest number or organisms on this
  planet

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Heres the interesting part

• Microbes vary depending on their kind
• Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa, Archaea, Viruses
• Autotrophic vs. Heterotrophic
• Sexual vs. Asexual Reproduction (Binary
  fission/Conjugation)

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Where do they live?

• They exist in a variety of habitats
• Deep in ocean
• Hot springs
• Deep inside rocks within the Earth
• Viruses live in hosts

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Why do we need microorganisms?

• Microorganisms are essential for nutrient
  recycling (the food web)
• Why?
• The nitrogen cycle requires microorganisms to
  fix nitrogen
• Others?
• Brewing, Baking, Fermentation (YEAST)
• Biotechnology, Genetics, Biochemistry, Molecular
  biology
• Warfare

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Do microorganisms hurt humans?

• Microorganisms are the cause of many infectious
  diseases.
• The organisms involved include
• Bacteria (plague, tuberculosis and anthrax)
• Protozoa (malaria, sleeping sickness and
  toxoplasmosis)
• Fungi (ringworm, candidiasis or histoplasmosis)
• Viruses (influenza, yellow fever or AIDS)

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Compare Contrast

• Viruses
• Particles of nucleic acid, protein and possibly
  lipids
• Grey area of living vs. nonliving
• Depends on host cells to function
• Infect host cells to reproduce, then kills that
  cell and goes to infect others
• Can be dormant in host for long periods of time

• Bacteria
• Reproduce by dividing
• Necessary for life in many ways
• Food/digestion
• Some cause infections
• Some produce antibiotics

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Different Shapes of Bacteria

• Bacilli
• Cocci
• Spirilla

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Bacteria have flagella, glide, or do not move
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How do bacteria get energy?

• Autotrophs
• Photosynthetic autotrophs - cyanobacteria
• Chemosynthetic autotrophs - hydrothermal vents,
  energy
• Heterotrophs
• Photoheterotrophs
• sun energy
• organic compounds nutrition

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Benefits of Viruses

• Viruses can transfer genetic material between
  different species of host so they can be used in
  genetic engineering.
• Viruses also carry out natural "genetic
  engineering" a virus may incorporate some
  genetic material from its host as it is
  replicating, and transfer this genetic
  information to a new host, even to a host
  unrelated to the previous host.
• May lead to evolutionary change

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Benefits of Sanitation

• Hygiene helps avoid infection or food spoiling by
  eliminating microorganisms from the surroundings.
  
• Sterilization has led to the elimination of
  transferring disease by certain ways
• Example Hypodermic needles
• Cooking techniques

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What else helps?

• Clean water supplies
• Medicine (Antibiotics)
• Vaccines
• Others?

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Discussion

• How do science and technology affect the quality
  of our lives related to bacteria and viruses?