Environmental Control of Metabolism Flashcards
Aseptic
Techniques employed to try to maintain sterile conditions and eliminate contaminants while working with microorganisms.
Biosynthesis
Building up of a complex molecule from simpler ones by a cell.
Phase of growth during which the number of cells dying exceeds the number of new cells being produced.
Death
Fermenter
Specialised container used to culture microorganisms on a large scale to obtain a useful product.
Mean generation time
Average time taken for a population of cells to double in number.
Growth
Process that occurs when an organism’s rate of synthesis of organic materials exceeds the rate of their breakdown.
Growth medium
Substance such as nutrient agar or broth used to culture micro organisms.
Inducer
Metabolite which insures that the gene coding for a certain enzyme remains switched on.
Inhibitor
Metabolite which acts on an enzyme at an earlier stage in a pathway exerting negative feedback control.
Phase of growth during which cells adjust to the growth medium and show increased metabolic activity but no increase in the number.
Lag
Phase of growth during which cells grow and multiply at the maximum rate.
Log/exponential
Manipulation
Process by which a micro organism’s metabolism is deliberately altered to make it produce large quantities of a metabolite.
Precursor
Metabolite which occurs early in a pathway and gives rise to another metabolite later in the pathway.
Primary
Metabolite made by a microbe and essential for its growth.
Secondary
Metabolite made by a microbe but not essential for its growth.
