Strain Improvement and Mass Production of Beneficial Microorganisms for Their Environmental and Agricultural Benefit

Abstract

Microorganisms are ubiquitous and are also the most abundant in nature. They have been of immense benefits in the spheres of agriculture, food, and the environment; it is thus necessary that beneficial strains be improved. The methods by which microbial strain could be improved include the conventional method and the classical or nonconventional method. Conventional strain improvement techniques include mutation, protoplast fusion and transduction, conjugation, and transformation while the nonconventional technique includes genetic engineering, genetic recombination, rDNA, DNA, and whole-genome shuffling. Some benefits of strain improvement method like mutation are that unwanted enzymatic activities are blocked and adverse regulations are eliminated. Protoplast fusion and transduction combines the beneficial traits of different strains. Improvement of microbial strains by controlling the gene products of targeted DNA molecules could be achieved using recombinant DNA technology. The goal of any strain improvement method is for the overproduction of primary metabolite otherwise needed by the microorganism in quantities which would be considered insufficient by the industry or for industrial purposes.