Beneficial Microbes for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Management

Microbes are the most abundant organisms in the biosphere and regulate many critical elemental and biogeochemical phenomena. Because microbes are the key players in the carbon cycle and in related biological reactions, microbial ecology is a vital research area for understanding the contribution of the biosphere in global warming and the response of the natural environment to climate variations. The beneficial uses of microbes have enabled constructive and cost-effective responses that have not been possible through physical or chemical methods. This new volume reviews the multifaceted interactions among microbes, ecosystems, and their pivotal role in maintaining a more balanced environment, in order to help facilitate living organisms coexisting with the natural environment.With extensive references, tables, and illustrations, this book provides valuable information on microbial utilization for environmental sustainability and provides fascinating insights into microbial diversity. Key features include:Looks at enhancing plant production through growth-promoting arbuscular mycorrhizae, endophytic bacteria, and microbiome networksConsiders microbial degradation and environmental management of e-wastes and azo dyesExplores soil-plant microbe interactions in metal-contaminated soilsExamines radiation-resistant thermophiles for engineered bioremediationDescribes potential indigenous/effective microbes for wastewater treatment processesPresents research on earthworms and microbes for organic farming

1. Mycorrhiza: A Potential Bio-Enhancer in Agriculture Production SystemsBakulranjan Jana2. Plant Growth Promoting Microbiome NetworksÖzlem Akkaya, Mine Gül Seker, and Yelda Özden Çiftçi3. Plant Growth-Promoting Endophytic Bacteria and Their Potential Benefits in Asian CountriesNittaya Pitiwittayakul and Somboon Tanasupawat4. Eccentricity in the Behavior of Pencillium Spp. as Phytopathogen and PhytoaugmentorDhaval Patel et al.5. Environmental Management of E-Waste by Biological ProcessAparna Gunjal et al.6. Microbial Degradation of Wastes for Environmental ProtectionManobendro Sarker and Md. Maksudur Rahman7. Soil Microbial Biofilm Communities and Their InteractionsBindu Sadanandan, Priya Ashrit, and V. Vijayalakshmi8. Bacteriological Removal of Azo Dyes: An Eco-Friendly ApproachShanmugapriya Saravanabhavan et al.9. Impact of Soil-Plant Microbe Interaction in Metal-Contaminated SoilsNeetu Sharma, Abhinashi Singh, and Navneet Batra10. Radiation-Resistant Thermophiles: From High Temperature and Radiation to Engineered BioremediationPreeti Ranawat and Seema Rawat11. Dynamic Potential of Indigenous and Effective Microbes in Wastewater Treatment ProcessesJeyabalan Sangeetha et al.12. Earthworms and Microbes in Environmental Management through Vermitechnology-Mediated Organic FarmingAbdullah Adil Ansari

Jeyabalan Sangeetha, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Central University of Kerala at Kasaragod, South India. She earned her BSc in Microbiology and PhD in Environmental Science from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. She served as a Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellow and as an UGC Postdoctoral Fellow at Karnatak University, Dharwad, South India, with funding from the University Grants Commission.Devarajan Thangadurai, PhD, is Senior Assistant Professor at Karnatak University in South India and Editor-in-Chief of two international journals: Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Bioengineering and Acta Biologica Indica. He has authored or edited over twenty books and has also visited many countries for academic visits, scientific meetings, and international collaborations.Saher Islam, MPhil, is an International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) Scholar at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA; a PhD candidate in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; and a Higher Education Commission Scholar of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.