Industrial Micro-organisms

Overview
Characteristics of industrially important microbes
Taxonomic groups of industrially important
microbes
Bacteria

Gram positive
Gram negative

Actinomycetes (higher bacteria)

Fungi

Filamentous
Yeasts

Introduction to primary and secondary

metabolism

RULES for choice of industrial microbes

Economics rules
Cheapest production

Suitable industrial microorganism

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

stable, biochemically and genetically

efficient producer of desired product
limited/no need additional expensive growth factors
utilizes a wide range of carbon sources, cheap plentiful -- preferably
waste from another process
(e)
amenable to genetic manipulation, dispensable extrachromosomal
DNA
(f)
safe, non-pathogen
(g)
readily removed from fermentation (if the product is extracellular) or
readily broken open (if the product is intra-cellular)
(h)
few by-products (ease of purification)
(i)
physical properties:
insensitive to shear
limited foaming
not normally prone to attachment to surfaces etc.

Industrially Important Microbes

Prokaryotes
Archaebacteria (extremeophiles): little importance
as yet
Eubacteria: most industrially important bacteria
Actinomyces (filamentous/higher bacteria):
secondary metabolites
Eukaryotes
Fungi: numerous products from fungi, often
secondary metabolites
Yeasts important in brewing, baking
amenable to genetic manipulation

Archaens
Little current use as industrial microbes
except
Low volume methane production by
methanogens

Lots of potential due to tolerance of

conditions detrimental to other microbes,
especially high temperatures, salinity

Eubacteria
2 groups comprise almost all industrially
important bacteria
Proteobacteria: Purple photosynthetic bacteria
and non photosynthetic relatives inc E. coli,
Nitrobacter, Pseudomonads, Thiobacillus &
Vibrio spp
Gram positive eubacteria
Low GC (Bacillus, Clostridium, Lactobacillus,
Staphylococcus)
High GC (Streptomyces, Corynebacteria, Mycobacterium)

Typical gram negative

bacterium

E. coli
Facultative anaerobe, mixed acid fermentation in anoxic
environment
Found human colon
Fairly complex cell envelope structure, does not stain
with Gram stain
Rapid growth on complex media
Multiply auxotrophic UV sensitive strains used in
recombinant DNA procedures using modified
extrachromosomal elements (plasmids)

Typical gram positive

bacterium

Bacillus subtilis
Common in soil, degrades natural substrates with
extracellular enzymes (used industrially esp proteases)
Simpler cell envelope structure, stains with Gram stain
Can be used for genetic engineering
When nutrients become limiting endospores form
quiescent, resistant to temperature fluctuations,
desiccation, heat, radiation

Bacillus spp. products

B. thuringiensis: insecticides
B. subtilis: amylase, 5' IMP, recombinant
derivative used to produce riboflavin
B. licheniformis: subtilisin (biological
detergent), bacitracin (peptide antibiotic)
B. brevis : gramicidin (peptide antibiotic)
B. anthracis: vaccine for anthrax

Acetobacter spp. products

A. xylinium: industrial acetic acid
A. suboxydans: gluconic acid, ascorbic acid
Acetobacter spp: commercial acetification of
fermented ethanol derived from wine,
beer, cider for vinegar

Lactic acid bacteria

Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei:
fermented probiotic products
L. delbruckii: production of sour mash
whiskey
L. delbruckii, L. bulgaricus: manufacture of
lactic acid
Lactococcus lactis: nisin production

Actinomycetes
Filamentous bacteria: prokaryotic but fungi-like
hyphae
Mis-classified as fungi for decades
Prokaryotic multicellular organisms with coenocytic
organisation equivalent to fungi
The family Streptomyceteae comprises several
organisms found in the soil, gives damp soil its
characteristic odour
Not usually pathogenic

Streptomyces spp.
Produce antibiotics

clavulanic acid produced by S. clavuligerus

streptomycin by S. griseus,
chlortetracycline by S. aureofaciens,
oleandomycin by S. antibioticus,
spiramycin by S. ambofaciens.
erythromycin is produced by
Saccharapolyoora erythrea

Glucose isomerase produced by S.

olivaceous

Fungi
We are familiar with the spore
forming structure
Diverse group of eukaryotes, haploid cells
Amorphous invisible network (mycelium) of
thread like hyphae that are frequently coenocytic
Enzymes produced that digest extracellular
growth substrate, resulting nutrients reabsorbed
Nuclear membrane persists during mitosis
Reproduce by spores (asexually and sexually)

Phycomycetes
Primitive fungi
Aseptate
Mucor, Rhizomucor,
Rhizopus: used in
traditional food
fermentations

Ascomycetes
Yeasts
Filamentous relatives
Neurospora
Claviceps
Edible fungi
Morchella
(morels)
Tuber (truffles)

Basidomycetes
Haploid spores borne
on club like structures
Edible mushrooms
Agaricus bisporus
(button mushroom)

Wood rotting fungi

(white rot)
Plant pathogens
(rusts/smuts)
Puff balls

Deuteromycetes
Residual classification
Used where no
sexual stage (ascus)
has been observed
Not discovered yet
Lost in evolution

Includes Aspergillus,
Cephalosporium,
Fusarium, Penicillium,
Trichoderma

Aspergillus
A. oryzae: soy sauce fermentations, neutral
protease
A. niger: amylase, aminoglucosidase, citric
acid
A. itaconicus: itaconic acid
A. flavus: soy sauce fermentations
A. wentii: pectinases
A. terreus: lovastatin

Claviceps & Trichoderma spp

Claviceps spp: ergot alkaloids, lysergic acid,
important as drugs
Trichoderma viride: lipases
Trichoderma polysporum: cyclosporin
(immunosuppresant/antibiotic)

Yeasts
Unicellular fungus
Reproduce asexually
by budding (Sacchromyces) or
binary fission (Schizosaccharomyces)
Unlike most other fungi can grow anaerobically producing
alcohol and CO2 from sugars
Brewing
Baking bread
Like bacteria can grow on fairly simple media, but more
slowly (doubling time 3-4 hrs)
Like bacteria can be easily genetically manipulated
Used to study eukaryotic cell cycle

Yeast
Sacchromyces cerevisiae: brewing, baking,
industrial/fuel ethanol, single cell protein
Kluyveromyces spp: invertase
K. lactis: -galactosidase (lactase)

Primary metabolites
Indispensable for growth

Pyruvate
Glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate
Succinate
Riboflavin
Glycine
Thymine
Urea

Etc, etc.

Secondary metabolites
A compound that is not necessary for growth or
maintenance of cellular functions but is
synthesized, generally, for the protection of a cell
or micro-organism, during the stationary phase
of the growth cycle.
Secondary metabolites (natural products) are
those products of metabolism that are not
essential for normal growth, development or
reproduction of an organism. In this sense they
are secondary.

Industrial primary metabolites

Primary
Metabolite
Ethanol
Citric acid
Acetone and
butanol
Lysine
Glutamic acid
Riboflavin
Vitamin B12
Dextran
Xanthan gum

Organism
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Kluyveromyces fragilis
Aspergillus niger
Clostridium acetobutyricum

Significance
alcoholic beverages
food industry
solvents

Corynebacterium glutamacium
nutritional additive

flavour enhancer
Ashbya gossipii
nutritional
Eremothecium ashbyi
Pseudomonas denitrificans
nutritional
Propionibacterium shermanii
Leuconostoc mesenteroides
industrial
Xanthomonas campestris
industrial

Secondary metabolites
Metabolite
Penicillin
Erythromycin
Streptomycin
Cephalosporin
Griseofulvin
Cyclosporin A
Gibberellin

Species
Significance
Penicillium chrysogenum antibiotic
Streptomyces erythreus antibiotic
Streptomyces griseus
antibiotic
Cephalosp. acremonium antibiotic
Penicillium griseofulvin antifungal
Tolypocladium inflatum immunosuppressant
Gibberella fujikuroi
plant growth
factor

Summary
Industrial microbes
Encompass a wide variety of taxons, but
many taxons lack a useful microbe
Principally bacteria and fungi
Grow rapidly on inexpensive substrates
Wide variety enable production of a wide
range of useful primary and secondary
metabolites
Many can be genetically manipulated