Ecology And Biology Of Microfungi From Antarctic Rocks And Soils

This book brings together many of the world’s leading experts in the fields of Antarctic terrestrial soil ecology, providing a comprehensive and completely up-to-date analysis of the status of Antarctic soil microbiology. Antarctic terrestrial soils represent one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Once thought to be largely sterile, it is now known that these diverse and often specialized extreme habitats harbor a very wide range of different microorganisms. Antarctic soil communities are relatively simple, but not unsophisticated. Recent phylogenetic and microscopic studies have demonstrated that these communities have well established trophic structuring and play a significant role in nutrient cycling in these cold and often dry desert ecosystems. They are surprisingly responsive to change and potentially sensitive to climatic perturbation. Antarctic terrestrial soils also harbor specialized ‘refuge’habitats, where microbial communities develop under (and within) translucent rocks. These cryptic habitats offer unique models for understanding the physical and biological ‘drivers’ of community development, function and evolution.

This book focuses on the fungi found in one of the most pristine regions on Earth: Antarctica. It discusses the fungal occurrence in all substrates of the region, including soil, seawater, lake and marine sediments, rocks, ice, and snow. It also addresses the impact of climate changes on these organisms, the genomic techniques developed to study them, and how a number of compounds, such as antibiotics and enzymes, produced by the Antarctic fungi can be used in medicine, agriculture and the chemical industry.

Soil Microbiology, Ecology, and Biochemistry, Fifth Edition addresses the increasingly important field of soil biota and their interactions in research and education. Soil biota are an important defining component of soils and one of Earth’s most important natural resources. It is especially relevant to today’s societal questions related to global change, ecosystem sustainability, and food security in our ever-changing environment. Revised by a group of world-renowned authors in many institutions and disciplines, Soil Microbiology, Ecology, and Biochemistry, Fifth Edition relates the breakthroughs in knowledge in this important field to its history as well as future applications. The new edition provides readable, practical, impactful information for its many applied and fundamental disciplines. There is no other available volume that, while providing the background and present knowledge in Soil Microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry that also integrates the concepts such that they are of greatest usefulness by a broad group of readers. Provides step-by-step guidance on key procedures/processes Includes information on the modeling of soil microbial processes, as well as the greater application of models in facing societal challenges Stresses the importance of nitrogen and its relevance to plant growth, enzyme production, soil organic matter formation, food security, and environmental sustainability, including pollution

Aimed at research scientists and biotechnologists, this book is an essential reading for those working with extremophiles and their potential biotechnological application. Here, we provide a comprehensive and reliable source of information on the recent advances and challenges in different aspects of the theme. Written in an accessible language, the book is also a recommended as reference text for anyone interested in this thriving field of research. Over the last decades, the study of extremophiles has provided ground breaking discoveries that challenge our understanding of biochemistry and molecular biology. In the applied side, extremophiles and their enzymes have spawned a multibillion dollar biotechnology industry, with applications spanning biomedical, pharmaceutical, industrial, environmental, and agricultural sectors. Taq DNA polymerase (which was isolated from Thermus aquaticus from a geothermal spring in Yellowstone National Park) is the most well-known example of the potential biotechnological application of extremophiles and their biomolecules. Indeed, the application of extremophiles and their biologically active compounds has opened a new era in biotechnology. However, despite the latest advances, we are just in the beginning of exploring the biotechnological potentials of extremophiles.

Sheds new light on the microbial ecology and physiology of the Earth’s polar regions. • Examines the microbial investigations during the International Polar Year of 2008 focusing on the Arctic and Antarctic, along with earlier investigations on critical environmental issues such as climate change, ozone depletion, and elemental cycling. • Offers a survey of what is known and unknown about the microbial inhabitants of polar environments, addresses the adaptations and physiology of cold-adapted microorganisms, and explores the ecological role that polar microbial communities play in biogeochemical cycling. • Presents the challenges that polar and subpolar microorganisms face and describes the lowest temperatures in which microbial life can exist—and the prospects for life on other planets. Recommended for a general microbiology audience as well as for scientists and students in all areas of biology and geomicrobiology.

Many Microorganisms and some macro-organisms can live under extreme conditions. For example, high and low temperature, acidic and alkaline conditions, high salt areas, high pressure, toxic compounds, high level of ionizing radiation, anoxia and absence of light, etc. Many organisms inhabit environments characterized by more than one form of stress (Polyextremophiles). Among them are those who live in hypersaline and alkaline, hot and acidic, cold/hot and high hydrostatic pressure, etc. Polyextremophiles found in desert regions have to copy with intense UV irradiation and desiccation, high as well as low temperatures, and low availability of water and nutrients. This book provides novel results of application to polyextremophiles research ranging from nanotechnology to synthetic biology to the origin of life and beyond.

Cold adaptation includes a complex range of structural and functional adaptations at the level of all cellular constituents, and these adaptations render cold-adapted organisms particularly useful for biotechnological applications. This book presents the most recent knowledge of (i) boundary conditions for microbial life in the cold, (ii) microbial diversity in various cold ecosystems, (iii) molecular cold adaptation mechanisms and (iv) the resulting biotechnological perspectives.

Antarctic Microbiology The extreme climate of Antarctica — its sub-zero temperatures, low humidity, high winds, and extended light and dark periods — has limited scientists in their search for information on microbial communities there and in the surrounding oceans. Most early microbiological research was descriptive and focused on the interactions of microbial communities with physical and chemical parameters. Today, thanks to enormous improvements in technology and logistics, microbiologists can study the functional processes of microbial communities and their biological interactions. Microbiological research in Antarctica is particularly relevant in light of today’s discussions on global climate change. This volume offers an account of the microbial habitats and communities that play significant roles in the ecosystem of the Antarctic continent. Antarctic Microbiology demonstrates the explosion of new and exciting research into microbial communities, physiological rate processes, and adaptation of species at the biochemical and molecular level. This text presents new information on: sea-ice microbial processes associated with the pack ice and the ocean photosynthesis, physiology, and adaptation of cryptoendolithic communities in sandstone formations biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen in unique lake systems in the dry valleys the development of microbial communities in volcanically heated soils the possible existence of ancient microbes in glacial ice biogeochemical cycling of elements in the marine ecosystem around Antarctica. Written by an international group of experts, Antarctic Microbiology will be of interest to all microbiologists and ecologists who study the diversity of microorganisms and their marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments.

Pollution has accompanied polar exploration since Captain John Davis' arrival on the Antarctic continent in 1821 and has become an unavoidable consequence of oil spills in our polar regions. Fortunately, many of the organisms indigenous to Polar ecosystems have the ability to degrade pollutants. It is this metabolic capacity that forms the basis fo