Courses

Microbial Biotechnology

General

Course Contents

Lectures

  • Stages of biotechnological processes.
  • Submerged fermentations – Bioreactors (kinetics of microbial growth and metabolites, types of bioreactors, design, operation, control, factors regulating fermentation processes, optimization and scale-up).
  • Microbial biosynthesis – Production of metabolites (food and feed additives, vitamins and amino acids, lipids, industrial enzymes, etc.).
  • Solid state fermentations – Biotechnological utilization of plant biomass by microorganisms. Biodegradation, detoxification of agro-industrial wastes and bioconversions of agricultural by-products.
  • Downstream processing methods for the recovery and purification of extracellular and intracellular biotechnological products.
  • Methods of cell immobilization.
  • Cultivation of edible and medicinal mushrooms – Production, utilization of biomass and secondary metabolites.
  • Biotechnological methods for of waste and by-products’ valorization.

Laboratory exercises:

  • Growth of microorganisms in shake flasks.
  • Determination of microbial growth by the turbidity method.
  • Determination of biomass dry weight.
  • Study of microbial growth kinetics, calculation of product yield and productivity, calculation of specific growth rate.
  • Methods for determining sugar consumption in microbial cultures.
  • Cell immobilization.
  • Solid state fermentation.

Educational Goals

After the successful completion of the course, the students will acquire a scientific background, abilities and skills to:

  • understand the steps required for the commercial production of natural products from microorganisms,
  • understand and deal with the problems associated with the isolation, optimization and growth of microorganisms on a large scale,
  • understand the importance of utilizing microorganisms in agricultural systems, in environmental applications and in the production of products on an industrial scale,
  • describe and interpret the new technologies used to produce products in prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems,
  • examine the factors that affect the efficient production of a product on a large scale,
  • understand the modern methodologies applied for the utilization of microorganisms in agriculture, industry and the environment.

General Skills

  • Search, analysis and synthesis of data and information, using the necessary technologies.
  • Adaptation to new situations.
  • Autonomous work.
  • Team work.
  • Work in an interdisciplinary environment.
  • Generation of new research ideas.

Teaching Methods

  • Face to face.

Use of ICT means

  • Presentation of lectures via Powerpoint.
  • Communication with students via e-mail.
  • Use of stereo-microscope, centrifuge, photometers, DNA electrophoresis devices, proteins, etc.
  • Learning process support through access to the e-class, online databases, etc.

Teaching Organization

ActivitySemester workload
Lectures26
Laboratory practice26
Essay writing26
Individual Study47
Total125

Students Evaluation

The examination in the theory of the course includes:

  1. Written exam (70%),
  2. Written assignment 30%) with
    • Short Answer Questions,
    • Multiple Choice Test.

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Βιβλίο [77111848]: ΒΙΟΜΗΧΑΝΙΚΗ ΜΙΚΡΟΒΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ, ΣΠΗΛΙΩΤΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΣ, ΜΠΑΤΡΙΝΟΥ ΑΝΘΙΜΙΑ.
  2. Βιβλίο [18548933]: Διεργασίες στη βιοτεχνολογία, Ζουμπούλης Αναστάσιος,Μάτης Κώστας Α.
  3. Βιβλίο [25844]: ΜΗΧΑΝΙΚΗ ΒΙΟΔΙΕΡΓΑΣΙΩΝ, Michael L. Shule, Fikret Kargi.
  4. Βιοτεχνολογία και Βιομηχανικές Ζυμώσεις. Νεραντζής Η., Ταταρίδης Π., Λογοθέτης Σ. (2014). Εκδόσεις Έμβρυο.
  5. Glazer A. And Nikaido H. (2007). Microbial Biotechnology: Fundamentals of Applied Microbiology, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press.
  6. Arora, D.K. (2003). Handbook of Fungal Biotechnology (Mycology) 2003.  CRC Press, New York.
  7. Kück, U. (2004). Genetics and Biotechnology (The Mycota, Volume 2).  Springer, Berlin.
  8. Glick & Pasternak (2009) Molecular Biotechnology 3rd Ed. American Society of Microbiology Press.