Applications of food biotechnology

The application of modern biotechnology to food, notably through the use a GM has raised concern amongst the European public. Valves that underlie this public concern about does technology include perceptions of : trust, choice, need and care for a sustainable society and natural balance.

Recommendations are advocated a addressing those social aspects in terms of improving consumer choice, promoting greater public involvement in decision  making and achieving a sustainable  society. A model of risk analysis with a social genetically modified organism(GMOs) and genetically modified food that incorporates this social dimension through the integration of risk analysis with a social impact analysis is purposed in order to build greater popular trust into the decision making process. This discipline of food science and technology on the twenty first century will require newer ways of capturing the applications of microbial genetics, whether it is through in vivo or in vitro engineering and will revolutionize our notions of food from production to processing in the words of Douglas Mc Cormick, The editor of Bio/Technology  by most standards all of this biotechnology is still brand new yet biotechnology is  the product of intellectual earthquakes that changes things so completely that it is difficult ,after the event to remember that once the landscape was different .It is easy to forget that change is recent and move change is just around the corner .The report of the search committee of institute of FOOD technologies gives an indication of what is “just around the corner”. It is stated that of six areas of research priorities the third highest belong to food biotechnology  and specially to the understanding and manipulation of the genetic system of plants, animals and microbes. Various records whether published or practiced, would indicate that through the application of biotechnology  in food industry “an invisible revolution is taking place”. This year a special issue of federation of European Microbiological Societies FEMS Microbiology Reviews was in its entirely devoted to the genetics metabolism and application of lactic acid bacteria and partial application opportunities for biotechnology around.

The applications of genuine microbial genetics is the foundation upon which the manipulation of microorganism involved in food biotechnology is based. General genetics of food microorganisms including their engineering as described briefly here is a subject about which an entire textbook can be written. As an introduction I will attempt to present the overview of two widely diverse genetic systems, bacteria and fungi including yeats. General and particular aspects of gene regulation and expression which are covered in individual chapters have been left out. This present genomes, chromosomes other genetic systems (i.e plasmids, transposons and insertion sequences and viruses ) principle traits therein mutations recombination’s and genetic exchange system. The knowledge of topology and organizations of genes within the genome f food relevant microorganism is important in both basic and applied sense of word. From a basic perspective, genetics want to know about structure of genome and how much non coding DNA id found in species .Then there is the question of whether or not related cell functions are organized  in particular segments of the genome and if so, are they clustered in operons. Additionally in most bacteria and fungi for which extensive genomic maps are available, we have learned that genes are not disturbed evenly over the  genome maps, instead they tend to be clustered  of ten symmetrically. Prokaryotic cellular DNA contains instructions for the organizations, structure and functioning of living cells. Most cellular phenotypes are reflected by chromosomal genotypes, although the same can be found on the  plasmids and plasmids. Through the advent of electron microscopy and molecular biology the nucleus of prokaryotic cells has been shown to anatomical location for chromosome. Bacterial chromosome has a circular configuration, as judged from physical and genetic linkage mapping studies ; is found in a folded configuration call the nucleoid on  folded chromosomes ; and is not bound by a nuclear membrane. The molecular weight  of most bacterial genome is in the range of 2-3x10⁹ Da. The  chromosome of two bacterial species  have been investigated in great detail.The best studies bacteria is Escherichia coli, which is cylindrical cell, 1x.5 um in size and can grow double its cell every 20min.The E.coli chromosome is a covalently  closed circular(ccc) DNA about 1.100 um long and is made of 4,700,000 bp (4,700 kbp).The genome of Bacillus Subtilis is 4.165x10⁶ bp.The genomes are replicated  from a unique replication origin to the terminus in a bidirectional manner. The ori and ter region for several bacteria have been mapped, sequenced and their molecular interactions with proteins have been published. The density  of genes along the map vary but in E.coli and B. subtills the genes near the or cluster include those involved with functions associated with DNA replications with DNA with RNA and with two of the few submits  of RNA polymerase, The ter region on the other hand is mostly a silent region with no open reading frames or genes of the bacteria involved  in physical mapping of chromosomes of several lactic acid bacteria (LAB) by genome finger  printing by clamoing homogenous electric field (CHEF) and pulse field gel electroprocess restriction maps, and genomic diversity studies have been reported also sel. This includes the chromosomes of Lacto coccus lactis subsp. Lactis DL-11 and IL1403 the total genome size of over  a dozen streptococcus thermophiles strains have been described and very b/w 1,690 and 2,012 kbp, most genomes are smaller than that of lactococci in the 1,900 kbp size range. Genomic DNA fingerprinting are used for characterization of proprietary strains by industry as well as to monitor the population changes in starter cultures used for mixed fermentation. Use of restriction fragment length polymorphism especially enzymes such as Smal, Apal and Xhol that generate few unique bands has been suggested as the best approach isogenic strain identification can be established  by genomic DNA macro restriction analysis and determination of chromosomal deletions rearrangements, inversion and integration or excision of prophage ,transposons and insertion sequences or integrative plasmids more current techniques such as randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction for finger printing of LAB are being tried . It have been described rapid genomic fingerprinting of Lactobacillus lactis strains by Ap- PCR with ^32-P and fluroscent  label.A genetic subsp. Lactis I Li403 is published. In this genetic map study three peptidase genes are not clustered at a single site. Furthermore a comparison of the genomic maps of two L lactis subsp.Lactis strain DL -11 shows that the ribosomal RNA operons aresimilar, although the in between distance differ. However the lactic dehydrogenase is displaced in same two strains. These changes and rearranging events may be due to insertion of Tn elements.