Microbial

Biotechnology
Department of Microbiology
A.B.U. Zaria
Outline

 Metabolites from microbes

 application in human health
 application in agriculture
 Environmental biotechnology
 Definition
 Agents
 Environmental application of biotechnology
 Advantages and disadvantages
 Biodegradation
 Treatments of heavy metal-containing wastes
Environmental
biotechnology
 Environmental biotechnology is a system of
sciences and engineering knowledge
related to the use of microorganisms and
their products in the prevention, treatment,
and monitoring of environmental pollution
through
 solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes biotreatment,
 bioremediation of polluted environments, and
 biomonitoring of environmental and treatment
processes.
Biotechnological agents
 Biotechnological agents used in environmental
biotechnology include Bacteria and Archaea, Fungi,
Algae, and Protozoa.
 Bacteria and Archaea are prokaryotic
microorganisms. Prokaryotes are the most active
organisms participating in the biodegradation of
organic matter and are used in all areas of
environmental biotechnology.
 Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that assimilate
organic substances. Fungi are important degraders
of biopolymers and are used in solid waste
treatment, especially in composting, or in soil
bioremediation. Fungal biomass can also be used as
an adsorbent of heavy metals.
Biotechnological agents
 Algae are eukaryotic microorganisms that
assimilate light energy and are used in
environmental biotechnology for the removal of
organic matter and nutrients from water
exposed to light.
 Protozoa are unicellular animals that absorb
and digest organic food. Protozoa play an
important role in the treatment of industrial
hazardous solid, liquid, and gas wastes by
grazing on bacterial cells, thus maintaining
adequate bacterial biomass levels in the
treatment systems and helping to reduce cell
concentrations in the waste effluents.
Applications
 The main application of environmental
biotechnology is the biodegradation of organic
matter of municipal wastewater and
biodegradation/detoxification of hazardous
substances in industrial wastewater.
 Approximately two-thirds of the hazardous
substances of oil polluted soil and sludges,
sulphur-containing wastes, paint sludges,
halogenated organic solvents, non-halogenated
organic solvents, galvanic wastes, salt sludges,
pesticide-containing wastes, explosives, chemical
industry wastewaters, and gas emissions can be
treated by different biotechnological methods.
 Organic substances, synthesized in the
chemical industry, are often difficult to
biodegrade. Substances that are not produced
naturally and are slowly/partially biodegradable
are called xenobiotics.
 The biodegradability of xenobiotics can be
characterized by biodegradability tests such as
rate of CO2 formation (mineralization rate), rate
of oxygen consumption (respirometry test),
ratio of BOD to COD (oxygen used for biological
or chemical oxidation), and the spectrum of
intermediate products of biodegradation.
 Other applications are the prevention of
pollution and restoration of water quality in
reservoirs, lakes and rivers, coastal area, in
aquifers of groundwater, and treatment of
potable water.
 Areas of environmental biotechnology also
include tests of toxicity and pathogenicity and,
use of biosensors to monitor quality of
environment, prevent hazardous waste
production using biotechnological analogs,
develop biodegradable materials for
environmental sustainability, produce fuels from
biomass and organic wastes, and reduce toxicity
by bioimmobilization of hazardous substances.
Comparison of
biotechnological treatment
and other methods
 The pollution of water, soil, solid wastes, and air can
be prevented or removed by physical, chemical,
physicochemical, or biological (biotechnological)
methods. The advantages of biotechnological
treatment of wastes are as follows:
1. Biodegradation or detoxification of a wide
spectrum of hazardous substances by natural
microorganisms
2. Availability of a wide range of biotechnological
methods for complete destruction of hazardous
wastes
3. A diverse set of conditions that are suitable for
biotechnological methods.
 Disadvantages
 However, there are also many disadvantages of
biotechnological methods for the prevention of pollution and
treatment of environment and wastes:
1. Nutrients and electron acceptors must be added to intensify
the biotreatment.
2. Optimal conditions must be maintained in the treatment
system.
3. There may be unexpected or negative effects of applied
microorganisms, such as emission of odours or toxic gases
during the biotreatment, presence or release of pathogenic,
toxigenic, opportunistic microorganisms into the
environment.
4. There may be unexpected problems in the management of
the biotechnological system because of the complexity and
high sensitivity of the biological processes.
Treatment of heavy metal-
containing wastes
 Liquid and solid wastes containing heavy metals may
be successfully treated by biotechnological methods.
 Some metals can be reduced or oxidized by specific
enzymes of microorganisms.
 Microbial metabolism generates products such as
hydrogen, oxygen, H2O2, which can be used for
redox of metals.
 Reduction or oxidation of metals is usually
accompanied by metal solubilization or precipitation.
 Solubilization or precipitation of metals may also be
mediated by microbial metabolites.
 Microbial production of organic acids in
fermentation or inorganic acids (nitric and
sulphuric acids) in aerobic oxidation will promote
formation of dissolved chelates of metals.
 Microbial production of phosphate, H2S, and CO2
will stimulate precipitation of non-dissolved
phosphates, carbonates, and sulphides of heavy
metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium,
copper, lead and mercury .
 Production of H2S by sulphate-reducing bacteria is
especially useful to remove heavy metals and
radionuclides from sulphate-containing mining
drainage waters, liquid waste of nuclear facilities,
drainage from tailing pond of hydrometallurgical
plants; wood straw or saw dust.
 Organic acids, produced during the anaerobic
fermentation of cellulose, may be used as a source of
reduced carbon for sulphate reduction and further
precipitation of metals.
 The surface of microbial cells is covered by
negatively charged carboxylic and phosphate
groups, and positively charged amino groups.
Therefore, depending on pH, there may be significant
adsorption of heavy metals onto the microbial
surface.
 Biosorption, for example by fungal fermentation
residues, is used to accumulate uranium and other
radionuclides from waste streams.
 Metal-containing minerals such as
sulphides can be oxidized and metals can
be solubilized. This approach is used for the
bioleaching of heavy metals from sewage
sludge before other treatment methods
such as landfilling or biotransformation.

 Some metals, arsenic and mercury for

example, may be volatilized by
methylation due to the activity of anaerobic
microorganisms.
Enhancement of biotechnological
treatment of wastes
 Several key factors are critical for the
successful application of biotechnology for
the treatment of hazardous wastes:
1. Environmental factors, such as pH,
temperature, and dissolved oxygen
concentration, must be optimized.
2. Contaminants and nutrients must be
available for action or assimilation by
microorganisms.
3. Content and activity of essential
microorganisms in the treated waste must be
sufficient for the treatment.
Bioremediation
 Most persistent pollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals
and personal care products are man-made products.
 However, microbes and plants have evolved to produce a
diverse array of catabolic enzymes for their degradation.
 Attributed to structural similarity of contaminants to some
naturally occurring compounds.
 Bioremediation technologies exploit both genetic diversity
and metabolic versatility of microorganisms and /or plants.
 Results in reduction of the concentration and/or toxicity of a
pollutant” to less toxic materials, such as CO2, methane,
water, and inorganic salts
Bioremediation
 Bioremediation may be grouped into microbial remediation
(involving microbes) and phytoremediation (plant and
associated microbes).
 Listed as one of the top ten biotechnologies that improve
human health.
 The biological treatment of waste implies that microorganisms
can utilize the waste as a source of carbon and energy.
 While some pesticides have been shown to be biodegradable,
others have not shown susceptibility to biological processing.
 The pesticides shown to be the least biodegradable are the
organochlorine pesticides.
Microbes involved

 Examples of microorganisms shown to have metabolized recalcitrant

organic compounds are shown in the table below
Bioremediation approaches

 Microbial remediation- This may

be applied in situ, on-site or in
bioreactors depending on the
treatment. This includes
 natural attenuation,
 land farming,
 biopiling,
 Biofilm bioremediation
Natural attenuation
 Previously referred to as the “do nothing or hands off approach”.
 It mainly relies on the catabolic ability of the indigenous microbial
community to degrade pollutants on contaminated site.
 The Arabian Gulf and other areas are rich in hydrocarbon- and oil-
utilizing bacteria involved in natural attenuation.
 Apart from degradation, natural attenuation may result in
dispersion, dilution, sorption, volatilization and stabilization of
contaminants.
 It is appropriate for sites with low environmental value and useful
when time factor is not crucial since indigenous microbial
communities have to adapt to the presence of xenobiotics.
 The limitations include incomplete degradation of the pollutant,
formation of more toxic compounds, catabolic incompetence of
the indigenous microbial community.
 Heavy metals may only undergo immobilization or volatilization.
 Factors that may affect
bioremediation outcome
 Type of contaminants- organics e.g. hydrocarbons,
PAHs, inorganics- e.g. heavy metals.
 Contaminant concentration and toxicity
 Competence of indigenous microbes
 Bioaugmentation (inoculation with specialist

degraders)
 Nutrient level- N, P, and other elements.
 Biostimulation (enrichment with nutrient to

facilitate degradation)
 Aeration