Microorganisms & Antibiotics - Questions & Answers
1. What are microorganisms? Name any two.
Microorganisms are tiny living organisms that are not visible to the naked eye.
Examples: Bacteria and fungi.
2. What role does yeast play in the baking industry?
Yeast helps dough to rise by producing carbon dioxide during fermentation, making baked goods
soft and fluffy.
3. Mention two harmful effects of microorganisms.
1. They cause diseases in humans, animals, and plants (e.g., tuberculosis).
2. They spoil food by decomposing it.
4. How do microorganisms help in nitrogen fixation?
Certain bacteria like Rhizobium live in root nodules of leguminous plants and convert atmospheric
nitrogen into compounds that plants can absorb and use.
5. Name one disease each caused by bacteria, virus, and protozoa.
Bacteria: Tuberculosis
Virus: Influenza
Protozoa: Malaria
6. How do microorganisms spoil food?
Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi grow on food, especially in warm and moist conditions,
producing acids or toxins that spoil the food.
7. What precautions should be taken while storing food?
Keep food in airtight containers.
Store perishable food in the refrigerator.
Cook food properly.
Avoid keeping cooked food uncovered.
8. What are pathogens? Give examples.
Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms.
Examples: Salmonella (bacteria), HIV (virus), Plasmodium (protozoa).
9. How is pasteurization helpful?
Pasteurization kills harmful microbes in liquids like milk by heating them to a specific temperature
and then cooling quickly.
10. Why is vaccination important?
Vaccination helps protect the body from deadly diseases by building immunity against specific
pathogens.
11. Why should antibiotics be taken only on the advice of a doctor?
Taking antibiotics without a doctor's advice can lead to resistance, side effects, or incorrect
treatment.
12. If you spill milk and leave it overnight, it curdles. Explain why.
Bacteria like Lactobacillus convert lactose (milk sugar) into lactic acid, which causes milk to curdle.
13. How can microbes be both friends and foes for humans?
Friends: Used in making curd, bread, antibiotics.
Foes: Cause diseases and spoil food.
14. Why do food items spoil easily in the rainy season?
High humidity and warmth during the rainy season promote microbial growth, causing quicker food
spoilage.
15. Explain how microorganisms are both useful and harmful to us. Give examples.
Useful: Lactobacillus helps in curd making, Rhizobium in nitrogen fixation, fungi like Penicillium in
antibiotics.
Harmful: Bacteria like Salmonella cause food poisoning, fungi spoil food.
16. Describe the role of microorganisms in the nitrogen cycle.
Microorganisms fix atmospheric nitrogen, decompose organic matter, convert ammonia into nitrates,
and release nitrogen back to the atmosphere.
17. How do microorganisms cause diseases? Give examples and prevention.
Cause: By entering the body and releasing toxins or damaging tissues.
Examples: Cholera, Measles, Malaria.
Prevention: Vaccination, hygiene, sanitation, clean water.
18. What are antibiotics? How are they prepared and used? What precautions should be
taken?
Antibiotics are medicines that kill or stop the growth of bacteria.
Preparation: Made using fungi or bacteria in labs.
Use: Treat bacterial infections.
Precautions: Take only on doctor's advice, complete the full course, don't use for viral infections.
19. A farmer notices yellowing of leaves. Role of microorganisms?
Yellowing indicates nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria like Rhizobium and Azotobacter
convert atmospheric nitrogen into forms usable by plants.
20. How are microbes useful in agriculture, medicine, and food industry?
Agriculture: Nitrogen fixation (Rhizobium)
Medicine: Antibiotics (Penicillium)
Food Industry: Yeast in baking, bacteria in curd and cheese.
