useful interesting microorganisms

[civex]

Hey,
just got a paper assignment for micro and was looking for some topic ideas. The paper has to be on a useful nonharmful (no pathogens/diseases) microorganism. I'm hoping someone can give me a reccomendation, so I can research an interesting one. I was thinking about yeast, because I've done some homebrewing and find it interesting, but our professor is very knowledgeable about yeast(don't think my discussion would be interesting for him), and mentioned he'd like something more current. So, if anyone knows of a cool microbe/whatnot and would let me know, that'd be sweet 👍.

Thanks.

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[dienophile]

lactobacillis

 

[avuong]

L. acidophilis is one of many bacteria found in yogurt and may improve digestive function*.



*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.

 

[TTUMike]

I would research Alcaligenes eutrophus which is a bacterium capable of producing PHAs or biodegradable plastics. Despite being expensive to manufacture they could help alleviate some of the environmental costs associated with waste plastic.

 

[mike36]

Thermus aquaticus, source of heat-stable polymerase that made PCR possible. Also, many of our antibiotics and anti-cancer agents were first discovered in bacteria like Streptomyces spp. and others.

 

[Nottingham]

Diatoms, algea with silica cell walls. Used in diatomaceous earth, water filters etc

 

[Storm90]

Saccharomyces boulardii, also used as probiotic. Me personally, I love all the pathogenic organisms. I would hate to write your paper, except for Mike36's suggestion.

 

[Farmercyst]

blue-green algae, used to mass produce hydrogen for power production. Genetic engineering hasn't yet made it cost effective, but it's still pretty cool.

 

[YiYaoYue]

I think there is a bacteria that produces human insulin. Obviously genetically engineered though.

 

[mike36]

I think there is a bacteria that produces human insulin. Obviously genetically engineered though.

Yep, I believe they currently use E. coli, but I think they will be using Streptomyces in the future because you get better in vivo folding of the protein. There are also vaccine proteins that are made via genetic engineering. I believe (though don't quote me) that Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the yeast that is used to produce the recombinant proteins for the B. pertussis vaccine.

 

[mike36]

Saccharomyces boulardii, also used as probiotic. Me personally, I love all the pathogenic organisms. I would hate to write your paper, except for Mike36's suggestion.

Yeah, I agree. Non-pathogenic microorganisms are boring to me. If I had to write this, I would write something about antibiotic or vaccine production.

 

[civex]

Thanks for all the responses, greatly appreciated. I'm starting to look into your reccomendations. Yeah, I would rather write a paper about a pathogen, but the teacher is worried he would get recycled papers from a patho or parisitology class, because for some reason we have quite a few senior bio majors in the class. I'm looking into Alcaligenes eutrophus now. Thanks again.

 

[medicalCPA]

OP, although pathogenic microbes may sound more interesting, the fact is that the vast majority of microbes are beneficial.

My suggestion would be Lactobacillus. Apart from making yogurt, the bacterium is also responsible for the natural acidity of the human vagina. Actually, "normal" vaginal flora contain several species of Lactobacillus (L. crispatus and L. iners are the two that come to mind). These bacteria produce lactic acid, which reduces the pH of the vagina to ~4 to 4.5. When women lose their flora in a condition known as "Bacterial Vaginosis" (BV), they lose their lactobacilli. The bacteria are not there to produce acid, and vaginal pH rises.

Now, the interesting thing is that the acidic pH is enough to keep STD pathogens at bay, and women with normal vaginal flora have a lower risk of developing STDs. When vaginal pH rises, STD pathogens are able to colonize the vagina and set up an infection. Which is why women are sometimes advised to eat yogurt to recolonize their vaginas. One particular website actually recommends sticking a dollop of it "down there."



Or, you could write about Ustilago maydis, the fungus that causes corn smut. It is pathogenic to corn, but humans eat it. In Mexico, it is called huitlacoche and considered a delicacy. Azotobacter and Nitrosomonas are two genera of bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle. Both of them make nitrogen available to plants. The former fixes atmospheric nitrogen, while the latter converts ammonia to nitrite. Acetobacter is another bacterium that converts ethanol to acetic acid, and is used industrially in the production of vinegar. There you go. Now you have even more possible candidates for your paper. Good luck on it, by the way.

 

[civex]

Well, ended up going with Thermus aquaticus. Looked into it and thought it was interesting, my other option was Lactobacillus, but in lecture we were told he isn't letting anyone else write about it. Thanks for all your replies, 'specially medicalcpa and mike. Hmm, if you want you can mention favorite research websites; I've been using jstor and pubmed. Goin to hit up the library this next week. Thanks again.