L15 Flashcards
how to use microbiology for mining
Can be used to isolate copper sulphide from ore, turn it into copper sulphate, Cu2+, and Fe2+, into copper metal and pure gold
how to use microbiology of hydrocarbon decomposition
○ Getting water from oil by breaking it down
○ Oil acts as electron donor, oxidised aerobically into CO2
○ Takes about a year, but if add nutrients, goes faster
If no oxygen, oil can get eaten up
how to use microbiology for waste water treatment
○ Purpose
§ Removal of pathogens
§ Prevention of pollution of surface waters
□ To acceptable levels
® 30mg/L of suspended solids
® 20mg/L BOD
○ Domestic sewage
§ Made up of 99.9% water
§ Remaining is 70% organic, 30% inorganic soilds
1/2 soilds are dissolved, other 1/2 is suspended
what are the 3 steps of waste water treatment procedures
○ Primary sedimentation
§ Removes floating + settling soilds
§ 60% of suspended soilds + 35% BOD removed
○ Secondary treatment
§ Biological
§ Aerobic
□ Trickling filter
□ Activated sludge
§ Anaerobic
□ Denitrification
□ High nutrient waste
○ Tertiary treatment
§ Flocculation
§ Sand filtration
§ Disinfection
explain microbial fuel cells
- Another method of waste removal is microbial fuel cells
○ Whole organisms act as catalysts to oxidise organics
§ Transfer electrons to anode
§ Electrons travel to cathode
§ Energy harvested from current
○ Method
§ Soluble redox shuttles
§ Bound membrane complexes
§ Nanowires
○ Cathode
§ Platinum or another microbe
explain the anoxic secondary wastewater treatment: sludge digestion
- Inner sludge digestor
○ Sludge inlet comes in from side
○ Goes down
§ Gas outlet
§ CH4/CO2 (comes from the hydrolysis of complex polymers into monomers, which are then fermented and undergo methanogenesis)
§ Scum layer- acts to seal it in, is removed
§ Supernatant- is removed
§ Actively digesting sludge
§ Stabilised sludge
§ Comes out sludge outlet
what is the process of discovering a antibiotic
- Process
1. Spread a soil dilution on a plate of selective medium with sterile glass spreader
2. Incubate to permit growth + antibiotic
3. Overlay with a indicator organism
4. Incubate
5. Then note nonproducing organisms, zones of growth inhibition, and producing organisms, to determine which antibiotics are effective
6. Streak suspected antibiotic producer across one side of the plate with a sterile glass spreader
7. Incubate
8. Antibiotic diffuses into agar
9. Cross streak with test organisms
10. Incubate
11. Note Inhibition zones/non/producing organism (from this, could determine, e.g., is effective against gram positive/negative)
explain phage therapy, what does it treat, and what are problems with it
- Predominantly involves lytic phages
- Stopped being used after antibiotics introduced
- Used to treat
○ Dysentery
○ Staphylococcal skin disease
○ Multi antibiotic resistant bacteria
○ Cystic fibrosis pseudomonas
○ Animal diseases
○ Antibiotic resistant illness - Problems
○ Generalised transduction (means could transfer antibiotic properties)
○ Lysogeny
§ Possessing genes for major antibiotic resistance genes for phage encoded toxins
