Helpful Bacteria

People often get "sick" when they hear the word bacteria. But that is not so. All bacteria are not harmful; there are also some bacteria that are helpful to the people. In fact, you will be surprised to know that the life of the human beings would have been more difficult without the existence of such helpful bacteria.

Bacteria are used for the production of food, fuel and medicines. They are also involved in the environmental cleaning and recycling process. Methane gas is a production of bacteria that is found in oxygen-free environment such as the bottom of the lakes or swamps. About 20% of the natural gas deposit of the
Earth is comprised of Methane.

Cheese, yogurt-Ah! These delicious products, you are able to eat them only because of the action of the bacteria. Bacteria growing in the milk help to produce these products such as sour cream, cheese and yogurt. Some bacteria also act as decomposers. They feed on that decayed matter and bring about its breakdown. If these helpful bacteria would not exist as decomposers, then the world would have been full with the environmental wastes of dead animals and plants. Some bacteria have the capacity of eating harmful substances such as oil. Such helpful bacteria are used in the cleaning of the gasoline leakages or oil spills.

In short, we can say that the human body is full of these helpful bacteria's. If these helpful bacteria would not have been present in your body, you would have become ill and suffer a lot. The digestive track of the human beings contains these helpful bacteria. The helpful bacteria basically have two aims in your body:
One is to help the individual in the digestion of their food and secondly prevention of the other harmful bacteria growing there.

Significance of the Helpful Bacteria:

* The helpful bacteria invade the other viruses, bacteria and yeasts to cease their growth.

* It helps in the synthesis of vitamin K that is required for the clotting of the blood and also to keep the bones strong.

* The helpful bacteria assist in the absorption of magnesium that is needed for a number of functions all over in your body.

* It helps in manufacturing the enzyme lactase (milk digesting enzyme) that is required for the digestion of most of the dairy products.

* Helpful bacteria manufacture different B vitamins that are needed for your body for performing a number of functions.

* They help in the prevention of toxicity from the nitrites.

Some of the helpful bacteria's are as follows:

1. E. coli- it is a rod shaped bacteria residing in the stomach of the animals that helps in the process of digestion.

2. Rhizobium- it is species that is greatly devoted to the fixation of the atmospheric nitrogen.
3. Streptomyces- it is a bacterium found in the soil that resides in branching colonies and is frequently used for the manufacture of the commercial antibiotics.

These are some of the helpful bacteria found in our environment around us.