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Microorganisms & Human Health

Bacteria, viruses, fungi, immunity, vaccines, diseases

Key Concepts

Bacteria: prokaryotes; reproduce by binary fission; gram-positive vs gram-negative
Viruses: protein coat (capsid) around nucleic acid; require host cell to replicate
Beneficial microbes: Lactobacillus (yogurt), Rhizobium (N₂ fixation), Aspergillus (citric acid)
Harmful microbes: Plasmodium (malaria), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), Vibrio cholerae (cholera)
Antibiotics: produced by microbes; kill or inhibit bacteria; penicillin from Penicillium notatum

Important Formulae

Bacterial growth (exponential phase)

N = N₀ × 2ⁿ (n = number of generations)

Quick Tips

Koch's postulates: 4 criteria to establish causative link between microbe and disease.
Pasteur's experiment disproved spontaneous generation using swan-neck flask.
Biogas: mixture of methane (~70%) and CO₂ produced by anaerobic bacteria from organic waste.

Practice Questions

Practice 20 randomly selected NEET questions on Microorganisms & Human Health. Answers are revealed after each question.

Biology Topics