Strategies Flashcards
What role do microorganisms play in industrial processes?
Microorganisms are used in the production of a wide variety of products such as pharmaceuticals, biofuels, enzymes, and chemicals
What is genetic engineering in the context of microorganisms?
It involves altering the genetic makeup of microorganisms to enhance desirable traits such as increased yield or better tolerance to environmental stress
What is recombinant DNA technology?
A technique that allows for the insertion of specific genes into microorganisms to enable them to produce desired proteins or enzymes
Provide an example of genetic engineering in microorganisms.
Production of recombinant insulin using Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria
What is Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE)?
A technique that subjects microorganisms to controlled selective pressures over several generations to promote the survival of strains with enhanced traits
How has ALE been applied to improve industrial E. coli strains?
E. coli has been evolved to better tolerate high concentrations of ethanol during biofuel production
What is metabolic engineering?
The modification of an organism’s metabolic pathways to improve the efficiency of its production of specific compounds
Give an example of metabolic engineering in biofuel production.
Klebsiella pneumoniae engineered for 2-butanol production
What is the significance of synthetic biology?
It combines genetic engineering, bioinformatics, and systems biology to create new biological systems or redesign existing ones
How has synthetic biology been used to produce high-value chemicals?
E. coli has been engineered to produce vanillin from glucose
What is the purpose of improving stress tolerance in microorganisms?
To maintain high productivity and stability under harsh industrial conditions
Name a thermophilic microorganism and its application.
Thermus aquaticus, used in the production of thermostable enzymes like Taq polymerase
What is co-culturing or consortium engineering?
Using multiple microbial species in tandem to produce complex compounds that a single organism may not be able to produce efficiently
How is co-culturing applied in bioremediation?
Co-cultures of bacteria and fungi degrade complex pollutants like oil spills or pesticides
Fill in the blank: The production of _______ is a well-known example of genetic engineering.
recombinant insulin
True or False: Metabolic engineering can only be applied to yeast strains.
False
What is the relationship between metabolic engineering and antibiotic production?
Metabolic engineering is used to enhance the synthesis of antibiotics by modifying metabolic pathways
What is precursor-directed biosynthesis?
Adding modified biosynthetic precursors to antibiotic-producing strains to create modified antibiotics with altered bioactivity
What is mutasynthesis?
Generating a mutant deficient in a key step to reduce competition between natural and unnatural precursors
Fill in the blank: _______ is an anticancer compound produced by the marine bacterium Salinispora tropica.
Salinosporamide A
What is the goal of improving the stress tolerance of microorganisms?
To enhance their ability to survive and function under industrial conditions
List some products produced by microorganisms in industrial applications.
- Pharmaceuticals
- Biofuels
- Enzymes
- Chemicals
What is the function of Taq polymerase?
Essential for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in molecular biology
How can cyanobacteria be utilized in biofuel production?
Genetically manipulated to produce biofuels like ethanol
