 Helpful and Harmful Bacteria

 Contrary to popular belief that most microorganisms are harmful, the usefulness of bacteria far outweighs the damage that they do!  Used in food, waste management, health and even clothing.

Helpful Bacteria  Recyclers  Pollution Control  Probiotic Agents  Industry

Recyclers  Many bacteria are saprophytes.  Saprophytes release enzymes to breakdown materials around them for other organism to consume.  Causing Decay  Involved in Compost production

Pollution Control  Bioremediation: process that uses microorganisms to destroy, transform, or immobilize environmental contaminants  Examples of bioremediation projects can include oil spills and soil cleaning

Probiotic Agents  Probiotics- means “for life”  Help maintain health and has potential to help prevent disease

Industry  Bacteria make many enzymes that are useful in industrial processes  Bacteria are used in the production of consumer products: vinegar, lactic acid, dairy products (cheese, yogurt), antibiotics

Harmful Bacteria  Bacteria are best known for causing disease  Bacillus anthracis was the first bacterium proven to cause disease  Well-known plagues  Diphtheria  Typhoid fever  Bubonic plague (Black Death)  Other illnesses: Strep throat (Streptococcus), Stomach ulcers (H. pylori), etc

Walkerton, Ontario E.coli Outbreak  On May 12, 2000, heavy rains washed fecal bacteria from cattle manure into well water near the town of Walkerton, ON  Within 10 days, hundreds of residents had symptoms of E. coli poisoning  Symptoms include: vomiting, cramps, bloody diarrhea, fever  By May 22, the first death directly linked to E. coli was confirmed

Escherichia coli  There are hundreds of types of E. coli bacteria and not all are dangerous  E. coli are important in intestines of animals and in digestion  E. coli O157:H7 produces a toxin (poison created from a living organism)

E-coli  E.coli can spread through:  Ground beef, unpasteurized milk, contact with cattle, drinking inadequately chlorinated water, swimming in contaminated lakes or pools  This event led to Government legislation on the testing and treatment of drinking water  17 deaths, 2300 illnesses

Antibiotics  Natural substances that immobilize or destroy microorganisms by attacking metabolic pathways in the bacteria but not the host  Ex. Penicillin, streptomycin  2500 naturally occurring antibiotics  Strains that survive reproduce and pass on resistance  Many human pathogens are now resistant