About Microbial communities on Bacterialworld

Microbial fermentation impacts our food, industry and health

Microbial fermentation is a metabolic process that impacts our food, health and many industries. Microbes degrade substrates and convert them into fermentation products, with different species producing unique products. This process is essential in food preservation, creating diverse and complex flavours in fermented foods. Additionally, the microbes involved in fermentation can have health benefits when consumed. Microbial fermentation also plays a significant role in industrial production.

Even at the dark and cold bottom of the sea, microbes flourish

Microbes are everywhere. And some have superpowers that allow them to grow in extremely challenging and harsh environments. Especially at the dark and cold bottom of the sea, extremophiles flourish since they interact with other microbes and eat pollutants and contaminants. Interestingly, their microbial activities can also impact our global climate.

How bacteria in your gut microbiome defend pathogens

Bacteria in your gut microbiome help you digest your food, strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy. For this, your gut bacteria keep you free from gut pathogenic bacteria by fighting them with different weapons. Here, we explore some ways gut bacteria defend pathogens and how you can help them protect you.

Bacterial killer weapons as biocontrol to protect plants

To feed the growing population on our planet, we need to improve our agriculture for plants to stay healthy and produce crops efficiently. One way to protect plants from diseases is to use biocontrol bacteria that actively kill intruding pathogens. Hence, by increasing our food supply, bacteria can help us save this planet.

Floating veils for large bacteria to attach to and fetch nutrients

Thiovulum majus is a large bacterium that needs a lot of nutrients and energy. To find the perfect location in shallow water, it builds white net-like veils. By attaching to these veils and fast rotation, the bacteria bring in freshwater with lots of new nutrients to keep the community alive.

Wolbachia bacteria in mosquitos protect us from nasty viruses

Some nasty viruses can live in mosquitos and get transported into our bodies, when these infected mosquitos bite us. Luckily, some bacteria have superpowers that can fight off these viruses. Find out how the bacterium Wolbachia protects both mosquitos and us from these nasty viruses.

Microbes in biofilms filter out and remove pathogens to clean drinking water in slow sand filtration systems

How Microbes Clean our Drinking Water

Pathogens and dirty particles contaminate our water supply. But helpful microbes can remove harmful bacteria and pollutants and thus clean our drinking water.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae uses their bacterial pili to attach to human gut cells.

About twitching bacteria and their pili

Some bacteria have special hair-like structures to connect to surfaces or other organisms. These bacterial pili help them move along that surface or pull themselves closer to a prey or host. Read about why bacteria need those pili when they are out hunting or infecting us.

Microbes as biofertilizers

Microbes produce nutrients and help promote plant growth to produce more bountiful crops and sustainable agriculture.

Bacteria to produce alternative and green energy sources

We live in an energy crisis in which non-renewable fossil fuels damage our planet. To switch to green biofuels as energy sources, we can rely on bacteria like Zymomonas mobilis, which produces bioethanol. Read on to find out how biofuel-producing bacterial communities can help us make this planet greener and healthier.

Bacteria produce colourful antibiotics to protect frogs

A deadly fungus kills many exotic amphibians. Luckily, some bacteria antibiotics to kill the fungal intruder and thus protect the animal. With this colourful strategy, the right microbial community might even save whole species from extinction.

Microbial bioremediation: microbes cleaning-up our toxic messes

We have created a lot of toxin pollution. Now we need microbe’s help to degrade and remove toxic materials from our environment to make our planet greener.

How bacteria fight off viruses

Bacteria are constantly attacked by other microbes like viruses. But also bacteria developed mechanisms that make them immune to viral intruders. Read on to find out how bacteria fight off viruses to protect themselves and the whole bacterial community.

Microbially Powered Meals: How microbes help make our foods

Microbes are everywhere, including our favorite foods. Learn how microbes help preserve foods while also adding flavors, textures, and nutrients to our meals.

Salmonella bacteria destroy the biofilm of Escherichia bacteria as if they burn their houses down.

Bacteria fight by destroying each other’s biofilm houses

In bacterial battles, there is more than just direct killing. Some bacteria even fight by destroying the houses of their opponents. We could learn a lot from these bacterial wars for our own fights against bacterial superbugs.

Quorum sensing brings bacteria together and triggers them to make uniform decisions.

Quorum sensing – or how bacteria talk to each other

Bacteria also don’t like being lonely and need to know they are not alone. And often they need to talk to other bacteria and interact with them. To do so, they use a mechanism called quorum sensing. Read on to find out more about this fascinating mechanism.

You are what you eat: Gut bacteria share plant leftovers

When we eat plant products, we cannot always digest all their components. Instead, our gut bacteria love plant ploymers and start degrading and digesting them. And they share the leftover food with other bacteria, so that all of them together produce some very healthy molecules for us.

Bacteria can degrade plastics and help us with the plastic pollution in the environment

Plastic Degrading Microbes For a Cleaner Future

Throughout your day, you’re likely using several pieces of plastics. All this plastic waste takes up space in our landfills and overflows into rivers and oceans. Luckily, some bacteria can eat and degrade plastic to help us get rid of all this clutter. Read on to learn how plastic-degrading bacteria may be the key to a greener and healthier planet.

Bacteria can form multicellular organisms. They can form bacterial filaments, multicellular aggregates, hyphae networks or magnetotactic multicellular prokaryotes.

Together we are strong – bacteria form multicellular organisms

When thinking of bacteria, you might have the picture of a single cell in your mind. But interestingly, some bacteria come as multicellular organisms with advanced functions. Here, we will learn what multicellular bacteria are and why bacteria form multicellular organisms. We will then look at some colourful examples of multicellular bacteria.

Magnetotactic bacteria align with the Earth's magnetic field lines

How bacteria read and follow the Earth’s magnetic field

Magnetotactic bacteria have magnetosomes with which they can sense magnetic field lines. This allows magnetotactic bacteria to swim towards North or South to find the perfect location in the deep and dark water.

Microbial communities