Cyanobacterial Response to Extreme Environments: A Molecular Understanding for a Sustainable Future

Cyanobacteria are the oldest living organisms on Earth, going back to the Precambrian era and the planet's early harsh climate. Cyanobacteria inhabit almost all environmental niches. These prokaryotes were critical to the formation of the current biosphere as they evolved photosynthetic reactions emitting oxygen similar to those of plants and green algae. They continue to contribute to the equilibrium of the Earth's atmosphere by generating oxygen and eliminating carbon dioxide. In addition, heterocystous cyanobacteria (specialized nitrogen-fixing cells formed during nitrogen starvation) contribute to atmospheric nitrogen fixation. Therefore, cyanobacteria have tremendous potential for biotechnological applications. Cyanobacteria have evolved specific regulatory mechanisms to cope with environmental stresses and/or variable environments, such as high altitude, extreme cold, hot water and springs, and volcanic ash. However, cyanobacterial adaptation mechanisms to environmental extremes have been poorly addressed, despite their ubiquitous presence in such ecological extremes. Over the last decade, remarkable progress has been made to uncover cyanobacterial adaptation to various abiotic stresses such as high irradiance, nutritional deprivation, UV-B radiation, heat, cold, desiccation, heavy metals, and radiation. These studies must lead the way to a basic understanding of cyanobacterial gene regulatory pathways for morphological, physiological, metabolic, and genetic adaptations to environmental stress. Unfortunately, until now, this information has been scattered in the literature. This book reviews and provides an up-to-date snapshot of where current research stands, as well as discussing the different aspects of cyanobacterial adaptation to extreme environments and their potential for biotechnological exploitation and future research. This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students involved in any aspect of research into cyanobacteria, extreme environments and the exploitation of these organisms in biotechnological applications.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Cyanobacterial Plasticity: Emerging Tools in Agricultural Sustainability Chapter 2: Diversity and Adaptation: Cyanobacterial Stress Responses in Polar Regions Chapter 3: Diversity and Distribution of Cyanobacteria in Polluted Habitats in Southwest India 4: Molecular Understanding of Cyanobacterial Adaptations in Extreme Environments Chapter 5: Microalgal pigments: biosynthetic pathways and their applications Chapter 6: Cyanobacteria's Advanced Nutrient Homeostasis Strategy Under Limiting Conditions Chapter 7: Revisiting Salinity Tolerance Mechanism in Cyanobacteria Chapter 8: Cyanobacterial photosynthetic adaptations in stress environments Chapter 9: Cyanobacterial Membranes under extreme conditions Chapter 10: Cyanobacterial way of adaptation to heavy metal stress Chapter 11: The expanding era of cyanobacteria molecular chaperones for an understanding of stress response Chapter 12: Stress signalling adaptations in cyanobacteria Chapter 13: Cyanobacterial diversity and adaptations to rising CO2 Chapter 14: Impact of climate change on plant-microbe interaction under agroecosystem Chapter 15: Microbial Consortia for Bioremediation of Petroleum Refinery Effluents

About the Author :
Prashant Kumar Singh (Edited By) Dr Prashant Kumar Singh is currently working at the Department of Biotechnology, Mizoram University (A Central University), Pachhunga University College Campus, Aizawl, Mizoram. He completed his PhD degree from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. In his 15 years of research, he has published more than 100 articles and book chapters and four books. Joginder Singh Panwar (Edited By) Professor Joginder Singh Panwar is at the Department of Botany, Nagaland University, India Ajay Kumar (Edited By) Dr Ajay Kumar is currently working as visiting scientist in the Agriculture Research Organization, Volcani Centre, Rishon Leziyon, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development Israel. Dr Kumar completed his doctoral research at Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He has published more than seventy-five research papers, including research articles, review papers, and book chapters in leading International and National journals or books. He has a wide area of research experience, especially in Plant -Microbiome, Plant-Microbe Interactions, and microbe mediated environmental contamination management.