Industrial microbiology is a branch of biotechnology that applies microbial sciences to create industrial products in mass quantities, often using microbial cell factories. 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. Microorganisms play a big role in the industry, with multiple ways to be used. Medicinally, microbes can be used for creating antibiotics in order to treat infection. Microbes can also be used for the food industry as well. Microbes are very useful in creating some of the mass produced products that are consumed by people. The chemical industry also uses microorganisms in order to synthesize amino acids and organic solvents. Microbes can also be used in an agricultural application for use as a biopesticide instead of using dangerous chemicals and or inoculants to help plant proliferation.
Medical application 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. Microbial biotransformation can be used to produce steroid medicaments. Steroids can be consumed either orally or by injection. Steroids play a big role in the control of arthritis. Cortisone is an anti-inflammatory drug that fights against arthritis, as well as several skin diseases. Another steroid used is testosterone, which was produced from dehydroepiandrosterone by using the Corynebacterium species.
Food industry application
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