Microbial Catalysts: Volume 1

This book comprises a total of fourteen chapters contributed by experts from different countries across the globe. The book is divided into five sections containing two to three chapters each. It is a comprehensive collection of articles that give an overview of microbial catalysts which include enzymes that contribute to many fields and are widely used in industrial products. Microorganisms have served and continue to serve as one of the largest and useful sources of many enzymes used in foods and the food industry. Microbial catalysts are environmentally friendly and consume lower energy. A particular focus of this book is on applied and industrial microbiology, agricultural microbiology, and food microbiology. All of the sections discuss microbial catalysts, enzymes with respect to their function and their benefits to humankind in general, and biotechnology as a subject of which enzymology is an integral part. This book deals also with the structure and function of some microbial enzymes. Microbial catalysts are generally preferred than plants and animals as sources of industrial enzymes because their production cost is low. In addition, their enzyme content is more predictable and controllable, and more so because of the easy availability of raw materials with constant composition for their cultivation. About the Author Dr. Shadia M. Abdel-Aziz obtained her M SC from the Dairy Microbiology Department, and received PhD from the Bacteriology Department, Cairo University, Egypt. She is a Professor in Microbial Chemistry Department, National Research Centre, Egypt. She is a member in the Arab Society for Medical Research and Society for Developing Clean Farming Systems. Her areas of research and work expertise are Microbial biotechnology, Plant-Microbial Interactions, Secondary Metabolites, Medicinal Plants, and Enzymology. Dr. Shadia has worked with 5 international books and contributed with 12 book chapters. Join as a reviewer in highly impacted peer-review journals, and also join the editorial board of many journals. Her work includes: optimization and development of novel enzymes based on utilization of waste materials, production of bioactive substances with antimicrobial potential, Biological control for protection of economically crops. Dr. Shadia has guided post graduate students as Lecturer for different subjects in Microbiology. Dr Neelam Garg was born in Hoshiarpur (Punjab) in 1960. She completed her both higher degrees of Masters and Doctorate in Microbiology from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana (Punjab) with a focus on Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxins. She was a recipient of merit fellowship in Masters and CSIR Research Fellowship during her Ph.D. programme. Presently, she is Professor and has presided over the Department of Microbiology as Chairperson (HOD), Faculty of Life Sciences, Kurukshetra University (KUK), Kurukshetra-136 119 for three terms latest being from 2012-2018. She has over 31 years of research and teaching experience as a faculty member in PAU and KUK. She was awarded two major research projects by Department of Biotechnology (DBT, Government of India), Dr. Abhinav Aeron was born and raised in the city of Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh). He completed his Masters in Microbiology from DAV (PG) College (Ch. CS University, Meerut), Muzaffarnagar and Doctorate in Microbiology from Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar-249 404, Uttarakhand, India. He worked as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) and further as a Senior Research Fellow (SRF) under Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology (UCOST, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of Uttarakhand) sponsored while pursuing his Doctorate on Diversity of rhizobia in Medicinal legumes. He also went to pursue post doctoral fellowship at Chonbuk National University, Iksan, South Korea. He served as Assistant Professor (on contract) in Department of Mic