This book will highlight advanced techniques that were recently used for studying microorganisms in extreme environments. Recent technological leaps in the study of microorganisms in the environment now make it possible to comprehensively study microbes in the environment. Extreme environments could benefit from the application of these techniques, but many challenges such as low biomass, low activity and slow growth has prevented their wide adoption. This book will review recent application of state-of-the-art techniques in extreme environments, helping researcher and graduate students get a better knowledge of the tools available.

This book summarizes the basics of actinobacteria, from microbiology to synthetic biology. It focuses on diversity, NRPS, sesquiterpenes, lantipeptide, bioinformatics apparatuses, cloning, CRISPR, reverse engineering, FDA supported medications, and marine actinobacteria. It also covers the latest trends in drug discovery from actinobacteria, and introduces several recently developed bioinformatics and synthetic biology tools to explore new antibiotics from actinobacteria. Many natural products such as polyketides, isoprenoids, phenazines, peptides, indolocarbarbazoles, sterols, and others have been isolated and characterized from actinobacteria. Some products are synthesized by the non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), polyketide synthases (PKSs), or other functional genes. Although genome sequencing has uncovered the differing qualities of these chemicals, recognizing new items and their biosynthetic pathways is still under examination. Cryptic metabolic pathways have been explored using molecular techniques or culture-dependent approaches. In recent years, researchers’ primary interest is to identify the specific conditions or agents that wake the cryptic antibiotics. Several bioinformatics and synthetic biology tools were developed to explore new antibiotics from actinobacteria. The book comprises 14 chapters with different aspects of application and utilization of actinomycetes from the microbiology; systems biology, pharmacology of natural products, bioinformatics, actinomycete and its diversity, CRISPR, artificial Intelligence, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, expressional studies, and biosynthetic gene clusters. The book delivers useful information on actinomyces to researchers, novices in genome designing, specialists, clinicians, policymakers, and professionals.

The cryosphere stands for environments where water appears in a frozen form. It includes permafrost, glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice and is currently more affected by Global Change than most other regions of the Earth. In the cryosphere, limited water availability and subzero temperatures cause extreme conditions for all kind of life which microorganisms can cope with extremely well. The cryosphere’s microbiota displays an unexpectedly large genetic potential, and taxonomic as well as functional diversity which, however, we still only begin to map. Also, microbial communities influence reaction patterns of the cryosphere towards Global Change. Altered patterns of seasonal temperature fluctuations and precipitation are expected in the Arctic and will affect the microbial turnover of soil organic matter (SOM). Activation of nutrients by thawing and increased active layer thickness as well as erosion renders nutrient stocks accessible to microbial activities. Also, glacier melt and retreat stimulate microbial life in turn influencing albedo and surface temperatures. In this context, the functional resilience of microbial communities in the cryosphere is of major interest. Particularly important is the ability of microorganisms and microbial communities to respond to changes in their surroundings by intracellular regulation and population shifts within functional niches, respectively. Research on microbial life exposed to permanent freeze or seasonal freeze-thaw cycles has led to astonishing findings about microbial versatility, adaptation, and diversity. Microorganisms thrive in cold habitats and new sequencing techniques have produced large amounts of genomic, metagenomic, and metatranscriptomic data that allow insights into the fascinating microbial ecology and physiology at low and subzero temperatures. Moreover, some of the frozen ecosystems such as permafrost constitute major global carbon and nitrogen storages, but can also act as sources of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. In this book we summarize state of the art knowledge on whether environmental changes are met by a flexible microbial community retaining its function, or if the altered conditions also render the community in a state of altered properties that affect the Earth’s element cycles and climate. This book brings together research on the cryosphere’s microbiota including permafrost, glaciers, and sea ice in Arctic and Antarctic regions. Different spatial scales and levels of complexity are considered, spanning from ecosystem level to pure culture studies of model microbes in the laboratory. It aims to attract a wide range of parties with interest in the effect of climate change and/or low temperatures on microbial nutrient cycling and physiology.

Rock surfaces provide a challenging habitat for a broad diversity of micro- or small-sized organisms. They interact with each other forming complex communities as well with their substrate causing biodeterioration of rock. Extreme fluctuation in light, temperature and hydration are the main factors that determine the rock surface habitats. The habitat includes epilithic organisms which thrive on the surface without penetrating the rock, endolithic organisms which live just beneath the surface using a thin layer of the rock surface for protection against adverse conditions of the environment (e.g. light protection, storage of water) and chasmo-endolithic organisms which use fractures of the rock surface for a more habitable environment. The book will provide an overview of the various organismal groups, from prokaryotes to vascular plants and arthropods, as well as survey organism-mediated interactions with the rock surface. The latter include biogenic weathering (biogeochemistry, state-of-the art imaging methods), photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation at and inside the rock surface.

Microbiology of Atypical Environments, Volume 45, presents a comprehensive reference text on the microbiological methods used to research the basic biology of microorganism in harsh, stressful and sometimes atypical environments (e.g. arctic ice, space stations, extraterrestrial environments, hot springs and magnetic environments). Chapters in this release include Biofilms in space, Methods for studying the survival of microorganisms in extraterrestrial environments, Persistence of Fungi in Atypical (Closed) Environments Based on Evidence from the International Space Station (ISS): Distribution and Significance to Human health, Methods for visualizing microorganisms in Icy environments, Measuring microbial metabolism at surface-air interfaces and nuclear waste management, amongst others. - Contains both established and emerging methods - Provides excellent reference lists on the topics covered

Microbial biotechnology is an important contributor to global business, especially in agriculture, the environment, healthcare, and the medical, food, and chemical industries. This volume provides an exciting interdisciplinary journey through the rapidly changing backdrop of invention in microbial biotechnology, covering a range of topics, including microbial properties and characterization, cultivation and production strategies, and applications in healthcare, bioremediation, nanotechnology, and more. Key features: Explains the diverse aspects of and strategies for cultivation of microbial species Describes biodiversity and biotechnology of microbes Provides an understanding of microorganisms in bioremediation of pollutants Explores various applications of microbes in agriculture, food, health, industry, and the environment Considers production issues and applications of microbial secondary metabolites Underscores the importance of integrating genomics of microorganisms in ecological restoration of contaminated environments

"A compilation of the summary portions of each of the RTOPs used for management review and control of research currently in progress throughout NASA"--P. i.

The book Extreme Environments: Unique Ecosystems – Amazing Microbes is an attempt to showcase the uniqueness of extremophiles, the largely unexplored group that has the abilities to function in hostile conditions and represent the very ancient life forms that thrived on earth billions of years ago. The book covers a wide range of research achievements in the field of microbiology of extreme environments right from the conventional approaches of cultivation to recently evolved high throughput sequencing technologies. The book provides a broad spectrum of information about the taxonomy, physiology, ecology and biotechnological applications of extremophiles from various extreme environments across the globe.