Everything about Microbial Ecology totally explained
Microbial ecology is the relationship of
microorganisms with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major
domains of life —
Eukaryota,
Archaea, and
Bacteria — as well as
viruses.Microorganisms, by their omnipresence, impact the entire
biosphere. They are present in virtually all of our planet's environments, including some of the most
extreme, from acidic lakes to the deepest ocean, and from frozen environments to hydrothermal vents.
Microbes, especially bacteria, often engage in
symbiotic relationships (either positive or negative) with other organisms, and these relationships affect the ecosystem. One example of these fundamental symbioses are
chloroplasts, which allow eukaryotes to conduct
photosynthesis. Chloroplasts are considered to be endosymbiotic
cyanobacteria, a group of
bacteria that are thought to be the origins of aerobic photosynthesis. Some theories state that this invention coincides with a major shift in the early earth's atmosphere, from a reducing atmosphere to an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Some theories go as far as saying that this shift in the balance of gasses might have triggered a global ice-age known as the
Snowball Earth.
They are the backbone of all
ecosystems, but even more so in the zones where light can't approach and thus photosynthesis can't be the basic means to collect energy. In such zones, chemosynthetic
microbes provide energy and
carbon to the other
organisms.
Other microbes are
decomposers, with the ability to recycle
nutrients from other organisms' waste poducts. These microbes play a vital role in biogeochemical cycles. The
nitrogen cycle, the
phosphorus cycle and the
carbon cycle all depend on microorganisms in one way or another. For example,
nitrogen which makes up 78% of the planet's atmosphere is "indigestible" for most organisms, and the flow of nitrogen into the biosphere depends on a microbial process called fixation.
Due to the high level of
horizontal gene transfer among microbial communities, microbial ecology is also of importance to studies of
evolution.
Microbial resource management
Biotechnology may be used alongside microbial ecology to address a number of environmental and
economic challenges. Managing the carbon cycle to sequester
carbon dioxide and prevent excess
methanogenesis is important in mitigating
global warming, and the prospects of
bioenergy are being expanded by the development of
microbial fuel cells. Microbial resource management advocates a more progressive attitude towards
disease, whereby
biological control agents are favoured over attempts at eradication. Fluxes in
microbial communities must be better characterized for this field's potential to be realised.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Microbial Ecology'.
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