Brings together accounts of the mechanisms whereby microorganisms are able to degrade a wide variety of compounds. The compounds range from petroleum-derived materials to the degradation of the major natural materials that microorganisms may encounter in all types of habitat.
Biotechnology is one of the major technologies of the twenty-first century. Its huge, wide-ranging, multidisciplinary activities impinge on everyone's lives in the form of recombinant DNA techniques, cloning and genetics, the application of microbiology to the production of household goods, and antibiotics. It continues to revolutionize treatments of many diseases and is used to provide clean technologies and deal with environmental problems. Basic Biotechnology is a mainstream account of the current state of biotechnology, written to provide the reader with insight, inspiration, and instruction into the skills and arts of the subject. The volume explains the fundamental aspects that underpin all biotechnology and provides examples of how these principles are put into operation, from starting substrate to final product. The book is essential reading for all students and teachers of biotechnology and applied microbiology and for researchers in the many biotechnology industries.