Technological Microbiology: Development and Applications

Abstract

Over thousands of years, modernization could be predicted for the use of microorganisms in the production of foods and beverages. However, the current accelerated pace of new food production is due to the rapid incorporation of biotechnological techniques that allow the rapid identification of new molecules and microorganisms or even the genetic improvement of known species. At no other time in history have microorganisms been so present in areas such as agriculture and medicine, except as recognized villains. Currently, however, beneficial microorganisms such as plant growth promoters and phytopathogen controllers are required by various agricultural crops, and many species are being used as biofactories of important pharmacological molecules. The use of biofactories does not end there: microorganisms have been explored for the synthesis of diverse chemicals, fuel molecules, and industrial polymers, and strains environmentally important due to their biodecomposing or biosorption capacity have gained interest in research laboratories and in industrial activities. We call this new microbiology Technological Microbiology, and we believe that complex techniques, such as heterologous expression and metabolic engineering, can be increasingly incorporated into this applied science, allowing the generation of new and improved products and services.

Keywords: biofactories; biopolymers; biotechnology; environmental microbiology; food microbiology; plant growth-promoting microorganisms.

FIGURE 1

The main applications of fungi, bacteria, and viruses for obtaining new or improved products. Comparison between the possibilities generated by Classical Microbiology and Technological Microbiology, where the incorporation of techniques has led to market novelties, as well as to the improvement of commonly used products and services. PGPMs, plant growth-promoting microorganisms.

FIGURE 2

Use of metagenomics and next-generation sequencing in the study of microbial communities to obtain genetic data. These data can be used in studies of microbial diversity, group phylogeny, species diversification, and microbial metabolism. These data have also allowed the discovery of new or modified molecules used to obtain improved products, new products, or services.

FIGURE 3

Use of Technological Microbiology to prevent the proliferation of the Aedes aegypti vector and the DENV virus. (A) Mechanisms of transmission of the bacterium Wolbachia to the offspring of the vector. Cytoplasmic incompatibility causes females with Wolbachia to always breed offspring with Wolbachia, whether mating with males with or without the bacterium. When females without Wolbachia mate with males with Wolbachia, the fertilized eggs die. With successive generations, the number of male and female mosquitoes with the bacterium tends to increase until the entire mosquito population bears this characteristic. (B) Use of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis bioinsecticide to fight dengue. This bacterium synthesizes protein crystals that, when consumed by Aedes larvae, solubilize in the mosquito’s intestine and are transformed into efficient toxins that damage the intestinal wall, allowing the attack of pathogenic bacteria that cause the death of the larva.

FIGURE 4

Different biotechnological techniques used in the production of currently available vaccine types. (A) Attenuated or live vaccines, which use attenuated pathogens. (B) Inactivated vaccines containing completely inactivated or fractionated pathogens or only antigenic components of these pathogens, subdivided into (B1) whole or fractioned; (B2) subunit vaccines, which use proteins, peptides, or nucleic acids as antigens; (B3) toxoids, which use inactivated pathogen toxins as antigens; (B4) carbohydrate vaccines produced from polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, and glycans; and (B5) conjugate vaccines, which have polysaccharides combined with transport proteins. (C) DNA vaccines carrying plasmids containing genes encoding immunogenic antigens. (D) Recombinant vaccines containing viruses engineered to carry genes encoding antigens from other disease-causing viruses.

FIGURE 5

Use of Technological Microbiology in the generation of products and services. These products and services can be obtained from the expression of transgenes or native microbial genes (P = promoter and R = reporter). Marker expression generates signals that may indicate the presence and concentration of analytes (biosensors). In turn, the symbiotic interaction between plant species and endophytic, mycorrhizal, and/or diazotrophic microorganisms can help plant growth and development through N₂ uptake, immobilized phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, competition with phytopathogenic species, etc. Arrows of the same color inside the bacterium signal the same pathway.