Product Description: With a focus on food safety, this book highlights the importance of microbes in sustainable agriculture. Plants, sessile organisms that are considered as primary producers in the ecosystem and communicate with above- and below-ground communities that consist of microbes, insects, and other vertebrate and invertebrate animals, are subjected to various kinds of stress...read more

Product Description: Following a description of the various sources and factors influencing the contents of heavy metal pollution in post-catastrophic and agricultural soils, subsequent chapters examine soil enzymes and eggs as bio-monitors, lead adsorption, the effects of arsenic on microbial diversity, and the effects of Mediterranean grasslands on abandoned mines...read more

Product Description: This volume describes the various applications of entomopathogenic soil microorganisms in the management and control of the devastating lepidopteran pest. An introduction describes the insecticidal properties of viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes and their metabolites, as well as their applications in the context of crop improvement...read more

Product Description: This book describes the various applications of microorganisms in improving plant growth, health and the efficiency of phytochemical production.The chapters trace topics such as the role of PGPRs in improving salt stress and heavy metal tolerance in plants; the prevention and control of plant diseases; boosting soil fertility and agriculture productivity; the induction of secondary metabolite biosynthesis in medicinal and aromatic plants; the enhancement of phytochemical levels, and the action mechanisms, diversity and characterization of PGPRs...read more

Product Description: This volume explores the various functions and potential applications of mycorrhizas, including topics such as the dynamics of root colonization, soil carbon sequestration and the function of mycorrhizas in extreme environments. Some contributions focus on the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in various crop production processes, including soil management practices, their use as biofertilizers and in relation to medicinal plants...read more

Product Description: Mycotoxins are made by different biosynthetic pathways, and they have an extremely wide range of pharmacological effects. This book will update readers on several cutting-edge aspects of mycotoxin research, including topics such as: new analytical methods for detection; the adoption of an ancient Mexican process for detoxification of aflatoxins; mycotoxin management in Ireland, Lithuania and South America; mycotoxin reduction through plant breeding and integrated management practices; and natural aflatoxin inhibitors from medicinal plants...read more

Product Description: Microbial cell wall structures play a significant role in maintaining cells’ shape, as protecting layers against harmful agents, in cell adhesion and in positive and negative biological activities with host cells. All prokaryotes, whether they are bacteria or archaea, rely on their surface polymers for these multiple functions...read more

Product Description: Plant-based medicines play an important role in all cultures, and have been indispensable in maintaining health and combating diseases. The identification of active principles and their molecular targets from traditional medicine provides an enormous opportunity for drug development...read more

Product Description: Metal contamination is an increasing eco-toxicological risk. Understanding the processes involved in metal mobilization, sorption and mineralization in soils is vital for effective soil bioremediation, and this volume covers current concepts and methods.

Product Description: This volume covers the various facets of soil enzymes, such as their functions, biochemical and microbiological properties and the factors affecting their activities. It describes enzymes in the rhizosphere, in forest soils, and in volcanic ash-derived soils.

Heavy metals are severe environmental pollutants, and many of them are toxic even at very low concentrations. With industrial development, soil pollution with heavy metal elements have dramatically increased. The uptake of heavy metals via plants that are exposed to contaminated soils is a risk for human health and a major hazard for the ecosystem as a whole, including soil microorganisms. On the other hand, plants may be used in the decontamination of soils.The topics presented in this book include: sources of heavy metals contaminants in soils; plant species that can grow on contaminated soils; the phytoremediation of contaminated soils; tolerance, accumulation and detoxification mechanisms of zinc, copper, arsenic, cadmium and vanadium in plants; the critical role of sulfur metabolism in heavy metal tolerance; the role of aquatic macrophytes, plant growth-promoting bacteria, sugar crops and earthworms in detoxification; and heavy metal stabilization by promoting zeolite synthesis in soils.

Product Description: Biological remediation methods have been successfully used to treat polluted soils. While bacteria have produced good results in bioremediation for quite some time now, the use of fungi to decontaminate soils has only recently been established...read more

Product Description: The enormous multitude of ectomycorrhizal fungi plays a range of functional roles during symbioses with higher plants. This book covers the required molecular approaches for their identification and differentiation, and summarizes our current knowledge.

Product Description: Human activities have dramatically changed the composition and organisation of soils. Industrial and urban wastes, agricultural application and also mining activities resulted in an increased concentration of heavy metals in soils...read more

Product Description: This is the first work to focus on microbes in gut systems of soil animals. Beginning with an overview of the biology of soil invertebrates, the text turns to the gut microbiota of termites, which are important soil processors in tropical and subtropical regions...read more

Product Description: This book presents a wide range of biotechnological methods for application in soil microbiology analysis, including all essential methods involving molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, and structural biology, such as transcriptome analysis, RNAi technology, molecular matchmaking, RAPD, T-RFLP and FT/MS...read more

Product Description: This book is perfectly timed for the worldwide explosion of interest in mycorrhizal research. With a strong emphasis on the latest findings in genetics and molecular biology, it contains all current information and speculation on the structure, function and biotechnological applications of mycorrhizas...read more

This volume examines the interactions between plants and microorganisms located on plant surfaces, exploring their possible biotechnological applications. Interactions of microbial communities with plants are illustrated by experimental studies of typical symbiosis. Topics include signaling within a symbiosis, molecular differences between symbiotic and pathogenic microorganisms, and the role of microorganisms in the development of plants.

Product Description: The human body contains 20 times more microbes than it does cells and in each cell there are about 10 microbes. Approximately 99% of the viruses and bacteria inhabiting our body are yet to be identified. Some of our colonists, - viruses in the cells of our brain - influence even our thoughts and feelings...read more

Product Description: In response to low iron availability in the environment most microorganisms synthesize iron chelators, called siderophores. Bacteria and fungi produce a broad range of structurally diverse siderophores, all of which show a very high affinity for ferric ions...read more

Product Description: This book highlights the interrelatedness of microbes with life and environment. It stresses that microbes have a beneficial impact on human life and environment. It covers the various aspects of microbes such as molecular biology, interrelationships, microbial intervention in our environment, microbial biotechnology, genetics, immunology, biochemistry, economic importance, interaction with medicinal plants, human beings, industrial relevance, influence on our health and so on...read more

Product Description: Microbial applications is a fascinating field of science and is increasingly regarded as a mainstream, central tenet of biology rather than just an interesting peripheral topic. The research into their applications is highly valued both by scientists and by politicians and industry professionals, who thrive upon the latest developments...read more