Biotechnology Department, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana‐Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico
Karishma Seem Division of Biochemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
Manisha Sharma Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (DBT‐CIAB), Mohali, Punjab, India
Tomoya Shintani Department of Nutritional Representative ‐ Supplement Adviser, The Japanese Clinical Nutrition Association, Tokyo, Japan
Pradeep Kumar Shukla Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India
Evi Amelia Siahaan Research and Development Division of Marine Bio Industry, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), West Nusa Tenggara, Republic of Indonesia
Sudhir P. Singh Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (DBT‐CIAB), Mohali, Punjab, India
Liliane Martins Teixeira Laboratory of Microbiology and Biochemistry, College of Chemistry and Food Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
Himani Thakkar Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, India
Aditi Thakur Department of Biotechnology, Harlal institute of Management and Technology, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Luís F. Saraiva Macedo Timmers Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biotecnologia (PPGBiotec), Universidade do Vale do Taquari – Univates, Lajeado, RS, Brazil Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ciências Médicas (PPGCM), Universidade do Vale do Taquari – Univates, Lajeado, RS, Brazil
Vijay Tripathi Department of Molecular and Cellular Engineering, Jacob Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India
Ujwalkumar Trivedi Department of Microbiology, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Santosh Kumar Upadhyay Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
T. C. Venkateswarulu Department of Biotechnology, Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology & Research, Vadlamudi, Andhra Pradesh, India
Deepak Kumar Verma Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
Vinnyfred Vincent Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, India
Camile Wünsch Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biotecnologia (PPGBiotec), Universidade do Vale do Taquari – Univates, Lajeado, RS, Brazil
Tripti Yadav Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Chang‐Ping Yu Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Preface
Microorganisms are the most abundant and diverse unicellular organisms on the earth, equipped with distinguishable characteristics and functionality. Bioprospecting offers exploitation of microbial resource for societal benefits. The useful applications of microbial diversity have been established in medical, food, textile, and agro‐industrial sectors. Microorganisms are source of biomolecules of health significance, antibiotic, anti‐insecticidal compounds, biosurfactants, biofilm, etc. Microbial resources for production of bio‐hydrogen, biomethane, biodiesel, and microorganisms have been reported. Microorganisms also contribute to the aspects of food security and bioremediation. Many microbial enzymes have been employed for executing a wide range of chemical interconversions, producing diverse biomolecules of functional properties, and for other industrial bioprocessing aspects such as agri‐biomass hydrolysis, and so on. Microbial strains have been identified with crucial implications for the bioremediation of polluted niches. The microbial gums of useful applications in medical, food, cosmetics, and agricultural sectors are produced by a range of microorganisms, e.g. bacteria, fungi, and algae. A wide range of microbial compounds with antioxidant, antiaging, and skin lightening effects have been identified. Microbial bioprocesses have been developed for production of organic acids, which are building blocks of many valuable products such as degradable polymers, polyesters, and bioplastics. Microbes have been demonstrated to be cell factories for production of bioactive compounds and recombinant proteins of biomedical relevance. Many microbial molecules of antimicrobial, antiviral, anti‐inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anticancerous, etc., properties have been reported. A diverse types of functional microbial molecules of ultra‐reduced calorie, prebiotic, and anti‐oxidative effects have been identified. Some phenolic compounds and mycosporine‐like amino acids of microbial origin have been reported to be sunscreen and antiaging effects. Several intriguing efforts have been made for developing bioprocesses for the economically viable production of polyhydroxyalkanoates and related copolymers, helpful in addressing the issues related with plastic uses.
This book represents a distinguished repository of knowledge around microbial bioprospecting. The book is useful to academicians and researchers in augmenting their understandings on the aspects mentioned above.
Acknowledgments
We are thankful to the Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing and Panjab University, Chandigarh, for providing facility to complete this book. We are grateful to all the esteemed authors for their exceptional contributions and reviewers for their critical evaluation and suggestions for the quality improvement of the book.
We would like to thank Miss Rebecca Ralf (Commissioning Editor), Miss Kerry Powell (Managing Editor), and Nivetha Udayakumar (Content Refinement Specialist) from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd for their excellent management of this project and anonymous reviewers for their positive recommendations about the book.
We also appreciate the support of our friends and research students, whose discussion and comments were beneficial to shape this book. We thank our numerous colleagues for direct or indirect help in shaping this project.
SPS is grateful to his parents and family for consistent moral support. SPS acknowledges the support from CIAB and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). SKU wishes to express gratitude to his parents, wife, and daughter for their endless support, patience, and inspiration.
We would like to warmly thank faculties and staffs of the department and university for providing a great working environment.
1 An Introduction to Microbial Biodiversity and Bioprospection
Tomoya Shintani1, Santosh Kumar Upadhyay2, and Sudhir P. Singh3
1 Department of Nutritional Representative – Supplement Adviser, The Japanese Clinical Nutrition Association, Tokyo, Japan
2 Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
3 Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (DBT-CIAB), Mohali, Punjab, India
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Microorganisms
The term “microorganisms” refer to organisms that are so minute that the human eye cannot discern their structure. Almost all the unicellular organisms are included in the category of microorganisms. However,