Tag: biotechnology and genetic engineering

Serratia is a genus of gram negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria of the enterobacteriaceae family. The most common species S. marcescens, is normally the only pathogen and usually causes nosocomial infections.

Sugarcane (Saccharum or Hidnarum) is the main source of commercial ethyl alcohol. Source is extracted from the juice of sugarcane as a commercial product, but this leaves a syrup called molasses which contains glucose and fructose. Ethanol is produced by the fermentation of molasses by using yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used as a leavening agent in baking bread and bakery products, where it converts the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. During the bread making fermentation process, yeast gives off carbon dioxide and produces enzymes that modify the physical properties of the dough. 

Fermenting agents are Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S.sake, S.ellipsoidens. Molasses and fruit juice are more commonly used in brewing industry. Molasses is a dark coloured syrup left after the extraction of sugar. Yeasts are used as supplement to human food, Brewer's yeast is a readily available source of protein. At present the scientists are thinking of microscopic forms of food  (fungi as a single cell protein) or atleast as food flavouring agent

Single-cell protein refers to sources of mixed protein extracted from pure or mixed cultures of algae, yeasts, fungi or bacteria (grown on agricultural wastes) used as a substitute for protein-rich foods, in human and animal feeds.

In stirred tank bioreactors, the oxygen mass transfer is a function of many variables, such as the physical properties of the liquid (viscosity, surface tension, etc.), the geometry of the vessel and stirrer and the operational conditions. In the stirred-tank bioreactor, the stirrer facilitates even mixing and oxygen availability throughout the bioreactor. 

Red yeast is used for maintaining desirable cholesterol levels in healthy people. The active ingredient in red yeast is the same as the active ingredient in prescription drugs called statins used for high cholesterol. Thats why, red yeast has all the possible side effects, drug interactions, and precautions associated with this type of drug.

The bacterium Clostridium acetylbutylicum, easliy converts any fermentable sugar to butanol and additionally produces hydrogen gas, acetone, isopropyl alcohol. Isopropanol is a product of the organism formerly known as Clostridium butylicum, which is now included in the species Clostridium beijerinckii. 

Molasses are used commonly in distilleries for ethanol production. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an industrial yeast possessing most of the desirable fermentation characteristics like fast growth and fermentation rate, osmo-tolerance, high ethanol tolerance, ability to ferment molasses, and to ferment at elevated temperatures etc.

Raw fruit juice is usually a strongly acidic solution, containing from 10 to 25 percent soluble sugars. Its acidity and high sugar concentration make it an unfavourable medium for the growth of bacteria but highly suitable for yeasts and moulds. Raw fruit juice naturally contains many yeasts, moulds, and bacteria, derived from the surface of the fruit. Normally, the yeast used in alcoholic fermentation is a strain of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae