If bacteria produce ethanol through fermentation, and ethanol can kill bacteria, why are they not killing themselves with their own ethanol?
In: Biology
They die after the fermentation process. But if you’re asking why they’re alive during the process, probably because of the way they produce it. The bacteria that were used to produce ethanol has high ethanol tolerance. An analogy I can think of is like the way we produce stomach acid in our stomachs, but we can’t drink it or let it on our skin without harming ourselves.
They are. Thats why fermentation processes stop short of fully converting all available sugars.
Bacteria does not produce alcohol. Fungi called yeast produces alcohol.
However, your point remains true, alcohol still kills yeast. It’s all about concentration. Beers and wine can be produced by yeast, up until about 15%. Past there, it kills the yeast. To make a harder alcohol, you have to distill (basically purify by boiling) the alcohol yeast produces.
Why does yeast produce a substance that kills it? Well, because it’s a waste product. It’s exactly equivalent to asking why a large concentration of CO2 or urine will kill you. Because it’s waste you are try it dispell, and if unsuccessful, it will kill you.
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We produce CO2 and CO2 in large enough concentrations will kill us. Same difference.
Also, it does kill them (yeast, not bacteria), which is why alcohol can only be fermented to a certain volume before it needs to go through distillation.
Actually fungus produces ethanol. This fungus is yeast. Mostly the yeast you can use is Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. That means the sugar lover of the beer in Latin.
The yeast does slowly murder itself with ethanol. That is why wine maxes out at 20% alchohol by volume if it’s not fortified.
Human beings produce feces, if we live in a high concentration of feces we will probably get sick and die.
Yeast that produce alcohol as waste product is similar, once it reaches a certain point their ability to live safely is compromised and eventually it’s so toxic they die. But a bit is ok.
Yeast produces alcohol, but it’s also pretty good at surviving in alcohol (to a point). Other microorganisms aren’t. This kills off everything that isn’t yeast.
Lactobacillus, the bacteria used in sauerkraut and other fun fermenter foods, produces acid. They’re pretty good at surviving in acid, while other microorganisms aren’t.
I think you can see the general strategy here: there’s food, so let’s change the environment so that only my species can eat it!
At least, that’s one theory in the topic.
For the same reason CO2 is toxic to us, but we don’t poison ourselves while breathing. Unless we are in a hermetically closed space.
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