Write 10 lines on the usefulness of microorganisms in our lives.

Micro-organisms are too small to be seen through naked eyes. However, they are vital to plants and the environment.

Importance of micro-organisms:

• They are used in winemaking, baking, pickling, and other food making processes.

• Alcoholic fermentation by yeast is widely used in the preparation of wine and bread. A bacterium Lactobacillus, promotes the formation of curd.

• Microbes are used to reduce pollution. For example, decomposers such as bacteria and fungi break down dead bodies and excreta to form inorganic compounds, which can be absorbed by plants.

• They are used to increase the soil fertility by fixing the atmospheric nitrogen with the help of bacterium Rhizobium and some other blue-green algae.

• Microbes also play an important role in the preparation of medicines. Antibiotics are chemicals produced by micro-organisms to kill bacteria. Streptomycin, for example, is an antibiotic.

• Certain microbes are also used in the biological treatment of sewage and industrial effluents.