Microbial Technologies for Bio-energy and Bio-product

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About this Research Topic

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Background

Research on microbes plays an essential role in the improvement of biotechnological and biomedical areas. It has turned into a subject of expanding significance as new organisms and their related biomolecules are being characterized. The interaction between microbes and their biotic and abiotic environment is fundamental to numerous processes taking place in the biosphere. The natural environments and hosts of these microorganisms are extremely diverse being reflected by the fact that microbes are widespread and occur in nearly every biological community on Earth. This metabolic versatility makes microbes interesting objects for a range of economically important biotechnological applications. Understanding the biology of distinctive fungi in differing biological ecosystems and their associations with their living and non-living surroundings is key to support successful and innovative technological improvements.

Renewable energy and biorefining technologies, based on biological and/or chemical approaches, represent an important and rapidly growing technology sector and offer the promise for cleaner technologies to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and to produce energy, commodity products and biochemicals from biomass in a sustainable manner. This special topic will compile developments on current strategies and recent technological developments in developing catalyst platforms from fungal systems, and, focuses on the suitability of potential non-food crops and wastes as feedstocks for production of bioenergy and (bio)chemicals, and outlines the main technical and socio-economic challenges to success.

Enzymatic conversion can maximize the potential of microbial systems, with a focus on understanding and improving the relevance of accessory and side-chain enzymes for biomass conversion. In addition, biocatalysts for conversion of biomass, to high value bioproducts offers much potential for supporting sustainability and increased value of bioenergy and biorefining applications. Microbes produce a diverse array of biocatalysts to reduce biomass to its monomeric components in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Recent genome sequencing projects and allied ‘omics’ technologies, as well as metagenomics approaches to identify and source novel species with biocatalytic potential, will support the use and development of these microorganisms and their biocatalysts in improved bioconversion platforms. The information provided in the proposed volume will highlight some of the opportunities that are emerging from recent discoveries.

Replenished interest in all aspects of the biology and biotechnology of microbes may likewise empower the improvement of “one pot” microbial cell factories for biochemical and protein production to meet the consumer needs into the 21st century.

So, within the scope of this Research Topic, we aims to publish technological developments (in the form of research, review and brief notes type articles) used to investigate different aspects of microbial- degradation of biomass, lignin modifications, conversion of biomass to butanol, microalgal products, microbial production of amino acid, bio-hydrogen, biochar, dyes, phytochemicals, pigments and poly 3-hydroxybutyrate, and microbial fuel cells for biochemical/ by-/co products formation, that resulting biotechnological applications.

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