Detailed segment division:

• Plant cell biotechnology: plant cell biology

• Animal cell biotechnology: animal cell biology
• Bacteria as cell factories: microbiology
• Genetic engineering and production of enzymes
• Genetic engineering of micro-organisms and yeast
• Cell culture techniques
• Genome mapping of specific bacterial and yeast genomes
• Biodiversity of micro-organisms in production processes

Bacteria as cell factories: microbiology

The potential of prokaryotic cells in the production or biotransformation of natural or xenobiotic compounds is by no
means exhausted. The enormous diversity of microorganisms in the environment offers an almost unlimited gene
pool for new enzymes and metabolic pathways. The discovery of new natural products continues to be of great
interest for the production of pharmaceuticals, new materials, agrochemicals, and consumer products. An exciting
approach to generating new products is to evolve novel metabolic pathways in a microbial cell by means of the
technique of metabolic engineering. Such a “directed construction” of the living cell with novel metabolic traits results
in creation of the so called “single-cell factory”. Populations of those cells cultured under specific conditions are
sources of vast array of valuable products.
Detailed segment division:

• Enzymatic processes
• Development of bioprocessing techniques (fermentation, immobilisation of biocatalysts, quality control, etc)
• Downstream processing

Enzymatic processes

Enzymatic processes are a key application in biocatalysis. The use of enzymes has the potential to increase
productivity, efficiency and quality output in industrial processing. Enzyme-catalyzed processes generally have
requirements for a simple manufacturing base, low capital investment and consume relatively small amounts of
energy, when compared to other methods of food processing.

Enzymes are the catalysts of all reactions in living systems. These reactions are catalysed in the active sites of
globular proteins. The proteins are composed by amino acids with a variety of side chains ranging from non-polar
aliphatic and aromatic to acidic, basic and neutral polar. This fact allows to a globular 3D protein to create in the
active site all ranges of microenvironments for catalysis.

Major advances in microbial technology and genetics allow recently the broad range of enzymatic applications in the
industry. For example enzymatic processes have been increasingly incorporated in textiles - cotton, wool, flax or
 starches are natural materials used in textiles that can be processed with enzymes. Enzymes have been used for
desizing, scouring, polishing, washing, degumming, peroxide degradation in bleaching baths as well as for
decolourisation of dyehouse wastewaters, bleaching of released dyestuff and inhibiting dye transfer. And this is just
a small range of enzymatic processes usage.
Detailed segment division:

• Microbial ecology
• Biosafety
• Microbial functions for degradation/transformation of pollutants
• Isolation, breeding and genetic engineering of pollutants; degradation micro-organisms
• Biotechnological processes for soil and land treatment
• Biotechnological processes for water treatment
• Biotechnological processes for air and off-gas treatment

Microbial ecology

The microbial ecology and biotechnology science area emphasizes investigations of microbial processes at
population, organism, and gene function levels to address environmental threats from contamination and pathogens,
and to harness the capabilities of microbial systems for wastewater purification, biodegradation of chemicals,
biological solid waste treatment, induced corrosion, biofuel production and other applications. Researchers elucidate
and harness capabilities of microbial processes through the following disciplines and methods: molecular-to-field
scale studies, technology development, bioinformatics, microbial genomics, community dynamics, extremophiles,
genetically engineered microorganisms and bioremediation.
Detailed segment division:

• Microbial ecology
• Biosafety
• Microbial functions for degradation/transformation of pollutants
• Isolation, breeding and genetic engineering of pollutants; degradation micro-organisms
• Biotechnological processes for soil and land treatment
• Biotechnological processes for water treatment
• Biotechnological processes for air and off-gas treatment

Microbial functions for degradation/transformation of pollutants

“Bacteria represent the great success story of life's pathway. They occupy a wider domain of environments and span
a broader range of biochemistries than any other group. They are adaptable, indestructible and astoundingly diverse.
We cannot even imagine how anthropogenic intervention might threaten their extinction, although we worry about our
impact on nearly every other form of life…. This is the 'age of bacteria'---as it was in the beginning, is now and ever
shall be.” -Stephen Jay Gould (1994).
Bacteria are found everywhere on the planet, from deserts in Antarctica to deep-sea thermal vents, from high up in
the atmosphere to several kilometers into the Earth’s crust. Their metabolism is amazingly versatile and they can
grow in a wide range of environmental conditions. As humans, we depend on bacteria for our existence; for example
they colonize our skin and digestive tract as part of our immune system, certain bacteria in our gut provide us with
vitamin K, and bacteria were initially responsible for the oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere. The versatility of
bacteria can be harnessed in a number of biotechnological applications. For example, microorganisms can be used
for production of substances such as insulin in the pharmaceutical industry, for manufacture of biodegradable plastics
and as sources of novel enzymes with activities at temperature extremes. The nutritional versatility of microorganisms
can also be exploited for biodegradation of environmental pollutants. This process is called bioremediation and is
based on the capability of certain microorganisms to metabolize toxic pollutants, obtaining energy and biomass in the
process. Ideally, the chemicals are transformed into harmless compounds such as carbon dioxide and water.
Harnessing microorganisms to degrade harmful compounds is an attractive option for clean up of polluted
environments. However, despite the apparent simplicity of microorganisms, the different strategies for dealing with
pollutants are as diverse as the organisms themselves. The process of biodegradation must therefore be investigated
on several levels; biochemical, genetic and physiological.
India > India Microbiology Testing Lab

SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION OF
QUORUM SENSING IN Escherichia
coli
High throughput techniques and advanced
mathematical tools have enabled systematic
investigations of biological systems with unparalleled
precision. Not only molecular interactions between
components but mechanisms ...

Tags: biological systems, escherichia coli, protein

gel, quorum sensing

India > India Microbiology Testing Lab

India Microbiology Testing Services
Mumbai Microbiological Activity and Detection Testing Laboratory
Intertek India provides microbiological testing servcies and capabilties for
food, water, pharmaceuticals and textiles. Intertek India can test samples
for a wide range of microbes and microbial activity. Contact Intertek for
more information.
Microbiological Testing for Food and Foodstuffs: Microbial Testing of Pharmaceuticals:

• Clostridium • Microbiology Testing for Pharmaceuticals

• Coliforms (for water samples)
• Coliforms (solid media)
• E. coli, Fecal coliforms
• Fecal streptococci
• Lipase activity
• Plate Count - Bacterial
• Psuedomonas aeruginosa
• Salmonella, Shigella, Staph. aureus
• Sulphite reducing anaerobes
Microbiological Textile Tests:
• Antibacterial Finish (Qualitative) AATCC 147
• Antibacterial Finish (Quantitative) AATCC 100
• Antibacterial Finish AATCC 174
• Antifungal Finish AATCC 30
Microbiological Tests for Water:

• Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahemolyticus

• Yeast & Mould Count • Total bacterial count (membrance filtration)
• Per BIS, The Bureau of Indian Standards • Swab test (Coliforms)
• Swab test (E-coli)
Microbiology Testing Lab Resources: • Swab test (Salmonella)

• Class 100 Clean-Rooms

• Separate AHU
• Laboratory equipment including, Autoclave,
Microscope, Centrifuge
• Balance, pH Meter, Turbidometer, Incubators,
Oven
• Laminar-flow work stations
• Reference Cultures