Lecture 41: Microbes are the Greatest Recyclers

Question 1

For life to continue on Earth, dead things must be ____ _____ into their component parts to provide the ingredients needed to….

Answer 1

• Broken Down

- Grow new living things

Question 2

Microorganisms are the principal….

Answer 2

• Recyclers of the biomass of the Earth

Question 3

All living things are _______ by microorganisms.

Answer 3

• Decomposed

Question 4

Microorganisms are essential in what cycles?

Answer 4

• Carbon
• Sulfur
• Nitrogen

Question 5

Can we harness this recycling power for Biotechnology and Bioenergy? Goals of treatment = ? This includes _____, _____, and ______ processes to remove unwanted content.

Answer 5

• Wastewater Treatment
• Sewage, Domestic Waste, Industrial Waste
• Goals:
  Kill any pathogens that may be present
  Reduce organic load and nitrogen and phosphorous
• Chemical, Physical, Biological

Question 6

BOD (?) is the relative amount of _____ _____ consumed by microbes to ______ decompose all organic and inorganic material in a water sample. Polluted water has a _____ BOD than pure water.

Answer 6

• Biochemical Oxygen Demand
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Aerobically
• Higher

Question 7

What happens if we don’t decrease BOD?

Answer 7

• ‘Dead Zones’ occur

Question 8

What is a ‘Dead Zone’?

Answer 8

• Where oxygen concentrations in water have fallen so low that animals cannot survive

Question 9

Why don’t we want Nitrogen and Phosphorous fetilizers in water?

Answer 9

• Algae bloom is ignited
• Bacteria come to decompose dead algae (and consume oxygen in the process)
• Bacteria converting sulfate in ocean to hydrogen sulfide (toxic for fishies)

Question 10

Coliform = bacterial indicator of ….

Answer 10

• Sanitary quality of food and water

- Presence indicates that other pathogenic organisms of fecal origin may be present

Question 11

Primary (Physical) Treatment:

Answer 11

• 60% contaminants (solids, oils, grease, and 34% BOD) removed
• “Wastewater” is screened for ‘indestructibles’
• Then pumped to sedimentation tank, goes around, mixes it all up, becomes solid
• Sludge Incineration (825 degrees)
• Left with liquid waste water stream
• Bridge pumped water out to beach 1.1km from shore

Question 12

Secondary (Biological) Treatment:

Answer 12

• 95% contaminants removed
• One example = liquid waste bubbled with oxygen in aeration tank, left for a while
• Need lots of air to convert (CH20)n (sugars, fats, organic short chain molecules etc.) —> CO2
• Then on to settling tanks
• Flocs = less soluble fractions aggregates of organic bacteria (activated sludge) settles at bottom. Can either incinerate or use another process
• Excess sludge –> microorganisms

Question 13

Anaerobic (Anoxic) digestion:

Answer 13

• Complex polymers are decomposed by anaerobic microbes

- Fermentation

Question 14

Use of CH4 (Biogas) can also be used as _______ fuel.

Answer 14

• Household

Question 15

Biofuels:

Answer 15

• Bioethanol, biodiesel
• Microbes are essential
• Synthetic microbial cells
• Plant-powered planet?

Question 16

Microbes can be used to produce biofuels:

Answer 16

• Weitzman found a bacteria that could be converted to Acetone, Butanol, Ethanol

Question 17

Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of ______. Brazil has vast land mass, favourable climate and ______ _____ for sugar cane production.

Answer 17

• Bioethanol

- Cheap labour

Question 18

Environmental Genomics Timeline:

Answer 18

• 1995 : First genome of a living organisms. Minimal genome = 500-800 genes.
• 2007/8 = Synthesised genome transplantation (M. mycoides) into Mycoplasma capricolum (DNA removed) = first synthetic organism
• Synthetic microorganisms

Question 19

Put synthetic bacteria (cell) into bioreactor to make ______, proteins, biopolymers, etc.

Answer 19

• Sugars

Question 20

Bioremediation = ?

Answer 20

• The use of microbes to clean-up toxic wastes