F1 Introduction into microbiology

Question 1

what is biotechnology?

Answer 1

integration of natural sciences and engineering, technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivates thereof, to make or modify products and process for specific use

Question 2

red / green / white / blue biotechnology

Answer 2

red = medical
green = agricultural
white = industrial
blue = marine

Question 3

first / second / third / fourth era of biotechnology

Answer 3

The first era: food products through fermentation (alcohol, cheese)
The second era: organic acids and solvents from microorganisms (from 1890)
The third era: antibiotics (from 1940ies)
The fourth era: genetic engineering (from 1980ies)

Question 4

microbial production, the proces

Answer 4

substrate -> microorganism (yeast etc) -> product

Question 5

microbes as cell factories

Answer 5

• engineering of metabolic processes to produce new or modified products
• improved substrate specificity or robustness
• improved transport processes (inside and outside of the cells) to increase the yield of product
• genetic engineering to obtain new products (recombinant products)

Question 6

what is microbiology?

Answer 6

study of microorganisms

Question 7

fungi, protist, bacteria and archaea are … microorganisms

Answer 7

cellular

Question 8

viruses, viroids, satellites and prions are… microorganisms

Answer 8

acellular

Question 9

taxonomy

Answer 9

science of naming, describing and classifying organisms

Question 10

phylogeny

Answer 10

study of relationships among different groups of organisms and their evolutionary development

Question 11

advantages of being small microorganism

Answer 11

• fast growth
• fast nutrient uptake
• one chromosome -> faster mutation rate -> faster evolution
• small enough to colonize any environment (parasites, intracellular)
• minimal cell size 0.2-0.4 µm

Question 12

prokaryots vs eukaryotes

Answer 12

prokaryotes

• bacteria, archaea
• single-celled organism that lacks a nucleus (cellkärna)
• small
• have a peptidoglycan cell wall (with few exceptions)
• have one haploid chromosome, packed by nucleoid-associated proteins
• have 70S ribosomes
• unicellular
• have no membrane-enclosed organelles

eukaryotes

• organisms whose cells have a nucleus
• may have a cellulose (plants) or chitin cell wall (fungi)
• may have multiple chromosomes, packed by histones and located in the nucleus
• have 80S ribosomes
• multicellular
• have a variety of organelles (mitochondria, chloroplasts)

Question 13

bacterial morphology

Answer 13

four basic shapes: spherical (cocci), rod-shaped (bacilli), arc-shaped (vibrio), and spiral (spirochete)

Question 14

common prokaryotic cell arrangements

Answer 14

coccus, diplococcus, tetrad, streptococcus, straphylococcus, bacillus, streptobacillus

Question 15

bacterial biofilms

Answer 15

En biofilm är ett aggregat eller kluster av mikroorganismer, till exempel bakterier, som gemensamt bildar en skyddande film där bakterierna kan samarbeta metaboliskt

adhesion -> slime formation (EPS) -> biofilm maturation -> release

cells in a biofilm may have different
jobs, still single cells!

Question 16

archea

Answer 16

• prokaryotes
• similar to bacteria on first sight, but evolutionary closer to eukaryotes
• Pseudopeptidoglycan major cell wall component
• ether-linked phospholipids
• monolayer lipids
• unique metabolism
• often found in extreme environments (unique robust membranes and proteins -> biotechnology!)
• often resistant to antibiotics

Question 17

examples of yeast

Answer 17

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast)
Candida albicans (pathogen)

Question 18

examples of algae

Answer 18

Euglena gracilis (model organism)
Dinoflagellates (red tide)

Question 19

examples of protist

Answer 19

Plasmodium flaciparum (malaria)
Trypanosoma brucei (sleeping sickness)

Question 20

eukaryotes (four types)

Answer 20

plants, animals, fungi, protists

Question 21

use of bacteria in biotechnology

Answer 21

• recombinant production of a range of products, e.g. insulin, antibiotics, amino acids, ethanol
• fermentation applications, e.g. cheese production

Question 22

use of archaea in biotechnology

Answer 22

source of robust enzymes, e.g. heat-stable DNA polymerases (PCR)

Question 23

use of fungi in biotechnology

Answer 23

• recombinant production of many products that need a eukaryotic system for production, e.g. glycoproteins
• fermentation applications, e.g. brewing and baking

Question 24

use of algae in biotechnology

Answer 24

• production of biofuels, e.g. bioethanol

- production of food products and additives

Question 25

use of protists in biotechnology

Answer 25

source of bioactive molecules, e.g. enzymes

Question 26

Gram-positive vs Gram-negative bacteria

Answer 26

differences in the cell wall Gram-positive - thick peptidoglycan layer - no outer membrane - resistant to mechanical stress Gram-negative - thin peptidoglycan cell wall - outer membrane - robust, difficult to diffuse through - resistant to chemical stress - sensitive to freezing

Question 27

outer membrane is highly ...

Answer 27

impermeable -> Gram-negative bacteria are much more difficult to treat with antibiotics than Gram-positive bacteria lipopolysaccharides cause strong immune reactions, toxic transport barrier

Question 28

Gram staining

Answer 28

fixation -> crystal violet -> iodine treatment (binds to crystal violet and traps it in the cell) -> decolorization (with ethanol or acetone) -> counter stain with Safranin Gram-positive: purple Gram-negative: pink

Question 29

the cytoplasmic membrane

Answer 29

phospholipid bilayer | 60% protein

Question 30

membrane functions

Answer 30

``` permeability barrier energy metabolism sensing communication motility (= rörlighet) exchange with surrounding ```

Question 31

What is the relevance of the cell envelope for biotechnology?

Answer 31

* uptake of nutrients and precursors * secretion of products and (unwanted) side products * genetic engineering towards improved uptake/secretion depending on the application

Question 32

What is the specific relevance of the outer membrane, cell wall, and inner membrane?

Answer 32

* outer membrane: impermeability for chemicals -> chemical resistance, e. g. antibiotics * cell wall: mechanical robustness -> resistance towards pressure and osmotic shifts, also influences cell disruption for harvesting non-secreted products * inner membrane: chemical barrier, but much less so than outer membrane; harbors many important processes that need to be functioning for the cells to be healthy/grow/survive stress/take up or secrete products etc.

Question 33

What could be the advantages and diadvantages of using a Gram-positive bacterium, Gram-negative bacterium, or yeast in biotechnology?

Answer 33

• Gram-positive: fast growth, easy uptake of chemicals, harder to disrupt • Gram-negative: fast growth, high chemical resilience, easy to disrupt, risk of endotoxin contamination • yeast: eukaryotic system, expression of eukaryotic gene products, grows slower than many typical industrially used bacteria