Advanced technologies in the genetic breeding of industrial microorganisms: case study on ethanol-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae

AUTHORS: Richmond Godwin Afful 1 , Ling Zhang 2 , Tracy NaaAdoley Addotey 3 , Hailin Yang 4

ABSTRACT:Demand for industrial products keeps increasing, putting pressure on industries to increase capacity for production. However, quality and less time consumption are very crucial even as capacity enlargement is highly demanded. Wild type strains of useful microorganisms, usually have desired characteristics for which they are industrially chosen. However, they mostly will have to overcome certain stresses and adverse conditions for improved yields, for which they are not able to, in their original state. Therefore, the use of technological tools to manipulate the genetic make-up of the microbial strains to give them enhanced abilities to overcome stress and increase yields. This paper explores some of the recent methods in use to achieve these feats, using the ethanol-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a case study.