Microbes in Human Welfare Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering the role of microbes in household products, industrial products, sewage treatment, biogas production, and as biocontrol or biofertilising agents.

Microbes

Major components of biological systems on earth, found in soil, water, air, and inside organic bodies.

Prions

Proteinaceous infectious agents that are part of the diverse groups of microbes.

Thermal vents (Geysers)

Sites where microbes exist at temperatures as high as $100^\circ C$.

Nutritive media

Substances used to grow bacteria and many fungi into visible colonies for study.

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)

Micro-organisms like Lactobacillus that grow in milk and convert it to curd.

LAB Role in Milk

Produce acids that coagulate and partially digest the milk proteins.

Inoculum (Starter)

A small amount of curd containing millions of LAB added to fresh milk to begin the conversion to curd.

Vitamin $B_{12}$

The specific nutrient increased in milk by the growth of LAB during curd formation.

LAB Stomach Function

Play a beneficial role in checking disease-causing microbes in the human gut.

$CO_2$ (Dough)

The gas responsible for the puffed-up appearance of dough used for dosa, idli, and bread.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker's yeast)

The microbe used for fermenting dough to make bread.

Toddy

A traditional drink in southern India made by fermenting sap from palms.

Swiss cheese

A variety of cheese known for large holes caused by the production of $CO_2$ by Propionibacterium sharmanii.

Propionibacterium sharmanii

The bacterium used to produce Swiss cheese.

Roquefort cheese

Cheese ripened by growing a specific fungi on it to provide a particular flavour.

Fermentors

Very large vessels used in industry to grow microbes for the synthesising of valuable products.

Brewer’s yeast

The common name for Saccharomyces cerevisiae when used to ferment malted cereals and fruit juices for ethanol production.

Non-distilled Beverages

Alcoholic drinks like wine and beer produced without the process of distillation.

Distilled Beverages

Alcoholic drinks like whisky, brandy, and rum produced by distillation of the fermented broth.

Antibiotics

Chemical substances produced by microbes that can kill or retard the growth of other disease-causing microbes.

Anti (Greek word)

A Greek word meaning 'against'.

Penicillin

The first antibiotic to be discovered, named after the mould Penicillium notatum.

Alexander Fleming

The scientist who discovered Penicillin by chance while working on Staphylococci bacteria.

Staphylococci

The bacteria Alexander Fleming was working on when he discovered Penicillin.

Ernest Chain and Howard Florey

Scientists who established the full potential of Penicillin as an effective antibiotic.

1945 Nobel Prize

The award given to Fleming, Chain, and Florey for the discovery and development of Penicillin.

World War II

The global conflict during which Penicillin was extensively used to treat wounded American soldiers.

Kali khansi

The common name for whooping cough.

Gal ghotu

The common name for diphtheria.

Kusht rog

The common name for leprosy.

Aspergillus niger

A fungus used for the industrial production of citric acid.

Acetobacter aceti

A bacterium used for the industrial production of acetic acid.

Clostridium butylicum

A bacterium used for the industrial production of butyric acid.

Lactobacillus (Industrial)

A bacterium used for the industrial production of lactic acid.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Commercial)

Yeast used for the commercial production of ethanol.

Lipases

Enzymes used in detergent formulations to remove oily stains from laundry.

Pectinases and Proteases

Enzymes used to clarify bottled fruit juices bought from the market.

Streptokinase

An enzyme produced by Streptococcus used as a 'clot buster' for patients after myocardial infarction.

Myocardial infarction

The medical condition leading to heart attack where Streptokinase is used for treatment.

Cyclosporin A

An immunosuppressive agent used in organ-transplant patients.

Trichoderma polysporum

The fungus that produces the bioactive molecule Cyclosporin A.

Statins

Bioactive molecules used as blood-cholesterol lowering agents.

Monascus purpureus

The yeast which produces statins.

Competitive inhibition

The mechanism by which statins inhibit the enzyme responsible for cholesterol synthesis.

Sewage

Municipal waste-water that contains large amounts of organic matter and pathogenic microbes.

STPs

Abbreviation for Sewage Treatment Plants.

Primary Treatment

The initial stage of sewage treatment involving physical removal of large and small particles.

Sequential filtration

The process used in primary treatment to remove floating debris.

Grit

Soil and small pebbles removed by sedimentation in the primary stage of sewage treatment.

Primary sludge

The solids that settle during the primary treatment of sewage.

Effluent (Primary)

The supernatant from the primary settling tank which is taken for secondary treatment.

Secondary Treatment

Also known as biological treatment, carried out by heterotrophic microbes naturally present in sewage.

Aeration tanks

Large tanks where effluent is mechanically agitated and pumped with air to support aerobic microbe growth.

Flocs

Masses of bacteria associated with fungal filaments to form mesh-like structures in secondary treatment.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

The amount of oxygen consumed if all organic matter in one liter of water were oxidised by bacteria.

BOD Test

A test measuring the rate of oxygen uptake by micro-organisms, indirectly measuring organic matter in water.

Polluting potential

This is directly proportional to the BOD of waste water.

Activated sludge

The sediment consisting of bacterial 'flocs' formed after the BOD of sewage is significantly reduced.

Anaerobic sludge digesters

Large tanks where anaerobic bacteria digest the bacteria and fungi in the sludge.

Biogas (Components)

A mixture of gases such as methane, hydrogen sulphide, and $CO_2$ produced during sludge digestion.

Ganga Action Plan

An initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to save the Ganga river from pollution.

Yamuna Action Plan

An initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to save the Yamuna river from pollution.

Methanogens

Anaerobic bacteria that produce large amounts of methane along with $CO_2$ and $H_2$.

Methanobacterium

A common methanogen bacterium found in anaerobic sludge and the rumen of cattle.

Rumen

A part of the cattle stomach where methanogens help in the breakdown of cellulose.

Gobar

Cattle excreta (dung) which is rich in methanogens and used for biogas generation.

Gobar gas

A common name for biogas.

Biogas plant depth

The concrete tank of a biogas plant is typically $10-15$ feet deep.

Biogas plant outlets

Includes one for supplying gas to houses and another for removing spent slurry.

IARI

Abbreviation for Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

KVIC

Abbreviation for Khadi and Village Industries Commission.

Biocontrol

The use of biological methods for controlling plant diseases and pests.

Organic farming belief

The belief that biodiversity furthers health and sustainability in the landscape.

Ladybird

A beetle with red and black markings used to get rid of aphids.

Dragonflies

Useful biocontrol agents used to get rid of mosquitoes.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)

A microbial biocontrol agent used to control butterfly caterpillars.

Bt toxin genes

Genes introduced into plants like cotton via genetic engineering to make them pest-resistant.

Bt-cotton

A plant produced by genetic engineering that is resistant to insect pests.

Trichoderma (Biocontrol)

Free-living fungi common in root ecosystems used as biocontrol agents for plant pathogens.

Baculoviruses

Pathogens that attack insects and other arthropods, used as narrow spectrum insecticidal applications.

Nucleopolyhedrovirus

The genus of majority of baculoviruses used as biological control agents.

IPM

Abbreviation for Integrated Pest Management.

Biofertilisers

Organisms that enrich the nutrient quality of the soil, such as bacteria, fungi, and cyanobacteria.

Rhizobium

Symbiotic bacteria in leguminous root nodules that fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Azospirillum and Azotobacter

Examples of free-living bacteria in the soil that fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Mycorrhiza

A symbiotic association between fungi and plants.

Glomus

The genus of fungi that frequently forms mycorrhiza.

Phosphorus (Mycorrhiza)

The key nutrient absorbed by the fungal symbiont in mycorrhiza and passed to the plant.

Cyanobacteria

Autotrophic microbes distributed in aquatic and terrestrial environments that can fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Anabaena/Nostoc/Oscillatoria

Examples of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria.

Blue green algae

Organisms that add organic matter to soil and increase its fertility.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV)

A rod-shaped virus mentioned in the figure descriptions.

Adenovirus

A virus which causes respiratory infections.

Bacteriophage

A type of virus that infects bacteria, shown in Figure 8.2.

Rod-shaped bacterium magnification

Bacteria magnified $1500\times$ in Figure 8.1 (a).

Rod-shaped bacterium flagella

Magnified $50,000\times$ to show external structures in Figure 8.1 (c).

Virus magnification

The magnification level used for viruses in Figure 8.2 is $1,00,000-1,50,000\times$.

Cellulose breakdown

The role of methanogens in the rumen of cattle to aid nutrition.

Ethanol production

The specific alcohol produced by the commercial use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Floating cover (Biogas)

The part of the biogas plant that rises as gas is produced by microbial activity.