1. Microbes can be beneficial to us?!?
Useful Microbes
Microbes can be beneficial to us?!?

2. Useful Microbes
There are billions of microbes and lots more we haven’t discovered yet
Most of these microbes are either
Necessary for our survival
Good for us
Can be used for our benefit in industry

3. In Nature Microbe – plant Interaction
Many microbes help plants to grow
Rhizobacteria in the soil fix nitrogen - required for many crops to grow
Roots
Microbes

4. In Nature Oxygen production
Blue-green algae produce oxygen in the ocean

5. In Nature Decomposition The breakdown of raw organic materials
Fungi and bacteria invade organic matter in soils.
Essential for recycling of inorganic nutrients

6. In the Food Industry Cheese and yogurt Bread Alcohol Production
Lactic acid fermentation produces yogurt and cheese.
Some fungi are used to make the cheese turn blue.
Bread
Yeast is used to make bread.
Alcohol Production
Yeast is used in alcoholic fermentation
Lactobacilli bacteria used in yogurt and cheese making
Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast used in bread making and alcohol production

7. The fungus Penicillium produces the antibiotic Penicillin
In Medicine
Penicillin
Discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928
Produced by the fungus Penicillium notatum
One of the most commonly used antibiotics today
Vaccines
Discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796
Usually made from weakened or inactive versions of the microbes that make us ill
The fungus Penicillium produces the antibiotic Penicillin

8. Probiotics What are they?
Live microorganisms which can provide a health benefit the host
What type of bacteria are they?
Lactobacilli - part of the natural microflora found in the human gut

9. Probiotics How do they work?
Interact with disease-causing microbes, making it harder for them to cause disease
Reinforce the natural barrier of the digestive tract protecting against harmful microbes
Directly compete with disease-causing microbes for food and other resources, eventually crowding them out
Interacting with and strengthening the immune system