BIOL 2303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Plant Pathology, Bioremediation, Microorganism
Document Summary
Microorganisms degrade dead plants and animals and recycle chemical elements to be used by living plants and animals. Bacteria are used to decompose organic matter in sewage . Bioremediation (uses microorganisms) processes use bacteria to clean up toxic wastes. Bacteria that cause diseases in insects are being used as biological controls of insect pests. Biological controls are specific for the pests and do not harm the environment. Test question : plant pathogen x can grow in the intestine of an insect y, which is currently eating the leaves of our crops. Therefore, we can use plant pathogen x as an effective biological control against insect y. Answer : false because this is a plant pathogen so this causes a disease in plants instead of the insects so this is harming the environment so biological controls should not harm the plants. Using microbes to make products such as foods and chemicals is called biotechnology .