630 Microbiology for Teachers

Industrial Microbiology / Biocatalysis

Industrial Microbes

• Originally isolated from nature

   

   

• To be useful in industrial microbiology, an organism must:

   

   

   

   

   

Growth Conditions

• Composition of growth medium

   

   

• Other considerations

   

   

• Fermentors

   

  • aerobic fermentor

   

   

  • anaerobic fermentor

   

• Scale-up of fermentation process:

   

  • steps

   

  • practical considerations

   

   

Primary vs. Secondary Metabolites

• Primary metabolite
  • metabolite formed in parallel with growth

   

  • example

   

• Secondary metabolite
  • metabolite formed after growth has occurred

   

  • characteristics:

   

   

   

   

   

  • example

   

Biotransformation - microbial bioconversion

• Microbes can act as biocatalysts

   

• Cost-effective

   

• Major uses include:
  • production of organic acids

   

  • precious metals recovery

   

  • bioleaching of metals

   

Microbial Products

• Foods
  • spoilage

   

  • intrinsic factors

   

  • extrinsic factors

   

• Food preservation
  • filtration

   

  • temperature
    • cooling

   

  • heating
    • pasteurization

   

  • canning
    • thermal death point

   

  • thermal death time

   

  • dehydration

   

  • chemical preservatives

   

  • radiation
    • ultraviolet light

   

  • gamma-rays and X-rays

   

• Food production

   

  • dairy products

   

  • buttermilk

   

  • yogurt

   

  • sour cream

   

  • acidophilus milk

   

  • cheeses

   

  • soft

   

  • semi-soft

   

  • hard

   

  • very hard

   

  • meat products

   

  • baked goods

   

  • "regular" bread

   

  • sourdough bread

   

  • d) miscellaneous foods
    • coffee

   

  • kimchee

   

  • olives

   

  • pickles

   

  • sauerkraut

   

  • soy sauce

   

  • tempeh

   

  • vinegar

   

  • e) microbes as a direct food source
    • single-cell protein

   

   

  • Spirulina

   

  • mushrooms

   

  • food additives and supplements
    • amino acids

   

  • microbes must be modified

   

  • examples

   

  • vitamins

   

   

  • brewer's yeast

   

  • citric acid

   

• Alcoholic beverages
  • brews

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  • wines, champagnes

   

   

   

   

  • distilled alcoholic beverages

   

   

• Pharmaceuticals
  • products of genetically engineered microbes include:
    • insulin

   

  • growth hormones

   

  • tissue plasminogen activator

   

  • blood clotting factors

   

  • erythropoietin

   

  • cytokines

   

  • IFN-gamma

   

  • IL-2

   

  • tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)

   

  • vaccine antigens

   

  • monoclonal antibodies (mAb)
    • diagnostic applications

   

  • therapeutic applications

   

  • chemotherapeutic agents -
    • antibiotics are secondary metabolites

   

  • more than 8000 known

   

  • more than 100 tons produced annually

   

  • steps toward commercial production include:
    • isolation

   

  • testing

   

  • optimization and purity of yield

   

  • developing extraction and purification steps

   

  • examples:
    • ß-lactams

   

   

  • aminoglycosides

   

   

  • macrolides

   

   

  • tetracyclines

   

   

• Commodity chemicals
  • acetic acid
  • acetone, butanol, ethanol
  • ethanol
• Enzymes
  • secondary metabolites

   

  • useful in food processing

   

  • examples:

   

• Biopolymers

   

   

   

   

• Biosensors

   

Agricultural Uses of Microbes

• Rhizobium

   

• Agrobacterium tumefaciens

   

• Bacillus thuringiensis

   

Biodeterioration Management

• Jet fuel

   

• Paper production

   

• Electronics

   

• Paints

   

• Textiles and leather goods

   

• Metals and concrete

   

   

Biodegradation and Bioremediation

Bioremediation is also called Biodegradation Enhancement and includes any purposful use of microbes to degrade unwanted substances in the environment

• natural products
  • petroleum

   

  • biodegradable plastics
    • photobiodegradable

   

  • biochemically biodegradable starch-linked polymers

   

• xenobiotics

   

   

  • PCBs

   

  • PAHs

   

  • pesticides

   

   

   

   

   

   

• Genetically engineered microbes in bioremediation
  • Microbes can be "engineered"

   

  • concerns about long-term the effects

   

  • fate of genetically engineered microbes

   

   

  • Naturally-occurring microbes bioremediate just as well as engineered microbes