NAME: SOO MING HUEY (A16KT0397) Date: 1/4/2020

Question 1
(i) Name four (4) different branches of biotechnology and give brief description of
each.
(1) Blue biotechnology of marine (aquatic) regions

Blue biotechnology is based on the exploitation of ocean and sea resources to create products and
applications of industrial interest. For instance, mostly hydrocolloids and gellings are already
being widely used in food, health treatment and cosmetics. Next-generation of biofuel produced
by photosynthetic microalgae is the newest marine-derived raw material. Most probably these bio-
oils could be used to manufacture a full range of fuels including gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel
that meet the same specifications as today’s products. Besides, some marker molecules from
marine organisms are now commonly used in research. Enzymatically active molecules useful in
medicine, diagnostics and research have also been isolated from marine organismsOne of the
example of blue biotechnology is the development of anti-viral drugs Zovirax(Acyclovir) from the
nucleosides isolated from Caribbean sponges, a marine organism.

(2) Red biotechnology

Medical biotechnology deals with health preservation, medical or pharmaceutical biotechnology

are synonyms of red biotechnology. It considers production of vaccines and antibiotics, discovery
of new drugs, regenerative therapies, construction of artificial organs and new diagnostics. It also
deals with diagnosis of various diseases; large scale production of various drugs and hormones
such as human insulin and interferon; vaccines for chicken pox, rabies, polio and growth
hormones, such as bovine. In the field of medical science, genetic engineering has helped in the
large-scale production of hormones, blood serum proteins; in the development of antibiotics, and
other medically useful products.

(3) White biotechnology

Industrial biotechnology relays on application of biocatalysis in industrial processes. Such

processes develop dynamically and concur with classical technologies. They are worldwide used
in: chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, paper, textile, tanning and food industries, as well as in
power industry. White biotechnology is considered as the biggest branch of biotechnology and
deals with commercial production of various useful organic substances, such as acetic acid, citric
acid, acetone, glycerine, etc., and antibiotics like penicillin, streptomycin, mitomycin, etc., through
the use of microorganisms especially fungi and bacteria

(4) Green Biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology which enable to produce more fertile and resistant, towards biotic and
abiotic stress, plants and ensures application of environmentally friendly fertilizers and the use of
biopesticides Major technologies applied here are: plant cells and tissue cultivation and
micropropagation as well as application of molecular engineering for selection of plants (and to
the lower extent animals) with designed properties (GMO) . It is a combination of tissue culture
and genetic engineering. It deals with development of transgenic plants with resistance to biotic
and abiotic stress; development of haploids, embryo rescue, clonal multiplication,
cryopreservation and so on.

ii) Figure 1 shows schematic diagram for the production of bioethanol from grains and sugar
syrups. Briefly describe the main processes involved.

There are five-step production of bioethanol from starch-containing cereals:

1. Milling which is the mechanical crushing of the cereal grains to release the starch
components
2. The crushed cereal grains then subjected to heating and addition of water and enzymes for
conversion into fermentable sugar
3. Fermentation of the mash using yeast, whereby the sugar is converted into bioethanol and
CO2
4. The purification and polishing process is needed to purified the product in order to remove
the impurities. Distillation and rectification, i.e. concentration and cleaning the ethanol
produced by distillation
5. The biomass than removed during distillation will be collected by undergoing evaporation
and drying to remove the liquid residue from the biomass and undergo pelleting process to
produce DDGS.
6. Lastly, drying (dehydration) of the bioethanol is performed to dry bioethanol in order to
further increase the purity of bioethanol by removing the water residue.
Question 2 (7.5 marks)

(i) Define In situ bioremediation and Ex situ bioremediation. Also give two
advantages and two disadvantages of each bioremediation approaches. (4 marks)

In situ bioremediation Ex situ bioremediation

Definition It involves a direct approach for microbial
degradation at the sites of contaminated
water or soil using indigenous microbial
populations. Addition of nutrients at the
sites can promote microbial growth.
Waste or toxic material can be
collected from the polluted sites
and the bioremediation with the
requisite microorganism can be
carried out at designed places •

Techniques Bioventing, biosparging and Biopile, Windrows, Bioreactor

phytoremediation while others might and Land farming
proceed without any form of enhancement
(intrinsic bioremediation or natural
attenuation)
Advantages -Minimal exposure to public or site -Better controlled and more
personnels efficient process
- Limited or minimal disruption to the site
- Process can be improved by
of bioremediation enrichment with desired
- Cost effective microorganism
- Time required is short
Disadvantages -The sites are directly exposed to - Very costly
environmental factors e.g. temperature, - Site of pollution are highly
oxygen supply disturbed
- Seasonal varia7on of microbial activity - Many disposal problems after
-Problematic application of treatment the process is complete
additives

ii) One of the processes involved in phytobioremediation is Phytostimulation. It involves

degradation of contaminants by microorganism present at the root sections. In an instance
where N (nitrogen) and P (phosphorous) are presence in the soil at much higher
concentrations than that required by the plant for its metabolism, suggest potential microbial
approaches that can be taken to reduce the N and P concentrations to the desired level.
Phyto-stimulation is the enhancement of microbial activity to degrade organic
contaminants by exudates from plant roots. Direct mechanisms include: nitrogen fixation and
solubilization of minerals such as phosphorus through rhizoremediation (also known as
rhizodegradation, microbe-assisted phytoremediation, rhizosphere bioremediation). In this
context, the efficient use of rhizobial bacteria in the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis under stressful
conditions not only facilitates plant growth but also improves soil fertility. The heavy metal
contamination have stimulated interest in the use of the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis as a tool for
bioremediation of heavy metals. Examples of a great diversity of highly heavy metal-resistant
rhizobial strains, including Bradyrhizobium, Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Azorhizobium and
Sinorhizobium, have been isolated and characterized from industrial areas.
For information, Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is a group of bacteria that colonize
around plant root or rhizosphere. Some of PGPR are able to solubilize phosphate and fix nitrogen
that can be further use by plant. Phosphate solubilizing and nitrogen fixing bacteria can be isolated
from any kind of soils and habitats. Fixation of nitrogen by nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) and
solubilization of mineral nutrients by phosphate or potassium solubilizing bacteria have been
widely proposed as effective bioinoculants for microbe-assisted phytoremediation that can be be
isolated from mining area soil.
Examples of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that are able to solubilize phosphate could be isolated from
some species of lichens, namely Canoparmelia caroliniana, C. crozalsiana, C. texana,
Parmotrema sancti-angeli and P. tinctorum
Examples of phosphorus-solubilizing microbes are those Burlkholderia cepacia, Serratia
marcescens, and Pseudomonas putida. Other bacteria from Azotobacter genus had been isolated
from phosphate mining which has ability to fix nitrogen from the soil around limestone mining
area.