Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

http://kbs.ise.polsl.pl

Microbial adaptation’s mechanisms

Korneliusz Miksch

Korneliusz Miksch

Silesian University of Technology

Silesian University of Technology

Environmental Biotechnology

Environmental Biotechnology

Department

Department

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

http://kbs.ise.polsl.pl

The introduction of synthetic organic compounds
into the environment during the last decades has
given rise to major concern about the
ecotoxicological effects and fate of these
compounds. The most important methods for the
removal of pollutants from environment are the
biological processes. The biological processes of
wastewater

treatment,

waste

utilization,

remediation of soil and waste gas cleaning has
many advantages from the ecological and
economical point of view. They are cheep and
based on the processes, which are common in
the environment and additionally the unexpected
intermediate products are possible to treat by
biological transformation too. In all of these
processes the main rules are the same – it is
necessary to have a microbial population with
responsible

enzymes

for

metabolic

decomposition of the compounds.

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

http://kbs.ise.polsl.pl

ENZYMES

ENZYMES

INDUCTION

REPRESSION

DNA (GEN)

mRNA

SUBSTRAT

ENZYMES

PRODUCT

ENZYMES

ENZYMES

ACTIVATION

INHIBITION

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

http://kbs.ise.polsl.pl

SOCIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION

Selection of microorganisms which have the
needed properties (enzymes)

PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION

Synthesis of the needed enzymes (the
information about this enzymes is in the genetic
code but it wouldn’t be used before)

GENETICALLY ADAPTATION

Selection of the needed microorganisms from
the mutants (in not changed environment
conditions they died)

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

Environmental Biotechnology Department, S.U.T.

http://kbs.ise.polsl.pl

The most interesting is the genetically
adaptation, which is the only one
possibility for adaptation of bacteria to
such compounds, which didn’t exist before
in

the

environment

e.g.

synthetic

antibiotic, pesticides, detergents. In this
situation for the adaptation we use the
mutation

of

microorganisms.

The

genetically

adaptation

is

especially

important for the adaptation to hazardous
compounds, which are mostly mutagenic
and the number of mutated cells is higher
then in the clean environment.