Lesson 5 of 11 · 6 min
Chemicals, enzymes and bioactive molecules
NCERT §8.2.3
Thursday: Ananya reads the backs of packets in the kitchen. The lemon drink lists citric acid; the detergent box mentions enzymes; the juice carton says 'clarified'. Microbes again.
The lesson in notes
In short
Microbes are used to manufacture organic acids, alcohols and enzymes on a commercial scale.
Acid producers: Aspergillus niger (a fungus) gives citric acid; Acetobacter aceti (a bacterium) gives acetic acid; Clostridium butylicum (a bacterium) gives butyric acid; Lactobacillus (a bacterium) gives lactic acid.
Ethanol is produced commercially using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Lipases go into detergents and help lift oily stains from laundry.
Bottled fruit juices look clearer than home-made ones because they are clarified with pectinases and proteases.
Streptokinase comes from the bacterium Streptococcus and is altered by genetic engineering. It serves as a 'clot buster', clearing clots from the blood vessels of patients whose myocardial infarction led to a heart attack.
Cyclosporin A, an immunosuppressive agent for organ-transplant patients, comes from the fungus Trichoderma polysporum.
Statins, made by the yeast Monascus purpureus, are sold as blood-cholesterol lowering agents. They work by competitively inhibiting the enzyme that synthesises cholesterol.