Industrial microbiology

Industrial microbiology is a branch of biotechnology that applies microbial sciences to create industrial products in mass quantities. There are multiple ways to manipulate a microorganism in order to increase maximum product yields. Introduction of mutations into an organism may be accomplished by introducing them to mutagens. Another way to increase production is by gene amplification, this is done by the use of plasmids, and vectors. The plasmids and/ or vectors are used to incorporate multiple copies of a specific gene that would allow more enzymes to be produced that eventually cause more product yield. The manipulation of organisms in order to yield a specific product has many applications to the real world like the production of some antibiotics, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, solvents, alcohol and daily products. They can also be used in an agricultural application and use them as a biopesticede instead of using dangerous chemicals or as inoculants and help plant proliferation. Industrial microbiology is a branch of biotechnology that applies microbial sciences to create industrial products in mass quantities. There are multiple ways to manipulate a microorganism in order to increase maximum product yields. Introduction of mutations into an organism may be accomplished by introducing them to mutagens. Another way to increase production is by gene amplification, this is done by the use of plasmids, and vectors. The plasmids and/ or vectors are used to incorporate multiple copies of a specific gene that would allow more enzymes to be produced that eventually cause more product yield. The manipulation of organisms in order to yield a specific product has many applications to the real world like the production of some antibiotics, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, solvents, alcohol and daily products. They can also be used in an agricultural application and use them as a biopesticede instead of using dangerous chemicals or as inoculants and help plant proliferation. The medical application to industrial microbiology is the production of new drugs synthesized in a specific organism for medical purposes. Production of antibiotics is necessary for the treatment of many bacterial infections.Some natural occurring antibiotics and precursors, are produced through a process called fermentation. The microorganisms grow in a liquid media where the population size is controlled in order to yield the greatest amount of product. In this environment nutrient, pH, temperature, and oxygen are controlled also in order to maximize the amount of cells and cause them not to die before the production of the antibiotic of interest. Once the antibiotic is produced it must be extracted in order to yield an income. Vitamins also get produced in massive quantities either by fermentation or biotransformation. Vitamin B 2 (riboflavin) for example is produced both ways. Biotransformation is mostly used for the production of riboflavin, and the carbon source starting material for this reaction is glucose. There are a few strains of microorganisms that were engineered to increase the yield of riboflavin produced. The most common organism used for this reaction is Ashbya gossypii. The fermentation process is another common way to produce riboflavin. The most common organism used for production of riboflavin through fermentation is Eremothecium ashbyii. Once riboflavin is produced it must be extracted from the broth, this is done by heating the cells for a certain amount of time, and then the cells can be filtered out of solution. Riboflavin is later purified and released as final product. Enzymes can be produced through fermentation either by submerged fermentation and/ or by solid state fermentation. Submerged fermentation is referred to when the microorganisms are in contact with media. In this process the contact with oxygen is essential. The bioreactors/fermentors that are used to do these mass production of product can store up to 500 cubic meters in volume. Solid state fermentation is less common than submerged fermentation, but has many benefits. There is less need for the environment to be sterile since there is less water, there is a higher stability and concentration for the end product. Insulin synthesis is done through the fermentation process and the use of recombinant E.coli or yeast in order to make human insulin also called Humulin.