33

Aspects of the Molecular Biology

of Microorganisms of Relevance

to the Aquatic Environment

3

In recent times giant strides have been taken in
harnessing our knowledge of the molecular basis of
many biological phenomena. Many new techniques
such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA
sequencing have arrived on the scene. In addition,
major projects involving many countries such as the
human genome project have taken place. Coupled with
all these exciting technological developments, new
vocabulary such as genomics has arisen. These have
transformed the approaches used in microbiology. For
example, with molecular biology techniques, it is now
possible to study the microbial populations of any
environment by using culture-independent analyses of
16S rRNA gene sequences (see for example Elshahed
et al. 2007 ; Bansal 2005 ).

This chapter will discuss only selected aspects of

molecular biology in order to provide a background

for understanding some of the newer directions of

environmental microbiology. The discussion will be

kept as simplified and as brief as possible, just enough

in complexity and length to achieve the purpose of the

chapter. The student is encouraged to look at many

excellent publications in this field.

3.1 Protein Synthesis

Proteins are very important in the metabolism of living

things. They are in hormones for transporting mes-

sages around the animal body; they are used as storage

Abstract

Our increased knowledge of living things at the molecular level has greatly

influenced the modern approach in biology. Thus, for example, the taxonomy of

microorganisms is no longer based mostly on their morphology, but also on the

sequence of bases in the genes of the 16S RNA of the small subunit of the ribo-

somes. This chapter looks at selected basic molecular biology topics of relevance

to the environment. The processes of transcription and translation in protein syn-

thesis are discussed. The principles behind some molecular procedures such as the

polymerase chain reaction and micro-arrays are discussed. Many microorganisms

in environments such as water and soil are not culturable and are studied only with

molecular biology. Metagenomics, or the culture-independent genomic analysis of

an assemblage of microorganisms, in environments such as marine or freshwater

has potential to answer fundamental questions in microbial ecology.

Keywords

Protein synthesis • Polymerase chain reaction • Microarrays • Gene identification

• Metagenomics

N. Okafor, Environmental Microbiology of Aquatic and Waste Systems,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1460-1_3, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011