Industrial revolution with microorganisms

Abstract

Mankind has used microbes from the dawn of history to perform services and produce useful chemicals and bioactives. Mixed complex communities, which are resilient over time, preserved food, made alcoholic beverages and treated wastes, all in the absence of an understanding of the underlying biological processes. Moving to single microbial transformation systems led to high-level production of primary (amino acids, nucleotides, vitamins – used as flavour-enhancing agents, nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals – solvents and organic acids, including biofuels) and secondary (pharmaceuticals, enzyme inhibitors, bio-herbicides and pesticides, plant growth regulators) metabolites and bioactives (including bacteriocins and enzymes). Several hallmark discoveries in microbiology and other sciences over the last 60 years transformed our ability to discover, manipulate, enhance and derive commercial benefit from industrial applications of microorganisms. This article attempts to capture some of the key discoveries that revolutionised industrial microbiology and speculates about where the “omics” revolution will take us next.