7- Discuss briefly the role of microorganisms in water

quality ?
Water in nature is seldom totally pure. Even rainfall is
contaminated as it falls to Earth. Water Pollution The form
of water pollution that is our primary interest is microbial
pollution, especially by pathogenic organisms .
The Transmission of Infectious Diseases Water that
moves below the ground's surface undergoes a filtering
that removes most microorganisms. For this reason, water
from springs and deep wells is generally of good quality.
The most dangerous form of water pollution occurs when
feces enter the water supply. Many diseases are
perpetuated by the fecal- oral route of transmission, in
which a pathogen is shed in human or animal feces,
contaminates water, and is ingested .
Preventing chemical contamination of water is a difficult
problem. Industrial and agricultural chemicals leached from
the land enter water in great amounts and in forms that are
resistant to biodegradation. Rural waters often have
excessive amounts of nitrate from agricultural fertilizers.
When ingested, the nitrate is converted to nitrite by
bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Nitrite competes for
oxygen in the blood and is especially likely to harm infants .
 An example of industrial water pollution involved mercury
in wastewater from paper manufacturing. The metallic
mercury flow into waterways as waste. It was assumed that
the mercury was inert and would remain segregated in the
sediments.but bacteria in the sediments converted the
mercury into a soluble chemical compound, methyl
mercury, which was taken up by fish and invertebrates in
the waters. When such seafood is a substantial part of the
human diet, the mercury concentrations can accumulate
with devastating effects on the nervous system.
8- Give short notes on nitrification and dentrification?
-nitrification:
the oxidation of the nitrogen in the ammonium ion to
produce nitrate, called nitrification. Living in the soil are
autotrophic nitrifying bacteria, such as those of the
genera Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. These microbes
obtain energy by oxidizing ammonia or nitrite. In the first
stage, Nitrosomonas oxidizes ammonium to nitrites:
 In the second stage, such organisms as Nitrobacter
oxidize nitrites to nitrates :

Plants tend to use nitrate as their source of nitrogen for

protein synthesis because nitrate is highly mobile in soil
and is more likely to encounter a plant root than
ammonium. Ammonium ions would make a more
efficient source of nitrogen because they require less
energy to incorporate into protein.
-dentrification :
The form of nitrogen resulting from nitrification is fully
oxidized and no longer contains any biologically usable
energy. However, it can be used as an electron acceptor
by microbes metabolizing other organic energy sources in
the absence of atmospheric oxygen. This process, called
denitrification, can lead to a loss of nitrogen to the
atmosphere, especially as nitrogen gas. Denitrification
can be represented as follows :
 Denitrification occurs in waterlogged soils, where little
oxygen is available. In the absence of oxygen as an
electron acceptor, denitrifying bacteria substitute the
nitrates of agricultural fertilizer. This converts much of the
valuable nitrate into gaseous nitrogen that enters the
atmosphere and represents a considerable economic loss.
9- Compare between carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle in
the soil?
Carbon cycle:
the carbon cycle is associated with the energy transfers
and trophic patterns in the biosphere than are other
elements. Carbon exists predominantly in the mineral
state and as an organic reservoir in the bodies of
organisms. A much smaller amount of carbon also exists
in the gaseous state as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon
monoxide (CO), and methane (CH4). carbon is recycled
through ecosystems via carbon fixation, respiration, or
fermentation of organic molecules, limestone
decomposition, and methane production. Autotrophs
perform an essential role for all life on Earth by reducing
carbon dioxide to form organic matter. This occurs as a
result of photosynthesis, the first step of the carbon cycle
in which photoautotrophs such as cyanobacteria, green
plants, algae fix (incorporate) carbon dioxide into organic