Back to: MICROBIOLOGY 400 LEVEL
Welcome to class!
Hello there, future scientist! I’m really happy to have you here again today. You’ve been doing an excellent job learning about how microbes interact with their environment. Today, we’re going to focus on something even more exciting—microbe-animal interactions. Yes, even animals—like cows, goats, termites, and insects—rely on tiny microbes to help them survive. Just like how friends help each other out in a Nigerian boarding house, animals and microbes often work together for mutual benefit.
Microbe-animal Interactions (E.g., Ruminants, Insects)
Microbe-Animal Interactions
Microorganisms live inside and on the bodies of animals, including humans. These relationships can be beneficial (mutualism), harmful (parasitism), or neutral (commensalism). In this class, we’ll focus mostly on mutualistic relationships—where both the microbe and the animal benefit.
Let’s look at two common examples you’ll find in Nigeria and across Africa: ruminant animals and insects.
1. Microbes in Ruminants (e.g., Cows, Goats, Sheep)
Ruminants are animals that chew cud and have a special stomach with four compartments. The largest compartment is called the rumen, and it’s like a fermentation chamber full of microbes.
These microbes—mainly bacteria, protozoa, and fungi—help ruminants digest tough plant materials like grass, which animals alone can’t break down.
The microbes break down cellulose in the grass into simpler sugars and fatty acids, which the animal can absorb and use for energy.
In return, the microbes get food and a safe, warm place to live.
This is why cows in Nigerian villages can survive on grass alone—they have microbial helpers in their stomachs doing all the hard digestion work.
2. Microbes in Insects (e.g., Termites and Aphids)
Termites eat wood, which is rich in cellulose. But they can’t digest it on their own. Instead, they rely on bacteria and protozoa in their guts to break it down.
Without these microbes, termites would starve—even if they were surrounded by food!
Some insects, like aphids, also have bacteria in their bodies that help them make essential nutrients from their plant-based diet.
Other Animal-Microbe Relationships
In humans, bacteria in the intestines help with digestion and make vitamins like vitamin K.
Some fish and squids use bioluminescent bacteria to produce light for communication or camouflage.
Why This Matters
Understanding how microbes and animals interact helps farmers improve animal health and productivity. For instance, feeding livestock with balanced diets supports the right microbes in the rumen, leading to better milk or meat production. It also helps in disease control and environmental protection.
Summary
- Microbes form different types of relationships with animals.
- In ruminants like cows and goats, microbes in the rumen help digest cellulose.
- These microbes convert grass into energy-rich compounds the animal can absorb.
- Insects like termites rely on gut microbes to digest wood.
- Aphids use microbes to produce essential nutrients.
- Humans also benefit from gut microbes for digestion and vitamin production.
- These relationships are examples of mutualism—both organisms benefit.
- Understanding these interactions improves farming and animal health.
- Microbes play an essential role in the survival and nutrition of many animals.
Evaluation
- Name two ruminant animals and describe the role of microbes in their digestion.
- How do termites use microbes to survive?
- Give one reason why understanding microbe-animal interactions is important in Nigerian agriculture.
You’ve just learned how tiny microbes help some of Africa’s most important animals survive and grow. You’re becoming more knowledgeable with every lesson. Keep that energy up, and see you in the next class with Afrilearn!