19-10-2012, 04:06 PM
Production of penicillin
Production of penicillin.ppt (Size: 371 KB / Downloads: 264)
Downstream Processing
Products in a fermenter are impure and dilute, so need to be purified by downstream processing.
This usually involves filtration to separate the microbial cells from the liquid medium, followed by chemical purification and concentration of the product
Downstream processing can account for 50% of the cost of a process.
Antibiotics are antimicrobial agents produced naturally by other microbes (usually fungi or bacteria).
The first antibiotic was discovered in 1896 by Ernest Duchesne and "rediscovered" byAlexander Flemming in 1928 from the filamentous fungus Penicilium notatum.
For example:
penicillin, ampicillin, amoxycillin, methicillin
Inhibits enzymes involved in synthesis of peptidoglycan for bacterial cell wall, causing cell lysis.
Bacteriocidal
Narrow spectrum- little effect on Gram negative cells.
Antibiotic production
There are over 10 000 different antibiotics known, but only about 200 in commercial
use, since most new antibiotics are no better than existing ones.
There is a constant search for new antibiotics. Antibiotics are the most-prescribed drugs and are big business.
Finding a new antibiotic and getting it on to the market is a very long process and can take 15 years.