Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms, either unicellular, multicellular, or acellular. Microbiology includes the disciplines virology, mycology, parasitology, bacteriology, and so on. Eukaryotic microorganisms exhibit cell organelles and include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryotic organisms"which all are microorganisms"are conventionally classified as lacking organelles and include eubacteria and archaebacteria. Microbiologists traditionally relied on culture, staining, and microscopy. Apparently, however, only some 1% of the microorganisms present in some environments are culturable. Microbiologists often rely on extraction or detection of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA sequences. Viruses are not always classified as organisms, as they have been identified either as very simple microorganisms or very complex molecules. Prions, never considered microorganisms, have been investigated by virologists, however, as the clinical effects traced to them were originally presumed due to chronic viral infections, and virologists took search"discovering "infectious proteins". As an application of microbiology, medical microbiology is often introduced with medical principles of immunology as microbiology and immunology. This volume contains wide ranging modern topics on microbial biotechnology, applied microbiology and microbial ecology. The authors have done a tremendous job of synthesizing all the informations which will be useful for researchers and students alike. The present book has been aimed to emphasize on diverse uses of microbes involved in biotechnology, most dear to Professor Mukerji.
