Recent Advancement in White Biotechnology Through Fungi : Perspective for Value-added Products and Environments

White biotechnology is industrial biotechnology dealing with various biotech products through applications of microbes. The main application of white biotechnology is commercial production of various useful organic substances, such as acetic acid, citric acid, acetone, glycerine, etc., and antibiotics like penicillin, streptomycin, mitomycin, etc., and value added product through the use of microorganisms especially fungi and bacteria. The value-added products included bioactive compounds, secondary metabolites, pigments and industrially important enzymes for potential applications in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, medicine and allied sectors for human welfare. In the 21st century, techniques were developed to harness fungi to protect human health (through antibiotics, antimicrobial, immunosuppressive agents, value-added products etc.), which led to industrial scale production of enzymes, alkaloids, detergents, acids, biosurfactants. The first large-scale industrial applications of modern biotechnology have been made in the areas of food and animal feed production (agricultural/green biotechnology) and pharmaceuticals (medical/red biotechnology). In contrast, the production of bio-active compounds through fermentation or enzymatic conversion is known industrial or white biotechnology. The beneficial fungal strains may play important role in agriculture, industry and the medical sectors. The beneficial fungi play a significance role in plant growth promotion, and soil fertility using both, direct (solubilization of phosphorus, potassium and zinc; production of indole acetic acid, gibberellic acid, cytokinin and siderophores) and indirect (production of hydrolytic enzymes, siderophores, ammonia, hydrogen cyanides and antibiotics) mechanisms of plant growth promotion for sustainable agriculture. The fungal strains and their products (enzymes, bio-active compounds and secondary metabolites) are very useful for industry. The discovery of antibiotics is a milestone in the development of white biotechnology. Since then, white biotechnology has steadily developed and now plays a key role in several industrial sectors, providing both high valued nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical products. The fungal strains and bio-active compounds also play important role in the environmental cleaning. This volume covers the latest research developments related to value-added products in white biotechnology through fungi.

Dr. Ajar Nath Yadav is an Assistant Professor in Department of Biotechnology, Akal College of Agriculture, Eternal University, Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, India. He has 3 years of teaching and 9 years of research experience in the fields of Industrial Biotechnology, Microbial Biotechnology, Microbial Diversity, and Plant-Microbe-Interactions. Dr. Yadav obtained a doctorate degree in Microbial Biotechnology jointly from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India; a M.Sc. (Biotechnology) from Bundelkhand University and a B.Sc. (CBZ) from University of Allahabad, India. He has produced 82 publications [31 Research papers, 7 Review articles, 26 Book chapters, 8 Popular articles, 7 Editorials, 2 Technical reports and 1 Patent] in different reputed international and national journals. Dr. Yadav has published 105 abstracts in different international and national conferences. He has presented 19 paper presentations in national and international conferences and got 10 best paper presentations Award and 1 Young Scientist Award (NASI-Swarna Jyanti Purskar). Presently, he is guiding 2 scholars for PhD degree and 1 for M.Sc. dissertations. Dr. Yadav and his group have developed a pioneering method for the screening of archaea for phosphorus solubilization. Dr. Yadav is editor/reviewer of different international journals including Nature-Scientific Reports, Microbial Ecology; Plos One, Frontier in Microbiology, Springer Plus, Annals of Microbiology, Journal of Basic Microbiology, Advance in Microbiology and Biotechnology. He has lifetime membership of Association of Microbiologist in India, Indian Science Congress Council, India and National Academy of Sciences, India.

Dr. Shashank Mishra is presently working as Scientist 'C', BiotechPark, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He obtained his doctorate degree in Science "Industrial Biotechnology" from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India, his M.Sc. (Biotechnology), from Barkatullah University, Bhopal and his B.Sc. (CBZ) from Dr. R.M.L. University, Faizabad, India. He has made pioneering contributions in the area of microbial biotechnology, natural product synthesis and environmental microbiology for food, pharmaceutical and human health. He has produced 18 publications [6 research papers, 2 review articles and 10 book chapters] in different reputed international and national journals. He has published 16 abstracts in different conferences and got 1 best poster presentation Award. He has a long-standing interest in teaching at the UG, PG and Ph.D. level and is involved in taking courses in industrial biotechnology, bioprocess engineering and technology, environmental biotechnology, environmental microbiology, industrial microbiology, microbial biotechnology and techniques in microbiology and biotechnology. He is reviewer in international journals including BMC Microbiology, Indian Phytopathology, PLOS One, Scientific Reports and Archive of Phytopathology and Plant Protection. He has the lifetime membership of Association of microbiologist of India.

Dr. Sangram Singh is an Associate Professor in Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, India and has 11 years of teaching and 14 years of research experience in field of applied biochemistry. Dr. Singh obtained his Ph.D. Biochemistry and M.Sc. Biochemistry from Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, India. Dr. Singh has published 34 National and International research papers and 1 book chapter. He has presented 9 papers in different National and International Symposia/ Seminars/ Conferences/ Workshops.

Dr. Arti Gupta is an Assistant Professor in Department of Biology, Sri Avadh Raj Singh Smarak Degree College, Bishunpur Bairiya, Gonda, India. Dr. Arti received her B.Sc. (CBZ) and M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India. Dr. Gupta obtained her Ph.D. from Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, India. Dr. Gupta's current research interests are Animal Biotechnology, Molecular Plant Biotechnology, Molecular Animal Biotechnology, Bioprocess Technology, and Microbiology. Dr. Gupta has published 1 monograph, 21 National and International research papers. Dr. Gupta has been awarded with Gold Medal, M.Sc. (Biotech.), Young Scientist Award, 2 Poster Presenter awards, Fellowship Award awarded by International Consortium of Contemporary Biologist and Dr. V.P. Agarwal Gold Medal awarded. Dr. Arti has a lifetime membership of Indian Science Congress Association, Biotech Research Society of India, Zoological Society of India and International Consortium of Contemporary Biologist.