Microbial Ecology
Written by Dr. T. M. Wassenaar Tuesday, 23 December 2008 16:35
- An introduction to microbial ecology is given at the Digital learning centre for Microbial Ecology, a science education project also known under the name 'Microbe Zoo'.
Human activity frequently damages natural ecosystems, but when we try to repair some of that damage, bacteria can help. Check our display on applied microbiology for what diverse jobs bacteria are used as a cheap labor.
- Freshwater pollution by organic material is made worse by bacterial activity. The solution would be to stop pollution; the cure can be the application of the right type of bacteria.
The term microbial ecology is broad enough to cover very different fields of microbiological research. After all, there are few places on Earth where bacteria do not thrive. In every place where they live, bacteria interact with their surroundings. Some research topics receive more attention than others.
One of the fields that is quite hot right now is what bacterial species live in the human gut. It turns out that the microbial content of the gut is surprisingly diverse, and these bacteria can do all sorts of things to the person they live in. Evidence is growing that particular groups of bacteria are related to obesity, and they may even be the cause, rather than the effect of this condition.
Or are you more interested in marine microbial ecology? More information on marine microbial ecology. Of special interest is the microbial ecology of corals, which are living symbionts composed of algae and coral animals. But bacteria probably play a role in the health of corals, too.
Not only the wet surface of our planet is studied. Microbial ecology is also relevant to agriculture, too.Read about microbiology of agricultural soils The bacteria living in soil or mud can affect the composition of their environment. All bacteria living on earth may have as much biomass as all plants and animals together!
- In case you wondered, how many bacteria inhabit our planet?
Microbial ecology can even be studied when the bugs can't be grown in culture. The application of molecular biology techniques makes it possible and so molecular microbial ecology is born.
One thing is clear: bacteriologists working in microbial ecology are often not afraid to get dirty or wet!
Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 November 2011 11:55