Applied Microbiology

Enumeration of Environmental Microbiology

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Study of Microbial processes in the environment is Environmental Microbiology. It includes the study of interactions of microbes in air, water, soil and also the ecology of microbes at the extreme temperatures, Microbiology 101 says, Microorganisms are everywhere, as in literally everywhere. Microbes are seen on/at/in every surfaces, bodies- dead or alive, clean or unclean, in air, water, soil, ice glaciers, bedrocks, on the surfaces of volcanoes. If you think, microbes are only seen in our atmosphere, then you are wrong as well. Presence of microbes has been detected even in outer space as well, which gave rise to the field of exo-microbiology. Exo-microbiology deals with the study of microbes and their interactions in the outer space. The microbes, also called as bio-tools, in the environment chemically interact with their surroundings thereby oxidizing the atmosphere on the planet. These interactions are crucial and are called the biogeochemical cycle which is basically the foundation of the life on the planet. The bio-geochemical cycles occur because of the elements- carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulphur (S). These microbes, convert the organic matter present in the dead and decaying materials viz., plants, dead animals and excreta, wastewater, landfills, composters, natural terrestrial environments, and natural/ artificial aquatic eco systems into the gases, which are needed for the sustenance through the means of bio-geochemical cycle.