The movement of the macroelements (CHONPS) within the soil, water, and atmosphere depends mainly on the activity of microscopic organisms: the microbes. "Microbe" refers to a living thing too small to be seen with the naked eye, and this term is used to describe several very different life forms (bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses, and protists).
Bacteria are responsible for the recycling and transformation of elements on Earth and they perform this task thanks to the superpowers encoded in their genes. Genes are the instructions for making the molecules that are needed for many different processes, including the recycling of macroelements. For example, through a process called biological nitrogen fixation, bacteria can use N molecules in gaseous form (N2) to make proteins, which are solid organic molecules rich in C and N. This is extraordinary: bacteria are the only living organisms that can convert, through chemical reactions regulated by genes, gaseous N2 into proteins that help them to grow and sustain their lives! Humans cannot use N2 the way bacteria do, but thanks to these bacteria we can also have proteins (and therefore N) in our bodies.

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