Biotech-Microbiology and Cell Culture

The study of microorganisms and their effects on other living organisms 

Microbiology

used for producing products like enzymes, antibiotics, and biodegradable plastics. Most of them are harmless, and many used in biotechnology are beneficial to mankind. Biotechnological products like drugs are engineered to target specific proteins on the plasma membranes of human cells

Why microbes are important to understand in biotech

three domains of life

Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya

most diverse domain of life

Bacteria

most related to eukarya

Archaea

prokaryotes, were not recognized as a separate domain until the 1970’s, no known human diseases caused by Archaeans, found in most habitats on earth, including the human digestive system, live in very harsh environments 

Archaea

prokaryotes, more than Archaea, enclosed by a plasma membrane and a peptidoglycan cell wall, less complex than eukaryotic cells, have unique requirements for growth, including oxygen, temperature, and salt levels 

Bacteria

yeast, protists, molds, mushrooms, algae, humans, animals, plants, and fungi, much more complex cell structure than bacteria, all are surrounded by a plasma membrane that is composed of phospholipids

Eukarya

plant or animal cell? cell wall (rigid shape), large central vacuole, chloroplasts (autotroph), lack centrosomes, lack lysosomes

plant cell

no cell wall (irregular shape), numerous small vacuoles, no chloroplasts (heterotroph), centrioles/centrosomes, lysosomes

animal cell

contains DNA of the cell, brain of the cell

nucleus

captures energy from light through photosynthesis, solar panels of the cell

Chloroplast

modify, sort, and ship proteins and lipids, post office of the cell

Golgi body/apparatus

makes ATP energy

Mitochondria

creates polypeptide chains and proteins, factory of the cell

Ribosome

creates lipids for the cellular membrane

Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum

proteins are assembled and transported into/out of the cell

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum

uses enzymes to break down old organelles and macromolecules, garbage disposal of the cell

Lysosome

stores water, salts, and carbohydrates, kitchen of the cell

Vacuole

material inside the cell membrane but outside of the nucleus

Cytoplasm

helps organize cell division

Centriole

gives plant cells extra stability and structure

Cell Wall

controls what goes in and out of the cell

Cell Membrane

we are able to see the connection and correlation between a specific microbe and the specific disease

Purpose of Koch’s Postulates

the microorganism must be found in abundance in all organisms suffering from the disease, but should not be found in healthy organisms,

the microorganism must be isolated from a diseased organism and grown in pure culture

the cultured microorganism should cause disease when introduced into a healthy organism

the microorganism must be reisolated from the inoculated, diseased experimental host and identified as being identical to the original causative agent

The four Postulates

gram negative

Pink/thin

gram positive

Purple/thick

rods under a microscope, what color?

Pink

circles under a microscope, what color?

Purple

how are bacteria named

Greek or Latin words

three types of bacterial morphologies

Cocci (spherical), Bacilli (rod-shaped), Spirilla (spiral-shaped)

aerobic and anaerobic bacteria 

aerobic-oxygen anaerobic-without oxygen

obligative and facultative aerobic and anaerobic bacteria

obligative-has to 

facultative-can choose but prefers one

how are biotech and microbes used in food production

cheese, yogurt, soy sauce, wine, beer, vinegar, rubbing alcohol

ingredients in LB Agar

tryptone, yeast extract, salt, agar, distilled water

three main types of solid media used to culture bacteria

deep tubes, slants, petri dishes

the most common bacterial selection method in a molecular biology laboratory usually added to the media in which bacteria are grown 

Antibiotic Selection

Maintaining sterility at all times by using a set of specific practices and procedures

Aseptic Technique

how to label a petri dish

On the bottom with your initials, date, the type of LB Agar, and what is on it

two ways to quantify bacteria

Serial dilutions and Plate counting

A measure used in microbiology to estimate the number of viable microorganisms (like bacteria or fungi) in a sample 

A CFU