Microorganisms play an important role in many industries like baking, brewing, agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals, and biofuel production. They are used to produce foods and beverages through fermentation. Enzymes produced by microbes are important in food processing. Some microbes produce organic solvents, fuels, and fertilizers that are useful for agriculture and industry. Certain bacteria and fungi are also being developed as biopesticides to control agricultural pests.

1. APPLICATIONS OF MICROBIOLOGY
Dr. Shail Pande
Associate Professor
Mahatma Gandhi P G College, Gorakhpur

2. WHAT IS MICROBIOLOGY
 Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms
which cannot be seen by naked eyes.
 Microbiology includes many sub disciplines like
Mycology, Virology, bacteriology dealing with the
study of Fungi, viruses and bacteria

3. ANTONVANLEEUWENHOEK
Father of
microbiology

4. APPLICATIONS
 Microorganisms are used in baking and brewing
industry even before their existence was well
established.
 In today’s world microbes play very important role
in life of human beings.
 Microbes are involved in enhancing productivity and
quality of Agriculture, Food industry,
Pharmaceuticals, Beverages, ore extraction and
bio-remediation.

5. FERMENTED FOODS
 Breads - Baker’s Yeast Sacchromyces cerevisiae
 Fermented Meats – Pediococcus cerevisiae

6. FERMENTED DAIRY PRODUCTS
 Food / Product
 Buttermilk
 Yogurt
 Ripened Cheese
 Microorganisms used
 Lactic Acid Bacteria
 Lactobacillus
bulgaricus
 Streptococcus

7. FOOD ADDITIVES
 Single Cell Protein (SCP)- include microbial
biomass which can be used as food or food
addditives.
 SCP can include algae, bacteria, yeasts and
filamentous fungi.
 Protein of selected microbes contain all the
essential amino acids
 Algae used as SCP- Chlorella, Spirulina,
Scenedesmus.

8. SCP CONTINUED….
 Some bacteria are used to produce specific amino
acids to be supplemented in food e.g.
 L-Lysine- Corynebacterium glutamicum
 L- Glutamic acid and Monosodium glutamate- by
strains of Brevibacterium flavum, and
Corynebacterium glutamicum

9. ENZYMES
 Protease
 α Amylase
 β Amylase
 Glucamylase
 Bacillus licheniformis
 Aspergillus oryzae
 A.niger
 Bacillus diastaticus
Enzyme Produced Microorganism used

10. ORGANIC SOLVENTS
 Microbial production of acetone and butanol uses
anaerobic Clostridium species
 Conversion of starch to acetone ----- C.
acetobutylicum
 Conversion of carbohydrate in molasses to acetone
and butanol.---- C. saccharoacetobutylicum

11. ORGANIC SOLVENTS
 These include citric, acetic, lactic, fumaric, and
gluconic acids
 Citric acid, which is used in large quantities by
the food and beverage industry, is produced
largely by Aspergillus niger fermentation in which
trace metals are limited to regulate glycolysis and
the TCA cycle, thereby producing excess citric
acid
 Gluconic acid is also produced in large quantities
by A. niger, but only under conditions of nitrogen
limitation; gluconic acid is used in detergents

12. FUELS
 Gasohol– blend of gasoline and ethanol is a
popular automotive fuel in U.S.
 Agricultural bio waste is subjected to fermentation
by very efficient microbes Zymomonas mobilis &
Thermoanaoerobacter sp.which produces alcohol
twice as rapidly as Yeasts by using corn sugar and
plant starch.

13. FUELS
 This is a two step process
 i) Conversion of cellulose to sugars by Clostridium
sp.
 ii) Conversion of these sugars to ethanol by
Zymomonas mobilis & Thermoanaoerobacter sp

14. BIOGAS
 Biogas is mixture of different gases produced by
anaerobic microbes using mainly cattle dung
,domestic and agricultural waste.
 50-70% is metane in biogas, other gases are CO2,
H2, N2 and O2.
 Animal waste is first hydrolysed by hydrolytic
bacteria followed by acid formation by acidogenic
bacteria in forming CO2, H2 and NH3 and finally
methanogens convert it in CH4

15. BIO FERTILIZER
 Biofertilizers are live formulations of beneficial
microorganisms which mobilize the nutrients by
their biological activity to the plant
 Different bacteria and fungi are used for mobilizing
particular nutrient.

16. BIOFERTILIZER
 For Nitrogen
 Rhizobium for Legume crops
 Azotobacter / Azospirillum for Non Legume
crops
 Blue Green Algae / Azolla for lowland Paddy

17. BIO FERTILIZER
 For Phosphorus
 Bacteria- Bacillus & Pseudomonas
 Fungi- Aspergillus awamori, Pencillium digitatum
 AM Fungi- Glomus, Gigaspora

18. BIOPESTICIDES
 Bacteria—(e.g., Bacillus thuringiensis) are being
used to control insects; accomplished by inserting
toxin-encoding gene into plant or by production of a
wettable powder that can be applied to agricultural
crops
 Viruses—nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPV),
granulosis viruses (GV), and cytoplasmic
polyhedrosis viruses (CPV) have potential as
bioinsecticides
 Fungi—fungal biopesticides are increasingly being
used in agriculture e.g. Trichoderma viride