Abstract

OSTOS-ORTIZ, Olga Lucía; ROSAS-ARANGO, Sonia Marcela  and  GONZALEZ-DEVIA, Johanna Lizeth. Biotechnological applications of microorganisms. Nova [online]. 2019, vol.17, n.31, pp.129-163. ISSN 1794-2470.

The biodiversity of microorganisms as well as the unique nature and biosynthetic capabilities in specific environmental conditions make microorganisms the likely candidates to solve problems of food shortages, pest control, biodegradation of xenobiotics, decomposition of garbage, batteries of produced waste, among others.

Microorganisms offer great potential for the exploration of molecules and processes, and knowledge of non-conventional species, especially within the Archaea group, has stimulated the molecular investigation of genes of interest. These new genes can be incorporated by recombinant technology into biologically known species, such as E. coli and S. cerevisiae, for the large-scale synthesis of products.

Technological microbiology has great potentials to explore and obstacles to overcome. Therefore, only research in this area is promising for scientists around the world.

In this review we present the most significant applications of microorganisms in the food industry, agriculture, chemical compounds, fuels, pharmacology and materials.

Keywords : biotechnology; food microbiology; biofuels; vaccines; biopolymers; biosensors; environmental microbiology; biofactories.

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