Economic importance of viruses and bacteria

1. Economic importance of viruses and
bacteria
Dhole N. A.
Department of Botany,
Digambarrao Bindu ACS College, Bhokar

2. Economic importance of viruses:
• Phages are used as scavengers to eradicate the bacteria present in the
polluted water.
• Viruses are utilised in the production of vaccines, used to develop
immunity against viral infection.
• By holding both the living and nonliving characters, viruses got the
importance in determining the origin of life.
• Virus is used in lab, as the simplest living model.
• In the research of genetics, virus used mostly. It is an important
subject in genetic engineering.

3. • Virus plays a vital role to acquire knowledge about the trend of evolution
and the process of formation of living organisms.
• T2 bacteriophage virus saves humans from dysentery by spoiling some
harmful bacteria, like, e-coli.
• viruses, including particularly bacteriophages (lambda), used for the
construction of cloning and expression vectors.
• Expression of heterologous proteins by viruses is used for the production
of various pharmaceutical proteins, vaccine antigens and antibodies.

4. Economic importance of bacteria:
• Role in Agriculture:
(i) Decay and decomposition:
(ii) Soil fertility:
(a) Ammonifying Bacteria:
(b) Nitrifying Bacteria:
(c) Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria:
(d) Phosphorus solubilizing Bacteria:
(iii) Bacteria as biofertilizers:

5. • Role of Bacteria in Industries:
• The butter and cheese industries entirely depend upon the activities of
the lactic acid bacteria.
• The curing of tea, tobacco and manufacture of indigo are other examples
of useful chemical activities of bacteria which have been controlled for
the benefit of mankind.
• The process of tanning hides in leather making and preparing sponges
also involve the use of bacteria.

6. • The production of linen is impossible without bacterial activity. The tough
fibres, which are left behind, are separated. These fibres are spun and
woven into linen cloth, ropes, etc.
• Lactic acid: It is useful in tanning industries.
• Citric acid: It is used to give aroma and flavour to beverages, sweets and
other foodstuffs.
• Vitamins: Vitamin B is the product of fermentation of sugars and starch
by Clostridium acetobutilicum. The vitamins are used in medicinal
preparations.
• Butyl alcohol: Butyl alcohol, acetone and ethyl alcohol are produced in
one fermentation operation when a certain bacterium is allowed to act on
cooked com starch. These products are important commercial solvents.
• Acetone: It is an important ingredient of explosives and is also used in the
manufacture of photographic films.

7. • Wine production
• Beer Production
• Cheese making
• Curd production
• Butter production
• Yogurt production
• Bread production
• Production of fermented foods
• Vinegar Production
• Use of bacteria in production of genetically modified plants
• Transgenic plants
• Bioremediation
• Production of biogas
• Production of biodegradable plastic

8. • Role of Bacteria in Medicine:
• The milder antibiotics of bacterial origin are tyrothricin, subtilin,
polymyxin B, and bacitracin.
• Bacillius subtilis is the source of subtilin.
• Bacitracin is obtained from a stain very much like Bacillius subtilis.
• The actionomycetes which are filamentous, bacteria-like organisms
produce more powerful antibiotics such as streptomycin, aureomycin and
terramycin.

9. References:
• https://www.academia.edu/35269671/Economic_Importance_of_Ba
cteria_and_Viruses_1._Economic_Importance_of_Bacteria
• https://www.biologydiscussion.com/viruses/viruses-meaning-
characters-and-importance/47089

10. Thank you