The microorganisms are lively microscopic beings imperceptible in view found everywhere: we can find them on the ground, in the intestine of human beings even at the bottom of the ocean and in thermal sources. Frequently, these are known for the damage they can cause in people, but also have many beneficial properties that are indispensable for life.
These microbial communities can interact with each other and with the environment, constituting a dynamic microecosystem called microbiome. In this interesting ecology article, we tell you about What is a microbiome, its functions and examples.
What is microbiome
Microbioma refers to a community of microorganisms that occupies a defined habitat. When we talk about microbiome, we must not only take into account microorganisms but also their activity, that is, the way they interact with each other and with the surrounding environment.
Therefore, microbiome constitutes a dynamic microecosystem that involves various genomes and metabolites of the microbial community and the reigning conditions of the environment to which they are subjected. The microbiome is integrated into complex macroecosystems such as humans.
There is a term similar to the microbiome with which we should not confuse: The microbiota. The microbiota is defined as the set of microorganisms such as bacteria, arches, unicellular algae, fungi, which inhabit a specific environment. For example, in the colon of human beings. Therefore, the difference between microbiota and microbiome is that this last term takes into account the interactions between organisms and the environment, that is, the term microbiome covers the microbiota and its activity.
Human microbiome
The human microbiome varies in each of the people since bacterial communities depend on a series of factors such as moisture, temperature and nutrients that determine their survival. In addition, the colonization by the bacteria is carried out during the entire life cycle of a person: the communities present in a newborn will not be the same as in an adult due to the different ages, diets, hormonal development, sexual maturity, etc.
The microbiome can be altered by the consumption of drugs such as antibiotics, variations in the diet, stress, among other multiple factors. Exist diseases that can be the result of an imbalance of microbiome such as diabetes, allergies, gastrointestinal diseases, arthritis and even cancer.
Within the body of human beings some of the Microbioma functions are:
- Digestion: The bacteria present in the intestinal microbiome help in the degradation of complex carbohydrates present in the cell walls of vegetables such as cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin, and thus facilitate digestion.
- System immune: Bacteria can “indicate” to lymphocytes that cells are beneficial and which are harmful (antigens) and thus determine which of them will predominate in that environment.
- Protection forehead to pathogens: The bacteria present in the microbiomes of the skin, the oral cavity, of the respiratory and vaginal tract protect the mucous membranes of the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms since they act as a physical and chemical barrier.
Soil and plants microbioma
An example of microbiome It constitutes the rhizospheredefined as the portion of the immediate soil to the roots of the plants where there are multiple interactions. Another example is that of THE PHILOSFEREwhere communities of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi develop and interact on the surface of the leaves.
These examples of plant microbioma can meet the following functions:
- Nutrient cycling: Microorganisms through processes such as mineralization, immobilization and solubilize provide nutrients that can be used by plants.
- Plant growth: Microorganisms produce substances that stimulate plant growth such as gibberellins and auxins.
- Protection: The microbial community protects from pathogens to the roots of plants through antibiotic production and can also detoxify toxic substances segregated by some plants that can harm other organisms.
- Symbiosis: Microorganisms can perform mutual symbiotic associations with vegetables favoring their growth and development. Discover what symbiosis in ecology is with examples in the following article we recommend.
- Remediation: From the microbiomas present for example in the ground and in association with plants, contaminated soils and water can be treated in this way.
Marine microbioma
In the oceans there are a great diversity of microorganisms that are found associated with various guestsIt is forming different microbiomes. There are examples of microbiomas that cover from invertebrate animals such as sea sponges, to large vertebrates such as sharks. Let’s look at some examples and what are their functions in aquatic ecosystems:
- Cycling and nutrient storage: According to studies, the microbiomes of sea sponges, for example, contribute to the cycling of nutrients such as nitrogen in the oceans, and also in the storage of nutrients such as phosphorus in the form of phosphates. In turn, they fulfill another fundamental function associated with the conversion of dissolved carbon released by other organic carbon organisms that would be available for heterotrophic organisms.
- Defense: In various marine organisms such as corals there are bacteria in their superficial layers that produce antibacterial compounds thus avoiding a possible infection. In the case of cetaceans, their microbiome present in the skin, acts as a physical barrier protecting the animal from the external environment and not only constitutes an indicator of their health but also of the health of the environment.
It should be noted that in this article we only mention some of the many examples that exist in nature, since they are very numerous. On the other hand, do not miss the following Ecology Verde to discover more about the aquatic ecosystems.
If you want to read more articles similar to Microbioma: What is, functions and exampleswe recommend that you enter our biology category.
- Microbioma Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/microbioma#microbioma_vegetal
- Uzcátegui, O. (2016). Human microbiome Available at: http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?pid=s0048-7322016000100001&Script=sci_arttext
