JAWAHAR NAVODAYAVIDYALAYA

MYSURU

BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

2019 – 20

TOPIC: STUDY OF MICROBES AND ITS APPLICATION IN

INDUSTRIES

GUIDED BY: SUBMITTED BY:

Mr. M. S. Lava kumar Sudeep R Jadhav
PGT Biology Class 12th
J. N. V. Mysuru J. N. V. Mysuru

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 JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA
D. M. G. HALLI MYSURU
2019 – 20
PROJECT REPORT

NAME OF THE STUDENT: Sudeep R Jadhav

SUBJECT: BIOLOGY

TITLE OF THE PROJECT: Study of microbes and its

application in industries

CLASS: 12 th

SCHOOL: Jawahar NavodayaVidyalaya,Mysuru

NAME OF THE GUIDE: Mr. M. S. Lava kumar

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 CERTIFICATE
Department of Biology
Roll no:
This is to certify that SUDEEP R JADHAV student of class 12th
JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA, MYSURU has completed the
project titled “STUDY OF MICROBES AND ITS APPLICATION IN
INDUSTRIES” during the academic year 2019-20 towards the
partial fulfillment of credit for the Biology practical, evaluation
of AISSCE 2020 and submitted satisfactory report as compiled
in the following pages, under my supervision and the data
included is genuine.
Date:
Examiner:
Mr. M. S. Lava Kumar Vice-Principal
P.G.T Biology
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Mysuru
Institution seal: Principal

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks
to our Biology teacher Mr. M. S. Lava Kumar for his
invaluable guidance, constant encouragement,
constructive comments, sympathetic attitude and
immense motivation which has sustained my efforts at all
stages of this project work. His valuable advice and
suggestions for the corrections, modifications and
improvement did enhance the perfection in performing my
job well.
I would like to express my gratitude for our honorable
principal Sri.Madhusoodanan.J for whole hearted
cooperation and guidance. I am also thankful for his
encouragement and for all the facilities that he provided
for this project work. I sincerely appreciate this
magnanimity by taking me into his fold for which I shall
remain indebted to him.
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 INTRODUCTION
What are microbes?
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organismthat
comprises either a single cell (unicellular), cell clusters, or
multicellular relatively complex organisms. The study of
microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with
Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675,
using a microscope of his own design. Microorganisms are very
diverse; they include bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa;
microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as rotifers and
planarians. Some microbiologists also include viruses, but others
consider these as nonliving. Most microorganisms are unicellular
(single-celled), but this is not universal, since some multicellular
organisms are microscopic, while some unicellular protists and
bacteria, like Thiomargarita namibiensis, are macroscopic and
visibleto the naked eye. Microorganisms live in all parts of the
biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on
the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within
the Earth's crust. Microorganisms are critical to nutrient recycling
in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. As some
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microorganisms can fix nitrogen, they are a vital part of the nitrogen
cycle, and recent studies indicate that airborne microbes may play a
role in precipitation and weather. Microbes are also exploited by
people in biotechnology, both in traditional food and beverage
preparation, and in modern technologies based on genetic
engineering. However, pathogenic microbes are harmful, since they
invade and grow within other organisms, causing diseases that kill
humans, other animals and plants. But they have a lot of uses too.
Microorganisms are vital to humans and the environment, as they
participate in the Earth's element cycles such asthe carbon cycle
and nitrogen cycle, as well as fulfilling other vital roles in virtually all
ecosystems, such as recycling other organisms' dead remains and
waste products through decomposition. Microbes also have an
important place in most higher-order multicellular organisms as
symbionts. Many blame the failure of Biosphere 2 on an improper
balance of microbes.

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 APPLICATIONS OF MICROBES
IN FOOD INDUSTRIES:
Microorganisms are used in brewing, wine making, baking, pickling
and other food-making processes. They are also used to control the
fermentation process in the production of cultured dairy products
such as yogurt and cheese. The cultures also provide flavour and
aroma, and inhibit undesirable organisms.
 CHEESE:

Milk is often pasteurized to destroy pathogenic microorganisms and

to eliminate spoilage and effects induced by bacteria. The milk is
then inoculated with fermenting microorganisms and rennet, which
promote curdling.

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The fermenting microorganisms carry out the anaerobic conversion
of lactose to lactic. In the presence of lactic acid, rennet, or both,
the milk protein casein clumps together and precipitates out of
solution; this is the process known as curdling, or coagulation.
Coagulated casein assumes a solid or gel like structure (the curd),
which traps most of the fat, bacteria, calcium, phosphate, and other
particulates. The remaining liquid (the whey) contains water,
proteins resistant to acidic and enzymatic denaturation (e.g.,
antibodies), carbohydrates (lactose), and minerals.
Cheese Making Process:
Enzymes released by the bacterial cells also influence flavour
development during ripening. The curd is then gently heated, causing
it to shrink. The degree of shrinkage determines the moisture
content and the final consistency of the cheese. Whey is removed by
draining or dipping.
Most cheese is ripened for varying amounts of time in order to bring
about the chemical changes necessary for transforming fresh curd
into a distinctive aged cheese. The ripening of cheese is influenced
by the interaction of bacteria, enzymes, and physical conditions in
the curing room. The speed of the reactions is determined by
temperature and humidity conditions in the room as well as by the
moisture content of the cheese.
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  WINE:
The process of winemaking involves numerous stages starting with
the grapes being harvested, taken into a winery and then prepared
for fermentation. At this stage, red wine is created during the
fermentation of the pulp (or "must") and skins of the red or
black grapes, which gives the wine its colour. White wine, on
the other hand, does not include the grape skins in the
fermentation process; only the juices are extracted. To start
primary fermentation, a process that typically takes between
one to two weeks, yeast is added which converts the sugars in
the grape juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which then
evaporates into the atmosphere.

 Wine Making Process:

The produced liquid, which is known as "free wine," is then
pumped into tanks and the skins are pressed in order to
extract the remaining wine and juice. This wine, known as the
"press wine," can be added to the free wine to bring more
character and longevity to the wine. Secondary fermentation is
the next step, which is the bacterial fermentation involving the
conversion of malic acid to lactic acid. This decreases the
amount of acid in the wine and softens the taste. The wine can
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then be transferred to oak barrels for maturation, with further
adjustments to taste and colour being made prior to filtering
and bottling.

Curd Making Process:

Curds are a dairy product obtained by coagulating milk in a process
called curdling. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or
any edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar, and then
allowing it to sit. The increased acidity causes the milk proteins to
tangle into solid masses. Lactobacillus is a genus of bacteria which
can convert sugars into lactic acid by means of fermentation. Milk
contains a sugar called lactose, a disaccharide (compound sugar)
made by the glycosidic bonding between glucose and galactose
(monosaccharide). When pasteurized milk is heated to a
temperature of 30-40 °C, or even at room temperature or
refrigerator temperature, and a small amount of old curd or whey
added to it, the lactobacillus in that curd or whey sample starts to
grow. These convert the lactose into lactic acid, which imparts the
sour taste to curd. Raw milk naturally contains lactobacillus. And in
this way Curd is made.

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 USES IN WATER TREATMENT:
Microbes play a Major role in treating millions of Gallons of
wastewater every day across the globe. Water pollution is due to
presence of particulate matter or presence of inorganic or organic
Compounds or because of too many or non-native microorganisms.
Sewage Treatment consists of three stages called Primary,
Secondary and Tertiary Treatment:-
Primary treatment:
In the primary sedimentation stage, sewage flows through large
tanks, commonly called “pre-settling basins”, “primary
sedimentation tanks” or “primary clarifiers". The tanks are used to
settle sludge while grease and oils rise to the surface and are
skimmed off. Primary settling tanks are usually equipped with
mechanically driven scrapers that continually drive the collected
sludge towards a hopper in the base of the tank where it is pumped
to sludge treatment facilities.
Grease and oil from the floating material can sometimes be
recovered for saponification (soap making).

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  Secondary Treatment:
Secondary treatment is designed to substantially degrade the
biological content of the sewage which are derived from human
waste, food waste, soaps and detergent. The majority of municipal
plants treat the settled sewage liquor using aerobic biological
processes. To be effective, the biota requires both oxygen and food
to live. The bacteria and protozoa consume biodegradable soluble
organic contaminants (e.g. sugars, fats, organic short-chain carbon
molecules, etc.) and bind much of the less soluble fractions into floc.
Secondary treatment systems are classified as fixed-film or
suspended-growth systems.
 Tertiary Treatment:
The purpose of tertiary treatment is to provide a final treatment
stage to further improve the effluent quality before it is discharged
to the receiving environment (sea, river, lake, wet lands, ground,
etc.). More than one tertiary treatment process may be used at any
treatment plant. If disinfection is practised, it is always the final
process. It is also called “effluent polishing.”

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  USES IN ENERGY:
Microorganisms are used in fermentation to produce ethanol, and in
biogas reactors to produce methane. Scientist are researching the
use of algae to produce liquid fuels and bacteria to convert various
form of agricultural and urban waste into usable fuels.
 Algae Fuel:
Algae fuel or algal bio fuel is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that
uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils. Several companies and
government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and
operating costs and make algae fuel production commercially viable.
Like fossil fuel, algae fuel releases CO2 when burnt, but unlike fossil
fuel, algae fuel and other bio fuels only release CO2 recently
removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis as the algae or
plant grew. The energy crisis and the world food crisis have ignited
interest in alga culture (farming algae) for making biodiesel and
other bio fuels using land unsuitable for agriculture. Among algal
fuels' attractive characteristics are that they can be grown with
minimal impact on fresh water resources can be produced using
saline and wastewater, have a high flash point and are biodegradable
and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled.

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  Cellulosic ethanol:
Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the
non-edible parts of plants. It is a type of biofuel produced from
lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the
mass of plants. Lignocellulose is composed mainly of cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin. Corn stover, switchgrass, miscanthus,
woodchips and the byproducts of lawn and tree maintenance are
some of the more popular cellulosic materials for ethanol
production. Production of ethanol from lignocellulose has the
advantage of abundant and diverse raw material compared to
sources like corn and cane sugars, but requires a greater amount of
processing to make the sugar monomers available to the
microorganisms that are typically used to produce ethanol by
fermentation. The main advantage of Cellulosic ethanol is that it
reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85% over
reformulated gasoline.

 Biogas:
Biogas, naturally occurring gas that is generated by the breakdown
of organic matter by anaerobic bacteria and is used in energy
production. Biogas is primarily composed of methane gas, carbon
dioxide, and trace amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon
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monoxide. Biogas differs from natural gas in that it is a renewable
energy source produced biologically through anaerobic digestion
rather than a fossil fuel produced by geological processes. Biogas
occurs naturally in compost heaps, as swamp gas, and as a result of
enteric fermentation in cattle and other ruminants. Biogas produced
in anaerobic digesters can be burned to generate heat or used in
combustion engines to produce electricity. Organic material used to
produce biogas industrially includes animal waste, such as manure
and sewage, and municipal solid waste (MSW) harnessed from
landfills.
Biogas Plant:
Animal and plant wastes can be used to produce biogas. They are
processed in anaerobic digesters as a liquid or as slurry mixed with water.
Anaerobic digesters are generally composed of a feedstock source holder,
a digestion tank, a biogas recovery unit, and heat exchangers to maintain
the temperature necessary for bacterial digestion. Heat is usually required
in digesters to maintain a constant temperature of about 35 °C (95 °F) for
bacteria to decompose the organic material into gas. The use of biogas is a
green technology with environmental benefits. Biogas technology enables
the effective use of accumulated animal waste from food production and of
municipal solid waste from urbanization. The conversion of animal waste
into biogas reduces production of the greenhouse gas methane, as efficient
combustion replaces methane with carbon dioxide.

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 CHEMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES:
Use in production of chemicals, enzymes, antibiotics etc. Many
microbes are used for commercial and industrial production of
chemicals, enzymes and other bioactive molecules. Examples of
organic acid produced include Acetic acid: Produced by the
bacterium Acetobacter acetic and other acetic acid bacteria (AAB)
Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are bacteria that derive their energy
from the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid during fermentation.
They are Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria. They are not
to be confused with the genus Acetobacterium, which are anaerobic
homoacetogenic facultative autotrophs and can reduce carbon
dioxide to produce acetic acid, for example, Acetobacterium woodii.
Butyric acid (butanoic acid): Produced by the bacterium Clostridium
butyricum.

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Clostridium butyricum is a strictly anaerobic endospore-forming
Gram-positive butyric acid producing bacillus subsisting by means of
fermentation using an intracellularly accumulated amylopectin-like
α-polyglucan (granulose) as a substrate. It is uncommonly reported
as a human pathogen and widely used as a probiotic in Asia
(particularly Japan). C. butyricum is a soil inhabitant in various parts
of the world, has been cultured from the stool of healthy children
and adults, and is common in soured milk and cheeses. Lactic acid :
Lactobacillus and others commonly called as lactic acid bacteria
(LAB) The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) comprise a clade of Gram-
positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-
respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common
metabolic and physiological characteristics.

These bacteria, usually found in decomposing plants and lactic

products, produce lactic acid as the major metabolic end-product of
carbohydrate fermentation. This trait has, throughout history, linked
LAB with food fermentations, as acidification inhibits the growth of
spoilage agents. Proteinaceous bacteriocins are produced by
several LAB strains and provide an additional hurdle for spoilage and
pathogenic microorganisms. Furthermore, lactic acid and other
metabolic products contribute to the organoleptic and textural
profile of a food item. The industrial importance of the LAB is further
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evinced by their generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status, due to
their ubiquitous appearance in food and their contribution to the
healthy microflora of human mucosal surfaces.

 Citric acid: (C6H8O7)

Produced by the fungus Aspergillus niger .Aspergillus niger is a
fungus and one of the most common species of the genus
Aspergillus. It is ubiquitous in soil and is commonly reported from
indoor environments, where its black colonies can be confused with
those of Stachybotrys (species of which have also been called "black
mould"). Antibiotics are chemical substances, which are produced by
some microbes and can kill or retard the growth of other (disease-
causing) microbes. You are familiar with the commonly used
antibiotic Penicillin. Alexander Fleming while working on
Staphylococci bacteria, once observed a mould growing in one of his
unwashed culture plates around which Staphylococci could not grow.
He found out that it was due to a chemical produced by the mould
and he named it Penicillin after the mould Penicillium notatum.
However, its full potential as an effective antibiotic was established
much later by Ernest Chain and Howard Florey. This antibiotic was
extensively used to treat American soldiers wounded in World War II.

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Fleming, Chain and Florey were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945, for
this discovery.

Microbes are used for preparation of bioactive molecules and

enzymes. Streptokinase produced by the bacterium Streptococcus
and modified by genetic engineering is used as a clot buster for
removing clots from the blood vessels of patients who have
undergone myocardial infarctions leading to heart attack.
Cyclosporin A is a bioactive molecule used as an immunosuppressive
agent in organ transplantation. Stains produced by the yeast
Monascus purpureus is commercialised as blood cholesterol
lowering agents which acts by competitively inhibiting the enzyme
responsible for synthesis of cholesterol.

CONCLUSIONS:
Microbes are a very important component of life on earth. Not all
microbes are pathogenic. Many microbes are very useful to human
beings. We use microbes and microbially derived products almost
every day. Microbes are essential in processes like Wine making and
Cheese making. Bacteria called lactic acid bacteria (LAB) grow in
milk to convert it into curd. The dough, which is used to make bread,
is fermented by yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Certain
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dishes such as idli and dosa are made from dough fermented by
microbes. Bacteria and fungi are used to impart particular texture,
taste and flavour to cheese.

Many microbes are used for commercial and industrial production of

chemicals; enzymes and other bioactive molecules .Antibiotics like
penicillins produced by useful microbes are used to kill disease-
causing harmful microbes. For more than a hundred years, microbes
are being used to treat sewage (waste water) by the process of
activated sludge formation and this helps in recycling of water in
nature. Microorganisms are used in fermentation to produce
ethanol, and in biogas reactors to produce methane Methanogens
produce methane (biogas) while degrading plant waste. Biogas
produced by microbes is used as a source of energy in rural areas.
It is clear from the diverse uses human beings have put microbes to
that they play an important role in the welfare of human society.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 ncert class 12th textbook
 www.sciencebuddies.com
 www.slideshare.com
 comprehensive lab manual

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