Advances in Microbial Biotechnology ― Current Trends and Future Prospects

Over the last few decades, the rapid and vast development of advanced microbial bioresources and metagenomics techniques has completely transformed the field of microbial biotechnology. Our understanding of microbial diversity, evolutionary biology, and microbial interaction with their animal and plant hosts at molecular level has been revolutionized with an abundance of new research.

This new volume, Advances in Microbial Biotechnology: Current Trends and Future Prospect, focuses on the application of microorganisms for several purposes: for plant protection and improvement, for environmental remediation purposes, and for the improvement of human health.

Various applications of microorganisms are covered broadly and have been appropriately reflected in depth in different chapters. The book is divided into four major sections:

• applied microbiology in agriculture
• microbes in the environment
• microbes in human health
• microbes in nanotechnology

The book provides insight into the diverse microorganisms that have been explored and exploited in the development of various applications for agricultural improvements. The book also looks at the application of microbes for the removal of pollutants and the recovery of metals and oils. Also discussed is the detection and exploitation of microorganisms in the diagnosis of human diseases, providing possible holistic approaches to health.

This new volume will provide a wealth of information on new research on the application of microbial biotechnology today.

Pradeep Kumar, PhD, is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Forestry at the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed University-MHRD, Govt. of India), Nirjuli (Itanagar), Arunachal Pradesh, India. Before he joined NERIST, he worked as a Research Professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, South Korea. He was Postdoctorate Researcher in the Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and was awarded and PBC-outstanding PostDoc Fellowship for more than three years. His area of research and expertise are wide, including microbial biotechnology, plant pathology, bacterial genetics, insect-pest biocontrol, gene expression of cry genes, plant-microbe interaction, and molecular breeding. He has been honored with an international travel grant from Ben Gurion University of Negev, Israel, to attend an international conference. He is the recipient of a best paper presentation and the Narasimhan Award by the Indian Phytopathological Society, India. He has presented several oral and poster presentations at various national and international conferences. He has published one book and has published more than 40 research articles, including original research papers in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters with international publishers, including Springer, CABI, Bentham, and Apple Academic Press. He provides his service to many journals as a guest editor, associate editor, editorial board member, technical editor, and peer reviewer.

Jayanta Kumar Patra, PhD, is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Research Institute of Biotechnology and Medical Converged Science, Dongguk University, Ilsandong, Gyeonggido, Republic of Korea. His current research is focused on nanoparticle synthesis by green technology methods and their potential application in biomedical and agricultural fields. He has about ten years of research and teaching experience in the field of food, pharmacological, and nanobiotechnology. Since 2007, he has published more than 80 papers in various national and international peer-reviewed journals of Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, etc. He has published over a dozen book chapters and has edited four books. In addition, he serves as an editorial board member for several international journals and science magazines. Dr. Patra completed his PhD (Life Sciences) at North Orissa University, India, and PDF (Biotechnology) from Yeungnam University, South Korea

Pranjal Chandra, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator in the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India. He has published over 50 research articles in reputed journals and three books. He is also a visiting scientist and visiting professor at the Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology (IBST), South Korea. Dr. Pranjal's research contributions are highly interdisciplinary, spanning a wide range in nanobiotechnology, nanobiosensors, lab-on-chip systems for biomedical diagnostics, and nanomedicine. His work has been highlighted in the Chemistry World News of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, as "a new system for cancer detection" and also featured as a key scientific article in the Global Medical Discovery news Canada. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards and fellowships such as the Ramanujan fellowship (Government of India), Early Carrier Research Award (Government of India), BK-21 and NRF fellowship of South Korea, Technion postdoctoral fellowship (Israel), University of Montreal Postdoc fellowship (Canada), NMS Young scientist Award (2016), etc. He is also an editorial board member of a dozen international journals. Dr. Chandra earned his PhD from Pusan National University, South Korea, and did postdoctoral training at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel.