The Biotechnological Application of Microbes

 

Background

Hello there! My name is Mary Kate Strasser, a sophomore at at Alverno College, majoring in nursing with psychology as my support. One of the classes I am enrolled in this semester is microbiology, where over the the course of the semester, I have learned about a whole host (no pun intended) of issues relating to microorganisms, and their fascinating functions and applications in our daily lives.

I chose to research the biotechnological applications of microbes in vitamin production because this is a topic I found very relevant to my life. My family and I all take vitamins everyday, and I was curious to see what goes into the making of these supplements. Not only is it interesting to see what goes into the production of these vitamins and how they are made, but also researching whether these are beneficial to our health. People spend their money on a wide variety of vitamins in hope that this will improve their overall well-being, so I am hoping to decide on whether these supplements are helpful or just hype.

My hope is that by the end of reading this blog post, you will have learned more about the production of vitamins through microbes, and be able to decide for yourself if they are worth

your time and money.

 

(360 Living, 2013)

 

Why Take Vitamins?

 

Vitamin supplements can be a helpful addition to people's diet to help them recieve the necessary minerals and vitamins that they need to live a healthy lifestyle. It is clear with the rising obesity epidemic in America that not everyone eats an optimal, balanced, and healthy diet, so vitamins are able to supplement some of their nutrients they are not receiving in their diet. With this said, however, vitamins cannot possibly supplement everyone's required minerals and vitamins acquired only through a healthy diet. This is because healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts have so many diverse compounds within them, that scientists cannot possibly replicate every single one of these compounds into vitamins that people can take. Scientists are only beginning to scratch the surface of all the components found in powerful, natural health foods with much more left yet to be researched and discovered. Although vitamin supplements can be beneficial to one's health, it is the optimal choice to receive necessary minerals and nutrients through one's diet.  

 

(The Raw Food Groups, 2014)

 



Using Microbes to Make Vitamins

Vitamin B12 and Riboflavin are two examples of vitamins that are produced via microorganisms due to their complex molecular structures. Vitamin B12 is made only by microbes, mainly from Propionibacteria and Pseudomonas. We benefit from this vitamin via absorption in our guts, and a deficiency in this nutrient can lead to pernicious anemia. Riboflavin is produced from a fungus called Ashbya gossypii, and deficiencies in this nutrient can lead to mouth ulcers and bloodshot, itchy eyes (Madigan & Martinko, 2006).

While there are several methods to microbe isolation and vitamin production through these organisms, some compounds are produced exculusively through fermentation including provitamin D2, riboflavin B2, B12, B13, vitamin F-group, and coenzymes (Vandamme, 2007).

Very frequently, the gram positive bacteria Bacillus megaterium is used in the manufacturing of vitamin B12 and other exoenzymes like penicillin and amylases. The bacterium's is able to secrete protein well and therefore is ideal for the mass manufacturing of vitamin B12. This application is especially interesting because this was a bacterium that some students worked with this semester in lab, and performed many determinative tests in an attempt to identify the microorganism (Barg, Malten, Jahn & Jahn, 2005).



(Bacillus Megaterium, 2006)

 

Why Use Microbes?

Microbes are so popularly used in the manufacturing of vitamins because it is much easier to increase the production size using a strain from a microorganism, than it is from an isolation from a plant or animal. Increases of 1000-fold have been used with organisms with smaller metabolisms. Furthermore, scientists are able to control and manipulate the microbe's environment and genetics much easier than if plant or animal derivatives were used (Demain, 2000).

Microorganisms can be easily grown and manipulated, as was seen in our lab application of the concepts learned in microbiology. The microbes can be placed in their optimal temperature, given their necessary supply of oxygen (or no oxygen), and the right nutrients for them in order grow at a high level of production. Using these microbes is both time-efficient, and cost-efficient as the microbes continue to grow on their own, with the necessary environment and nutrients, of course. With plants and animals, however, isolating a certain compound for the production of vitamins is not only very time consuming and difficult, it is often wasteful because not all of the organism is always used in the manufacturing process.


What are Your Thoughts?

Now that you have hopefully learned a little bit more about the utilization of microorganisms for vitamin production, you can take a stance on vitamins--are they worth your time and effort? If you need further persuasion, just watch this YouTube video and decide for yourself!

 

What Are Others Saying?

https://twitter.com/search?q=vitamin%20angels&src=typd
 

 Text References

Barg, H., Malten, M., Jahn, M., & Jahn, D. (2005). Protein and vitamin production in Bacillus megaterium. Microbial Processes and Products, 18, 205-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-847-1:205

Demain, A. L. (2000). Microbial technology. Trends in Biotechnology, 18(1).

Madigan, M. T., & Martinko, J. M. (2006). Brock Biology of Microorganisms (11th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.

Vandamme, E. J. (1992). Production of vitamins, coenzymes and related biochemicals by biotechnological processes. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 53(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jctb.280530402