Question

Describe in brief the economic importance of bacteria.

Answer 1

Hint:Bacterias are prokaryotic organisms which can be found in different regions and can survive in harsh environments too.
Bacterias are microorganisms that are useful to humans in various ways but some bacterias are harmful causing diseases like typhoid, pneumonia, and many more.

Complete answer:Bacteria are unicellular, prokaryotic organisms which are found in marshy areas, hilly areas, hot springs, ocean and even in human guts that means they are cosmopolitan in nature. There are generally good bacteria useful to humans and some are harmful in origin also.
Bacteria have shapes such as bacilli or rod, spherical, comma, and spiral.
Bacteria are of two types-gram negative and gram-positive based on the composition of their cell wall.
Gram-positive- Have a thick peptidoglycan layer and no outer lipid membrane. They retain crystal violet stain which is used in staining bacteria for bacterial differentiation.
Gram-negative- Have thin peptidoglycan layers and have outer lipid membranes. They do not retain crystal violet stains.
A bacterial cell includes- capsule/slime layer, cell wall, DNA, flagella, pili. Autotrophic bacteria produce their food by photosynthesis while heterotrophic bacteria consume organic carbon or decomposing flesh.
Some economic importance of bacteria are as follows-
Ammonification- bacterias like Bacillus ramosus, Bacillus mycoides convert complex proteins into ammonia.
Nitrification- bacterias like Nitrobacter, Nitrosomonas convert ammonium salt into nitrites and nitrates.
Nitrogen fixation- bacterias like Azotobacter, Clostridium, Rhizobium convert nitrogen into organic nitrogen.
Antibiotics- like streptomycin, chloromycetin are synthesized by S. grisus, S. aureofaciens, S. venezuelae are used to cure typhoid, urinary infections, tuberculosis, whooping cough, eye infections, syphilis and other bacterial diseases.
Industrial uses- bacteria like S.lactis and lactobacillus convert milk to lactic acid.
Bacterias like leuconostoc citrovorum, lactobacillus lacti, Streptococcus lactis convert milk sugar to lactic acid
Acetobacter aceti converts oxidizing ethyl alcohol to vinegar.

Note:Bacteria like Streptococcus lactis or Lactobacillus lactis, Acetobacter aceti have industrial use in dairy processing industries, preservative factories.
Certain bacteria like streptomycin, chloromycetin, aureomycin are used as antibiotics. Antibiotic is defined as certain chemical compounds secreted by either bacteria or some fungi which kills or inhibit the growth of other microorganisms.
There are certain bacteria that have a negative impact on the environment. They cause various diseases like pneumonia, typhoid, rabies, and many more.