Describe the importance of water, pH, temperature, light, and atmospheric gasses to the growth of microorganisms.
Microbes need the chemical requirement in order for them to grow properly (1). Microbes are composed of carbon, which make up about halve of their dry weight. They can obtain carbon from the environment or from carbon dioxide (1). There are different types of microbes. Some are called chemoautotrophs and others are called photoautrophs (1). Chemooutotrophs obtain their energy from inorganic compounds such as carbon dioxide. Photoautotrophs obtain their energy from the sun light and used it for photosynthesis (1). Some microbes are aerobic and some are anaerobic. The aerobic microbes need oxygen from the atmosphere for their energy production (1). The anaerobe do not need oxygen, but need other gases such as hydrogen sulfide or methane for their metabolism. Some examples are the methanogen, which oxidize methane for their metabolism (1). Water is important for microbial growth because they contains nutrients that microbes need and provide a stable environment for the microbes to live.
The physical requirements that affect the growth of the microbes are temperature and pH. The enzymes of the microbes depends on the temperature of the environment. So microbes are classified according to three temperature types:
1. Psychrophile are microbes that "Prefer cold temperatures of 0C to 20C" (1)
2. Mesophilic are microbes that "Prefer moderate temperature of 20C to 40C" (1)
3. Thermophilic are microbes that "Prefer extreme temperature of 40C to 80C" (1)
The temperature at which there "Is the best growth are the optimum growth temperature" (1)
Another physical requirement that microbes need is the pH of the environment. The acidity and alkalinity of the environment dictates how the microbes can grow. For most microbes, the "Optimum pH of growth is between 6.5-7.5." This pH is not too acidic and not too basic. Most "Neutrophilic bacteria can grow on the skin of humans because the pH of the human tissue is 7.0. Certain bacteria like acidity environment, and are called acidophilic bacteria, such as mode and yeast.