Inductrial Microbilogy

• industrial products from microorganisms

Antibiotics

Infections have been the major cause of diseases throughtout the history. microbiosynthesis

Doses of antibiotics can be provided in several ways:

• oral antibiotics – tablets, capsules or a liquid that you drink, which can be used to treat most types of mild to moderate infections in the body

• topical antibiotics – creams, lotions, sprays or drops, which are often used to treat skin infections

• injections of antibiotics – these can be given as an injection or infusion through a drip directly into the blood or muscle, and are usually reserved for more serious infections

Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent some types of bacterial infection. They work by killing bacteria or preventing them from reproducing and spreading.

Antibiotic resistance can either be inherent or acquired. Some bacteria are naturally resistant to some antibiotics due to their physiological characteristics. This is inherent resistance. Acquired resistance occurs when a bacterium that was originally sensitive to an antibiotic develops resistance. For example resistance genes can be transferred from one plasmid to another plasmid or chromosome, or resistance can occur due to a random spontaneous chromosomal mutation.

Types of antibiotics

There are hundreds of different types of antibiotics, but most of them can be broadly classified into six groups. These are outlined below.

• penicillins (such as penicillin and amoxicillin) – widely used to treat a variety of infections, including skin infections, chest infections and urinary tract infections

• cephalosporins (such as cephalexin) – used to treat a wide range of infections, but some are also effective for treating more serious infections, such as septicaemia and meningitis

• aminoglycosides (such as gentamicin and tobramycin) – tend to only be used in hospital to treat very serious illnesses such as septicaemia, as they can cause serious side effects, including hearing loss and kidney damage; they're usually given by injection, but may be given as drops for some ear or eye infections

• tetracyclines (such as tetracycline and doxycycline)– can be used to treat a wide range of infections, but are commonly used to treat moderate to severe acne and rosacea

• macrolides (such as erythromycin and clarithromycin) – can be particularly useful for treating lung and chest infections, or an alternative for people with a penicillin allergy, or to treat penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria

• fluoroquinolones (such as ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin) – broad-spectrum antibiotics that can be used to treat a wide range of infections

The biggest worry is that new strains of bacteria may emerge that can't be effectively treated by any existing antibiotics.

Fermentative activity of microbes is used industrially to obtain a number of products. The two common ones are alcoholic fermentation and antibiotics.

Methodology:

For any new industrial utilisation of a microbial activity, the technology passes through three stages—laboratory scale, pilot plant scale and manufacturing unit. The development from laboratory scale to manufacturing unit is called scaling up.