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This volume presents recent biotechnological advances in the application of extremophiles in sustainable agricultural production, plant health and soil remediation. It highlights the physiology and biochemistry of extremophiles to ensure their survival and adaptation under stressful agricultural conditions, as well as their ecological diversity and taxonomical attributes that allow them to be useful in improving abiotic and biotic tolerance among crops. The chapters cover genomic, metagenomic and metabolomic approaches for improving crop production, biocontrol, nutrient solubilization and soil health to ensure food and nutrition security in a sustainable manner in difficult growing environments. The book will be useful for students and researchers studying soil and plant management, sustainable agriculture, microbiology and biochemistry.

Enzyme Biotechnology for Environmental Sustainability discusses recent applications of enzyme biotechnology in various industrial sectors and state-of-the-art information on novel microbial enzyme technologies for a sustainable environment. The book describes in detail the latest developments and modern methods in microbial enzyme biotechnology for wider application in bioremediation, cleaner technology for industries and waste management, green chemistry and pharmaceutical biotechnology, sustainable textiles, food production and biodegradation, and other industries. The chapters cover topics such as genetic engineering, protein engineering, nanotechnological advances of microbial enzymes, computational tools for engineering enzymes, and health risk assessment of enzymes in different sectors. With contributors from an array of experts in the field, Enzyme Biotechnology for Environmental Sustainability is an informative reference for researchers, biotechnologists, microbiologists, environmental scientists, graduate and post-graduate students working in the area of enzyme technology and their biomedical, environmental, and industrial applications. - Includes new-methods and up-to-date information on modern methods with respect to its application in pharmaceuticals, textiles, food fermentation, and many other related fields - Provides in-depth information about the recent applications of enzyme biotechnology in different industrial sectors - Focuses on the rapid developments and biotechnological advances in microbial enzymology to enhance industrial and environmental sustainability

This book discusses the applications of nanotechnology in clinical microbiology, food microbiology, and green solutions of nanoparticles using microorganisms for a range of benefits. It describes nanotechnology's rapid progress in the development of materials used in industry, medicine, drug delivery, and dentistry. The authors further explore how microbiology and nanotechnology separately have proven to be effective for human health solutions keeping an ecological and environmental balance. Domains covered include environmental microbiology, medical microbiology, food microbiology (to control food spoilage), biosynthesis of nanomaterials using microorganisms, water microbiology, nanofluidic devices for isolation and analysis of individual biomolecules such as DNA that can lead to a new detection scheme for cancer, and various fields such as pharmacy, clinical research, agriculture etc. This book will be essential reading to a wide range of scholars and researchers interestedin microbiology along with nanotechnology applications for efficient solutions to cancer detection, biosensors, vaccines research, agriculture, wastewater management etc.

Innovative Bio-Based Technologies for Environmental Remediation explores the recent applications of both the latest and broad practical and theoretical aspects of environmental remediation with an aim to combine various innovation-based biotechnology for waste management, waste minimization, and waste to economy.This book summarizes the recent progress of bio-based technologies for environmental remediation at both an experimental and a theoretical model level. An emphasis has been made on trends and the probable future of sustainable techniques to reduce waste and harmful compounds from the environment. Biological-based technologies have low operating costs and involve direct degradation of organic pollutants without the release of toxic intermediates. Recent applications covered in this book include process intensification in bio-based approaches, green technology, phytoremediation, biopolymers, biosurfactants for environmental applications, and other bio-based technologies with sustainable design and the future of remediation are also discussed.This book is an important reference source for environmental scientists and engineers who are seeking to improve their understanding of how bio-based technologies are playing an increasingly important role in environmental remediation. It brings together recent innovations and practices of bio-based technologies for environmental remediation, outlines major bio-based technologies, and discusses biopolymers and biosurfactants for environmental management.

Handbook of Advanced Approaches towards Pollution Prevention and Control, Volume One: Conventional and Innovative Technology, and Assessment Techniques for Pollution Prevention and Control condenses all relevant information on pollution prevention and control in a single source. This handbook (Volume One of Two) covers the principles of pollution prevention and control technologies, recent advances in pollution prevention, control technologies and their sustainability, modernization in pollution prevention, and control technologies for future and next generation pollution prevention. This book is an indispensable resource for researchers and academic staff in chemical and process engineering, safety engineering, environmental engineering, biotechnology and materials engineering. - Provides in-depth information on the principles and advances in pollution prevention and control practices - Discusses emerging technologies and processes for advanced pollution prevention and control - Presents developments on the use of the assessment models as tools to support the research and applications of different technologies and processes - Provides history, fundamentals, state-of-the-art, and future trends - Edited by expert team of world-class editors

Advances in Microbial Physiology, Volume 75, the latest release in this ongoing series, continues the long tradition of topical, important, cutting-edge reviews in microbiology. The book contains updates in the field, with comprehensive chapters covering, Sulfoxides in bacterial systems, RNA degradosomes and control by signals including c-di-GMP, Protein nanowires: biological function and synthetic constructs for'Green'electronics, Bacterial nitrous oxide respiration: electron transport chains and copper transfer reactions, Multiple degrees of separation in the central pathways of the catabolism of aromatic compounds in Dikarya fungi, and more. - Contains contributions from leading authorities in microbial physiology - Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field of microbial physiology

Advances in geomicrobiology have progressed at an accelerated pace in recent years. Ehrlich's Geomicrobiology, Sixth Edition surveys various aspects of the field, including the microbial role in elemental cycling and in the formation and degradation of minerals and fossil fuels. Unlike the fifth edition, the sixth includes many expert contributors

The single most comprehensive resource for environmental microbiology Environmental microbiology, the study of the roles that microbes play in all planetary environments, is one of the most important areas of scientific research. The Manual of Environmental Microbiology, Fourth Edition, provides comprehensive coverage of this critical and growing field. Thoroughly updated and revised, the Manual is the definitive reference for information on microbes in air, water, and soil and their impact on human health and welfare. Written in accessible, clear prose, the manual covers four broad areas: general methodologies, environmental public health microbiology, microbial ecology, and biodegradation and biotransformation. This wealth of information is divided into 18 sections each containing chapters written by acknowledged topical experts from the international community. Specifically, this new edition of the Manual Contains completely new sections covering microbial risk assessment, quality control, and microbial source tracking Incorporates a summary of the latest methodologies used to study microorganisms in various environments Synthesizes the latest information on the assessment of microbial presence and microbial activity in natural and artificial environments The Manual of Environmental Microbiology is an essential reference for environmental microbiologists, microbial ecologists, and environmental engineers, as well as those interested in human diseases, water and wastewater treatment, and biotechnology.

This book provides a detailed description and analysis of the reduction and metabolism of metals and metalloids by sulfate reducing bacteria. The molecular mechanisms of bacterial resistance to copper are examined as well as extracellular electron transfer and bacterial metal oxide respiration. Furthermore, in this book enrichment, isolation, and physiology of magnetotactic bacteria are discussed. The interactions of bacteria with metals in natural environments and their role in metal cycling have been studied for decades. Advances in studies of bacteria-metal interactions identified numerous important aspects of these interactions, such as bioremediation of metal-contaminated environments, the role of metals in redox reactions and other cellular functions, as well as the role of metals in toxicity and infection.Microbiologists, environmental scientists, and students interested in microbe interactions with metals and their effect on the environment and their application in biotechnology will be interested in the topics discussed in the book.

Microbes can respire on metals. This seemingly simple finding is one of the major discoveries that were made in the field of microbiology in the last few decades. The importance of this observation is evident. Metals are highly abundant on our planet. Iron is even the most abundant element on Earth and the forth most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Hence, in some environments iron, but also other metals or metalloids, are the dominant respiratory electron acceptors. Their reduction massively drives the carbon cycle in these environments and establishes redox cycles of the metallic electron acceptors themselves. These redox cycles are not only a driving force for other biotic reactions but are furthermore necessary for initiating a number of geochemically relevant abiotic redox conversions. Although widespread and ecologically influential, electron transfer onto metals like ferric iron or manganese is biochemically challenging. The challenge is to transfer respiratory electrons onto metals that occur in nature at neutral pH in the form of metal oxides or oxihydroxides that are effectively insoluble. Obviously, it is necessary that the microbes specially adapt in order to catalyze the electron transfer onto insoluble electron acceptors. The elucidation of these adaptations is an exciting ongoing process. To sum it up, dissimilatory metal reduction has wide-spread implications in the field of microbiology, biochemistry and geochemistry and its discovery was one of the major reasons to establish a novel scientific field called geomicrobiology. Recently, the discovery of potential applications of dissimilatory metal reducers in bioremediation or current production in a microbial fuel cell further increased the interest in studying microbial metal reduction.

DNA tumor viruses have long been useful experimental models of carcinogenesis and have elucidated several important mechanisms of cell transformation. Re­ search in recent years has shown that human tumors have a multifactorial nature and that some DNA tumor viruses may playa key role in their etiology. The aim of this book is to assess our knowledge of DNA tumor viruses by reviewing animal models, mechanisms of transformation, association with human tumors, and possi­ bilities of prevention and control by vaccination. Animal models of tumor virology have contributed significantly to our under­ standing of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of virus-induced tumors. Bovine papillomaviruses induce papillomas in the intestine of cattle. The papillomas undergo a transition to carcinomas in cows feeding on bracken fern, which pro­ duces a toxin with radiomimetic and immunosuppressive functions. This example of cooperation between a virus and chemical carcinogens parallels the cooperative role of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) with environmental carcinogens in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. Likewise, hepatocarcinomas appearing in woodchucks chronically infected by woodchuck hepatitis virus (WIN) provide strong support for the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and human hepatocellular carcinoma. Also, the fact that WIN DNA integrates closely to cellular oncogenes suggests a possible molecular mechanism for the tumorigenesis induced by HBV.

Advances in Microbial Physiology is one of the most successful and prestigious series from Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier. It publishes topical and important reviews, interpreting physiology to include all material that contributes to our understanding of how microorganisms and their component parts work. First published in 1967, it is now in its 62nd volume. The Editors have always striven to interpret microbial physiology in the broadest context and have never restricted the contents to'traditional views of whole cell physiology. Now edited by Professor Robert Poole, University of Sheffield, Advances in Microbial Physiology continues to be an influential and very well reviewed series. - Contributions from leading authorities - Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

Six members of the Herpesviridae family are human pathogens, including herpes and 2 (HSV-I and 2), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), varicella zoster simplex virus I virus (VZV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV 6). Each of these viruses is capable of causing distinct diseases of varying severity in children, young adults, and the aged. The diseases range from infection of epithelial tissue to the infection of internal organs and white blood cells. A common feature of the six pathogenic human herpesviruses is their ability to latently infect different cell types in which the viral DNA is not integrated and is unable to express its pathogenicity. Reactivation of the herpesviruses is a result of cellular processes which reactivate viral genes, leading to virus progeny and to signs of infection. Due to their ability to become latent after initial infection, once the pathogenic herpesviruses infect children they are maintained throughout life, having the potential of cause various diseases upon reactivation.

Advances in Microbial Physiology is one of the most successful and prestigious series from Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier. It publishes topical and important reviews, interpreting physiology to include all material that contributes to our understanding of how microorganisms and their component parts work. First published in 1967, it is now in its 60th volume. The Editors have always striven to interpret microbial physiology in the broadest context and have never restricted the contents to'traditional views of whole cell physiology. Now edited by Professor Robert Poole, University of Sheffield, Advances in Microbial Physiology continues to be an influential and very well reviewed series. - Contributions from leading authorities - Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

The last 20 years has seen a rapid increase in infectious diseases, particularly those that are termed'emerging diseases'such as SARS,'neglected diseases'such as malaria and those that are deemed biothreats such as anthrax. It is well-recognized that the most effective modality for preventing infectious diseases is vaccination. This book provides researchers with a better understanding of what is currently known about these diseases, including whether there is a vaccine available or under development. It also informs readers of the key issues in development of a vaccine for each disease. - Provides a comprehensive treatise of the agents that are responsible for emerging and neglected diseases and those that can be used as biothreats - Includes the processes such as the vaccine development pathway, vaccine manufacturing and regulatory issues that are critical to the generation of these vaccines to the marketplace - Each chapter will include a map of the world showing where that particular disease is naturally found