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Resistance of microbes towards the antibiotics has agitated the scientific community to look for authentic compounds from plants and microbes. They also make sure that these metabolites are strong enough to fight back the diseases in the long run. Traditional medicines that were used during the ancient times remain as unsung heroes until today. Only few medicines are of plant origin, and their usage is limited due to efficacy, treatment time and toxicity factors. But still, it can be overcome by the modern methods. Due to the increasing health problems all over the world, people are now switching over to the pharmaceutical products from plants and microbes. Considering these facts, this chapter has been framed to give a deep understanding of the current and forthcoming antimicrobial compounds from indigenous plants and microbes. It also discusses about the modern methods that are employed in the processing of antimicrobial compounds and their effects against different groups of pathogens.

Nanotechnology is the field that deals with nano-sized structures of different shapes. Nanoparticles are generally synthesized using inorganic materials with restricted usages. However, there has been a great demand for nanoparticles in various medical applications. In the recent times, the usage of antibiotics has increased, which also has adverse effects to the immune system. Nanotechnology paves way to find the alternate resources for antibiotics. Eco-friendly nanoparticles are synthesized using biological organisms such as plants, bacteria, fungi, and algae. Algae are said to be the reservoir of nanoparticles, and hence, they are also called as nanofactories. Algae are used to produce metallic nanoparticles that can be used as antimicrobial agents. This chapter discusses the types of nanoparticles, synthesis of nanoparticles from algae, different kinds of algae that produce antimicrobial nanoparticles, and mechanism of nanoparticle as an antimicrobial agent.

Environmental pollution and global warming are major threats to life on Earth. These drastic changes are caused by carbon dioxide emission, which has become a very serious problem worldwide. For the generation of useful sustainable and renewable energy in an efficient manner, the production of electricity using solar energy trapped by algae in combination with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is a very attractive option. The use of different kinds of algae has become a recent research trend, especially because algae have great capacity to utilize carbon dioxide via photosynthesis, with the potential to convert it into a biomass. Integrating algae into MFCs has given rise to a new MFC model, that of photosynthetic MFCs. Algal MFCs play an extensive role in the treatment of organic contaminants that can be converted to bioelectricity and they also efficiently remove various by-products. This chapter provides- detailed descriptions of the basic experimental setup of MFCs, and the electrode materials used for anodes, cathodes, and membranes. Microbial fuel cells employing different types of algae as substrates under various conditions are described in detail. A brief description of special MFC designs that are integrated with PBR is given. Details of MFC models with algae-assisted anodes and cathodes are also supplied. The multiple bioreactor constructions that are employed to yield algal biomasses are discussed, along with the technologies that will have to be developed. Future challenges and perspectives are highlighted, and we describe research work that can be applied for the commercialization of algal MFCs.

Day by day the demand for petroleum products has been increasing greatly and the difficulty raised because it has given rise to different kinds of problem such as heavy pollution, thus leading to be a cause of global warming. This lays a strong reason for the researchers to find the alternative source of energy and reduce the risk associated with it by developing new technologies. In recent times, the biofuel cells have been trending as a source of bioenergy production. Many different kinds of small devices and large-scale industrial equipment have been designed and are applied in various industries. Yet, the permanent solution hasn’t been found. But the various researches in biofuels have given rise to many valuable results that are enormously applicable to various kinds of industries based on their production and utility. At the midst of microbial fuel cells, algal fuel cells, and combinatorial bacterial algal fuel cell, recently fungal cultures and strains have been used in the fuel cells giving rise to a new kind of fungal fuel cell with many advantages and challenges. This chapter will discuss about the different kinds of fungi species used in microbial fuel cells. The methods of fungi culturing and maintaining are discussed along with the incorporation of the fungal cultures in fuel cells that is applied in various industries for biodegradation, bioremediation and bioenergy production. The construction methods to imply the fungal cultures differ in the mode of application. So far, very few researchers have designed and constructed MFCs by altering the anodes and cathode by creating bio-anodes and bio-cathodes, with fungal biofilm around the anode electrodes and air-cathode electrodes. This chapter will give you a detailed vision in applying the fungal cultures in different forms in the MFC so that the upcoming researchers can optimise the standards even better than are achieved so far.