AshikaKnowledge Contributor
What is the role of microbes in reducing environmental degeneration caused by chemicals?
What is the role of microbes in reducing environmental degeneration caused by chemicals?
Microbes are being used as pesticides and fertilizers to reduce environmental degradation and are called as biopesticides and biofertilizers respectively. As biofertilizers, microbes enrich soil nutrients by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, examples – Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Rhizobium etc. As biopesticides(Bacillus thuringiensis) they check the growth of insect pests. A fungal species – Trichoderma is effectively used as a biocontrol agent for many plant pathogens. Baculovirus in genus nucleopolyhedrovirus is used as a biological control agent for narrow spectrum, species-specific insecticidal applications.