Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Biotechnology--an overview/R. Kumari, R. Prasad, G.H. Pham, A.P. Garg and A. Varma. 2. Microbial community structure and function in the Rhizosphere/P. Marschner. 3. Glomalin: a novel proteinaceous substance produced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi/M.C. Rillig, C.L. Rosier, J.S. Piotrowski, V. Gadkar and J.D. Driver. 4. Microbes: turning them into allies/D. Pal. 5. Plant microbe interaction: molecular basis/Manoj Kumar and Ashwani Pareek. 6. Phosphatase(s) from microorganisms/R. Malla and A. Varma. 7. Symbiotic properties in dual inoculation of Rhizobia and AM fungi for enhancement of pulse production in North East Himalayan Region/B. Choudhury and P. Azad. 8. Fungi in the root cortex of direct-seeded wheat fields with chiseling or No tillage/T.P. McGonigle, R.L. Forster and C.A. Strausbaugh. 9. Siderophores: their biotechnological applications/S.B. Chincholkar, M.R. Rane and B.L. Chaudhari. 10. Microbial production of polyunsaturated fatty acids/O.P. Ward and A. Singh. 11. Engineering of xylanolytic organisms and enzymes for pulp and paper industries/R.P. Singh, N. Kapur and V. Singhal. 12. Microbial bioremediation of persistent chlorinated aromatic compounds in the environment/I.S. Thakur. 13. Biotechnological applications of white-rot fungi in biodegradation of various pollutants/D.S. Arora and M. Chander. 14. Bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria and their industrial applications/M. Sharma and A.P. Garg. 15. Molecular approaches to study the microbial community structure and function in the Rhizosphere/P. Marschner, K. Baumann and Z. Solaiman. Index.
"Understanding Microbes is vital to understand the past and the future of mankind and our planet. These are the oldest form of life on the earth. Microbes provide us with oxygen to breathe and food to eat. Without microbes life is impossible on the earth. Microbes cause as well as prevent diseases, hence are highly relevant to medicine and other related health sciences too.
Research and biotechnological applications of microbes is a fascinating field of science and increasingly being seen as a mainstream tenet of biology.
The present book focuses on diverse areas of microbial research and provides a wealth of information on the microbial world: biochemistry of the molecules, their functions, syntheses, and regulation activity; microbial genetics, immunology, biotechnology, control of microbial growth, interactions between humans, insects and microorganisms and public health, microbial ecology, terrestrial microbiology, microbiology of waste treatment and so on."
