Exploitation of Microorganisms

Microbiology may be described as one of the younger sciences with its history, as a precise subject, only dating as far back as Pasteur in the mid 1800s and his revelation both of the role of microorganisms in nature and their importance to human welfare. Medical scientists rapidly took up the challenge, with their area of microbiology flourishing and expanding almost in complete isolation from the rest of biology. We now know, of course, that microorganisms have always played an important, if not essential role, in the biosphere with fermented foods and beverages, plant and animal diseases and nutrient cycling foremost in their sphere of activities. Within the last twenty years, microbiology has received two enormous boosts with the developments in microbial genetics and genetic engineering probably being the most influential, and the greater awareness of pollution and environmental sustainability following a close second. In 1990, your editor had the privilege and pleasure of being elected as President of The Association of Applied Biologists in the United King­ dom and, as the topic for his three-day Presidential Conference, chose 'The exploitation of microorganisms in applied biology'. This meeting stimu­ lated great interest in a wide range of subject areas, from weed control to nematology, from plant breeding to plant pathology, from mushrooms to mycorrhiza. The proceedings of this meeting were published in Aspects of Applied Biology, No. 24, 1990.

Table of Contents:
1 Biological control of weeds with fungal plant pathogens.- 2 The use of Bacillus thuringiensis as an insecticide.- 3 Aspects of biocontrol of fungal plant pathogens.- 4 The use of microbial agents for the biological control of plant parasitic nematodes.- 5 Insect viruses as biocontrol agents.- 6 Cyanobacteria and Azolla.- 7 Mycorrhizal associations.- 8 Rhizobium inoculation of crop plants.- 9 The use of microorganisms in plant breeding.- 10 The mushroom industry.- 11 The exploitation of microorganisms in the processing of dairy products.- 12 The exploitation of microorganisms in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages.- 13 The exploitation of moulds in fermented foods.- 14 The exploitation of microorganisms in the developing countries of the tropics.- 15 Microorganisms and detoxification of industrial waste.- 16 Formulation of biological control agents.- 17 The commercial exploitation of microorganisms in agriculture.

Review :
17 papers which review the history, current state-of-the art and future possibilities for different areas of microbial exploitation. - Quarterly Journal of Forestry; The editor is to be commended on bringing together many of the leading exponents in these various fields, and producing a reference work which will be of immense value to those teaching applied microbiology courses ... this well-produces book deserves to find its way into the libraries of Departments of Microbiology world-wide, in both developed and developing countries - World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology; ...the quality of the contributions is uniformly high...the various chapters are written with the intention of being both interesting and informative...recommended with confidence to any student...both the Editor and Publisher are to be congratulated on a quite outstanding addition to the literature of microbiology. - Food Science and Technology Today; ...a most useful compilation of reviews which will provide final year undergraduates, postgraduates and other interested groups with source material on applied microbiology for some years to come. - Journal Chemical Technology and Biotechnology; ...this is an informative book that will appael to students and to many who might find textbooks of plant pathology or environmental microbiology much more forbidding. - Science in parliament Vol 51 No 3 june 1994; ...a very useful addition to the library bookshelf... - Experimental Agriculture; This is an informative book that will appeal to students and to many who might find textbooks of plant pathology or environmental microbiology much more forbidding...the volume [is] supplied with a helpfully comprehensive index - Science in Parliament