Microbial Mutagenesis Using Nuclear Technology Towards Properties Improvement and Knowledge Generation

Full-text: Microbes have been used as the bio factory for providing various bio-products for mankind. Among their involvements include the productions of antibiotics, soya sauce, yogurt drink, vinegar, enzymes, organic acids, ethanol etc. For centuries, these microbial bioprocesses are continually improved to meet the rising demands for quality life. Despite much effort to improve these microbial bioprocesses via genetic manipulation and related -omics techniques, much are yet to be done. Biotechnology techniques (random or site-directed mutagenesis) and genetic manipulations are the commonly employed strategies for improvement of biological samples. Mutagenesis via radiation is another tool to obtain mutants of interest. The use of ionizing radiation on microbes has been studied for decades. Few studies were reported to successfully develop mutants with significantly higher enzyme activity and improved enzyme properties. In this paper, we will share some activities of harnessing the nuclear technology to generate bacterial mutants with modified enzymatic activities and biomaterial productions. (author)