Biotechnological Applications of Cultivated and Uncultivated Marine Assignment

Biotechnological Applications of Cultivated and Uncultivated Marine Microorganism - Assignment Example Study of the application of a particular marine microbe is succeeded by a number of identification and characterisation studies. Marine microbes are studied and identified based on identification, enumeration, activity, colony structure. The study of microorganisms is based on the identification techniques. Identification is essential for the classification of microorganisms. The various identifications methods for the cultivated microorganisms include morphological identification, differential staining, differential media, serological methods and flow cytometry. Identification of uncultivated microorganisms is based on the protein analysis and the comparison of the nucleotide sequences. Enumeration is a methodology used to estimate the number of different microorganism in a given sample. It is either achieved through the direct enumeration technique and other modern filter techniques. Direct enumeration method utilises microscope to count the number of microbes in a given sample. Th ere are many other methods for enumeration, including minimum dilution, MPN method, most probable number methods, and plate count methods using agar media or silicic acid gels. The selection of any of the method is based on the species and nature of the microorganism being studied. For instance, the MPN method is used for the enumeration of the hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in the marine environment. In the marine environment, various microorganisms are related to diverse activities. For instance, biosurfactant producing marine bacteria can be studied through haemolytic assay (HA), modified drop collapse (MDC), tilted glass slide, oil spread method (OSM), blue agar plate(BAP), emulsification index(EI) and emulsification assays. Munn showed that the study of the community structure and the allocation of function to different groups of microorganisms could be achieved through microelectrodes and biosensor methods.