Why is distillation required for producing certain alcoholic drinks?
Depending on the type of the raw material used for fermentation and the type of processing (with or without distillation) different types of alcoholic drinks are obtained.
Wine and beer are produced without distillation whereas whiskey, brandy and rum are produced by distillation of the fermented broth.
Distillation increases the alcohol content in alcoholic drinks. That's why for producing certain alcoholic drinks, distillation is required.
Write the most important characteristic that Aspergillus niger, Clostridium butylicum, and Lactobacillus share.
Their common characteristic is that they produce organic acids as part of their metabolism and are therefore, used for commercial and industrial production of the same.
(i) Aspergillus niger (a fungus) for citric acid.
(ii) Clostridium butylicum (a bacterium) for butyric acid.
(iii) Lactobacillus (a bacterium) for lactic acid.
What would happen if our intestine harbours microbial flora exactly similar to that found in the rumen of cattle?
If our intestine harbors microbial flora exactly similar to that found in the rumen of cattle, we would be able to digest the cellulose present in our foods because the microbes present in the rumen (a part of stomach) of cattle, collectively called methanogens, are capable of digesting cellulose as they have cellulase enzyme.
Give any two microbes that are useful in biotechnology.
Two microbes that are useful in biotechnology are
(i) Bacillus thuringiensis a gene isolated from this bacterium is introduced in cotton plants to make them able to kill butterfly caterpillars.
(ii) Escherichia coli is a bacterium that is used in many biotechnology procedures. Their plasmid is used as vector to introduce foreign DNA segment in desired organisms.
What is the source organism for Eco RI, restriction endonuclease?
Escherichia coli strain RY 13 is the source organism for Eco RI.