Biochemical Engineering Fundamentals, Part 1 - Bailey, J., Ollis, D. 1989

Molecular Genetics and Regulatory Systems
Modification of Cellular DNA Structure

Not only Mutations, but also many other processes can alter the genetic material of a Cell. From the perspective of industrial biotechnology, these processes can have both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, any method of modifying cellular Introduction/20.html">DNA Structure can be useful for developing more productive strains. On the other hand, unexpected modification of specific DNA can cause highly undesirable consequences for an industrial biotechnological process.

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FIG. 6.13. This diagram, illustrating information flows within a cell, highlights various levels of regulatory, signal Transduction, and information Processing systems (A. Loewy, P. Siekevitz, Cell Structure and function. — Moscow: Mir, 1971).

Much of the material presented below applies exclusively to Bacteria, with the corresponding research conducted predominantly on E. coli. First, we will examine Cell Fusion Methods that enable genetic modifications, while Section 6.4 is dedicated to recombinant DNA techniques and their Applications. We will not cover the complex specific processes of sexual recombination that operate in many eukaryotes. A brief introduction to this topic in the context of industrially important microorganisms can be found in Elander [4].