Introduction to Industrial Microbiology

Industrial microbiology

Iln'y a pas des sciences appliquées . . . mais il y a des applications de la science. -Louis Pasteur

(There are no applied sciences . . . but there are the applications of science.)

What is industrial microbiology?

Industrial microbiology is the use of micro-organisms to make something we want or prevention of them from making something we do not want. ─Miller, B.M. & W. Litsky. 1976.

Industrial microbiology is concerned with employing microorganisms to produce a desired product and with preventing microorganisms from diminishing the economic value of various products. ─Atlas, R.M. 1988.

Industrial microbiology & biotechnology

Industrial microbiology is the major foundation of biotechnology. ─Crueger, W. & A. Crueger. 1990.

Microbial biotechnology is that aspect of bio-technology which deals with processes involving microorganisms. Microbial biotechnology, sometimes called industrial microbiology. ─Brock, T.D. & M.T. Madigan. 1991.

Fermentation is a mature technology

Methods for obtaining desired organic compounds

Extraction of plants or organs of animals Total chemosynthesis Partial chemosynthesis starting from natural

products Native or controlled biosynthesis Enzymatic transformation of natural products or

chemically synthesized substrates

Examples?

Classification of microbial products - in terms of use - 1 Pharmaceutical products: antibiotics, steroid horm

ones, human therapeutics. . . Agricultural products: veterinary medicine, genetic

ally engineered rhizobia, pesticides (Bt-toxin), herbicides, insecticides, and nematocides . . .

Specialty chemicals and food additives: amino acids (aspartic acid & phenylalanine for the production of aspartame, glutamic acid, lysine, tryptophan), vitamines (riboflavin, vitamin B12, ascorbic acid); organic acids (citric acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid). . .

Classification of microbial products - in terms of use - 2

Commodity chemicals and energy production: ethanol, acetic acid, glycerol. . .

Environmental applications: waste treatment, super bugs

Material science: itaconic acid for the manufacture of acrylic resins, poly--hydroxybutyrate for the manufacture of biodegradable plastics, genetically engineered spider’s silk proteins. . . 

Classification of microbial products - in terms of source - 1

The microbial cells: Baker’s yeast, mushrooms, algae, single-cell proteins, rhizobia as legume inoculants, inoculants or starters, bio-agents. . .

Microbial enzymes: amylases, cellulase, proteases, microbial rennin, lipases, glucose isomerase, penicillin acylase, cholesterol oxidase, restriction enzymes. . .

Microbial metabolites: fermentation products such such as ethanol, acetone, lactic acid; growth factors such as amino acids, vitamins, citric acid; secondary metabolites such as antibiotics, alkaloids. . .

Classification of microbial products - in terms of source - 2

Genetically engineered proteins: human hormones such as insulin and human growth hormone; immune modulators such as interferons, interleukins; blood proteins such as blood-clotting factors, serum albumin; recombinant vaccines such as hepatitis B vaccine, rabies vaccine, diarrhea vaccine for pigs; monoclonal antibodies. .  

Two categories of microbial biotechnology (Crueger, W. & A. Crueger. 1990)

Traditional microbial technology New microbial technology

Traditional microbial technology

Large-scale manufacture by microorganisms of products that they are normally capable of producing

The microbiologist's task is primarily to modify the organism or the process so that the highest productivity of the desired product is obtained.

New microbial technology

Use of microorganisms into which foreign genes have been inserted

The microbiologist works closely with the genetic engineer in the development of a suitable organism which not only produces a novel product of interest, but is capable of commercial exploitation.

World market of major products depend on microbial biotechnology immediately before the commercial application of genetic engineering

Critical activities of industrial microbiologists

The search for microorganisms of commercial importance

The design of the optimal production process

The search for microorganisms of commercial importance

Finding or creating specific strains of microorganisms that will yield sufficient quantities of the desired product to permit commercial production on an economically favorable basis

Screening, mutating, cell fusing, genetic engineering. . .

The design of the optimal production process

Defining the substrate mixture that contains the least expensive components and will produce the highest yield of the desired product;

Designing fermentors to optimize the environmental conditions in order to achieve maximal product yields;

Developing recovery methods that achieve separation of the desired product from microbial cells, residual substrate, and other metabolic products in the most economical manner

References

Atlas, R.M. 1988. Industrial microbiology (chap.17). In Microbiology: fundamentals and applications, Macmillan Publishing Company.

Brock, T.D. and M.T. Madigan. 1991. Microbial biotechnology (chap.10). In Biology of microorganisms (6th ed.). Prentice-Hall International, Inc.

Crueger, W. and A. Crueger. 1990. Biotechnology: a textbook of industrial microbiology (T.D. Brock, English ed., 2nd ed.), Science Tech. Publishers.

Miller, B.M. and W. Litsky. 1976. Industrial microbiology, McGraw-Hill, Inc.

平時作業 1 (5%)

請選擇一種工業微生物相關產品（在台灣市面上可找到的優先）；請先到老師辦公室登記，每位同學產品不可重複。

尋找其用途、生產公司（非販賣業者）相關資料及生產流程，並思考微生物在其中所扮演的角色。

於第四週課堂上以簡報形式呈現。

問題

從來源的角度舉例說明微生物產品的種類，並說明生產這些產品所需考慮的技術重點。

微生物學專業包括許多次領域，如：微生物生理學、微生物遺傳學、微生物生態學、微生物系統學等。這些次領域的知識在發展一個工業微生物製程時，可以提供哪些幫助？