Bacterial applications Flashcards
what are the 7 different ways of using bacteria?
biodegradation mineral extraction agriculture chemicals pharma biotech food
How can bacteria be used in sewage treatment?
what do the bacteria do? how is this optimised?
what kind of bacteria is it?
what are the 3 steps in the process?
what happens to organic material & ammonia?
Convert organic matter to inorganic oxidised products nitrate to nitrogen via dentrrification
form flocs & biofilms that precipitate water. water tanks are aerated to encourage biodegradation & floc formation
aerobic, slime-forming bacteria
- raw sewage water filtered to remove solids & fats
- aerobic bacteria form flocs in secondary treatment
- clarification & settling and then bacteria return & feed again
co2
nitrates/nitrites & then N2
how are bacteria used in mineral extraction?
how do Thiobacillus thiooxidans leach copper?
what are the pros?
leach minerals of low grade ore (low %) with bioleaching
CuS is leached to CuSO4 which is more soluble & therefore leaches out of the rock
safer than chemicals like cyanid
How can bacteria improve soil fertility?
how can plants in turn help bacteria?
what prokaryotes/eukaryotes can convert nitrogen gas into ammonia into nitrates/nitrites?
what are nitrates/nitrites used for?
how can you genetically engineer plants to fix their own nitrogen?
What is the Haber-Bosch process?
why would transgenic plants that can fix nitrogen be better than this?
What is a ruminant?
plant symbionts (live in roots legumes) Fix nitrogen into more accessible ammonium form for plants & leaches into soil
plants fix carbon with photosynthesis
some prokaryotes, no eukaryotes
fertilisation
introduce nitrogenase (converts N2 to ammonia) so they can form bacterial symbiosis like legumes
N2 + 3H2 -> 2NH3
Haber-Bosch = expensive, uses lots energy, uses metals Bacteria/plants = 22ATP for 1 ammonia, do it at room temp & pressure
herbivore that feeds on plant material with extended stomach of microbes to break down cellulose in rumen of stomach
what is silage?
how is it made?
what does bacillus thuringiensis produce? how?
how is it toxic?
why is it only toxic to some insects?
how can this be used as an insecticide?
how can you genetically engineer plants to be insecticides?
fermented wet fodder which can be used to feed ruminants & also use as a biofuel
cereal crops/grasses & anaerobic digestion by endogenous lactic acid bacteria
protein that is toxic to insects- when bacteria sporulates in starving conditions
alkaline gut contents of the insect gut breaks down the protein & then proteases process the subunits into active toxin
requires alkaline gut not acidic one
bacillus spore = inert structure made from stress, use different strains of bacteria for different insects
insert gene for toxin- which is naturally produced so when insect feeds it will ingest it
How do industrial fermenters work?
What does it do in a semi continuous fashion?
Fake batch?
How is xantham gum made with it?
what is it used for?
what is PHA?
how is it made? how can its properties change?
what does PHA do?
Inside is growth medium with air at precise & optimal conditions- broth is constantly harvested as it fresh medium put in
fixed points takes out 25% broth & put in 25% medium
before stationary phase add fresh batch
polysaccharide is made from Xanthomonas fermenting a sugar, which is then extracted & purified as a powder
food thickener, used to thicken oil etc
biodegradable polyester made as carbon store by Bacillus species
bacteria polymerises hydroxy acid to produce pellets
use mix of side chains
breaks down with UV exposure to allow microbial degradation- so could be used to replace plastics & medical devices
why are bacteria needed to produce antibiotics pharmaceutically?
what other bacterial products can be used as bio active compounds?
what about vitamin supplements?
amino acids?
difficult to synthesise them chemically
antifungal, anticancer, anti inflammatories, biofilm inhibitory agents
B12 difficult to synthesise chemically- produced by some bacteria & archaea
also cannot be synthesised by eukaryotes- big market for glutamate & lysine
what foods is bacteria used in?
what is pruteen?
how can you use genetically engineered bacteria to make recombinant proteins?
why are they better?
what are 2 examples?
vinegar, cheese, soy sauce etc
food made of dried cells of bacteria grown on methanol & ammonia
high level of expression of inserted recombinant plasmid for proteins
produce high yield, faster growth rate & rapid & simple purification methods for downstream processing
recombinant insulin
hGH human growth hormone- to treat dwarfism
