Microorganisms in Nature
Industrial Biotechnology is a branch of science which harneses the power of Microorganisms to produce Metabolites of interest. They can be classified as Primary Metabolities and Secondary Metabolites in technical terms. These metabolites are produced during the metabolism process of the microorganism for various growth related functions. Microorganisms produce a wide range of sustances essential for their growth such as nucleic acids, proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, organic acids, antiobiotics and by-products of high energy yielding metabolism such as ethanol, acetone and butanol.
During its growth, the microorganism utilizes a wide range of nutrients in the form of Carbon sources, Nitrogen Source, Inducers, Growth factors etc. To assimilate these nutrients for its metabolism process, they must be broken down into simpler molecules. It is during this phase that the microorganism produces various Protein molecules which catalyse the hydrolysis of the compounds.
These biological catalysts are known as Enzymes.
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