Microbial Biotechnology: Technological Challenges and Developmental Trends

The new volume takes an interdisciplinary look at current technical challenges and recent developmental trends in microbial biotechnology. It covers an avalanche of new information available through research by focusing on a broad spectrum of issues on different microorganisms and their recent applications and implications in agriculture, soil science and forestry, industry, and public health and medicine.

Microbes present in our immediate environment have a direct or indirect influence leading to either a harmful or beneficial effect. Microbial Biotechnology: Technological Challenges and Developmental Trends is divided into four major sections that focus on

Part I: Antimicrobial Agents: Role and Applications in Medicine and Health Care

Part II: Role of Microorganisms in Agriculture and Plant Biotechnology

Part III: Microbial Enzymes and Their Potential Industrial Applications

Part IV: Microorganisms in Environment: Role and Industrial Applications

Topic include organic chemistry, biomass conversion, optimal production processes for different microbes, screening methods, and application of omics approaches such as (meta) genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, or other biotechnology tools, to provide a deeper understanding of the microbial-based new and emerging products, trends, processes, and technologies.

The chapters present unbiased original research results on microbes by incorporating case studies wherever appropriate. Providing research findings applicable to the development of new methodologies, applications, and technologies, the book will be a valuable resource for people working in various fields of microbiology.

Bhima Bhukya, PhD, is currently Head and Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, where he has established a probiotics research laboratory. Dr. Bhima, during his early scientific career, made fundamental contributions in the area of animal probiotics. Subsequently, he contributed toward the development of efficient stress-tolerant probiotic yeast and economically viable medium for large-scale production of yeast. His present research interests lie in recombinant probiotics, proteomics and genomics, animal nutrition, biofuels, and bioprocess engineering. He has many years of teaching experience, including several years of undergraduate (veterinary), over ten years of postgraduate (MSc) teaching, and 15 years of research experience. He was awarded the prestigious Raman postdoctoral fellowship/award in India to study in the USA.

Anjana Devi Tangutur, PhD, is a Scientist at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad, India. Dr. Anjana has over ten years of research experience. She has, to date, a brilliant academic career, and pursued her doctoral degree at the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology-CSIR, Hyderabad. Later she joined the Chemical Biology Division of IICT as a Scientist. During her doctoral tenure, she has had significant exposure to various molecular biology and biochemistry approaches and to the mass spectrometry-based proteomics techniques. Dr. Anjana’s research activities at IICT involve screening of small molecules as anticancer agents (NFk-ß, HDAC inhibitors, antitubulin agents, etc.) using various in vitro and in vivo tests. Her research interests lie mainly in applying molecular biology and proteomics based approaches to understand the underlying mechanisms behind disease pathology (in different cancers) or a particular mechanism in a biological system. Her research efforts have been published in reputed international and national journals and conference proceedings. She was selected for the AOHUPO/KSMS young scientist award (HUPO 6th Annual World Congress, Seoul, Korea). She has several ongoing projects funded by DBT, which include the BioCARe award for women scientists (2013–2016) and also the Rapid grant for a young investigator (2013-2016). She served as a subject expert, external examiner, and also a member of the several interview selection committees in colleges, universities, and in the Institute.