6^th International conference on Environmental Microbiology & Soil Microbiology September 18-20 , 2017 Toronto, Canada

Microbial biodegredation is the use of bioremediation and biotransformation methods to harness the naturally occurring ability of microbial xenobiotic metabolism to degrade, transform or accumulate environmental pollutants, including hydrocarbons (e.g. oil), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heterocyclic compounds (such as pyridine or quinoline), pharmaceutical substances, radionuclides and metals.

Coastal upwelling regimes associated with eastern boundary currents are the most biologically productive ecosystems in the ocean. As a result, they play a disproportionately important role in the microbially mediated cycling of marine nutrients. These systems are characterized by strong natural variations in carbon dioxide concentrations, pH, nutrient levels and sea surface temperatures on both seasonal and interannual timescales. Despite this natural variability, changes resulting from human activities are starting to emerge. Carbon dioxide derived from fossil fuel combustion is adding to the acidity of upwelled low-pH waters. Low-oxygen waters associated with coastal upwelling systems are growing in their extent and intensity as a result of a rise in upper ocean temperatures and productivity.

Environmental biotechnology is biotechnology that is applied to and used to study the natural environment. Environmental biotechnology could also imply that one try to harness biological process for commercial uses and exploitation.  Environmental Biotechnology defines environmental biotechnology as "the development, use and regulation of biological systems for remediation of contaminated environments (land, air, water), and for environment-friendly processes (green manufacturing technologies and sustainable .

Environmental pollution had been a fact of life for many centuries but it became a real problem since the start of the industrial revolution. Environmental pollution is “the contamination of the physical and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that normal environmental processes are adversely affected. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environment that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or that damage the environment” which can come “in the form of chemical substances, or energy such as noise, heat or light”. “Pollutants can be naturally occurring substances or energies, but are considered contaminants when in excess of natural levels.

Biogeochemical cycles involve the fluxes of chemical elements among different parts of the Earth: from living to non-living, from atmosphere to land to sea, and from soils to plants. They are called “cycles” because matter is always conserved and because elements move to and from major pools via a variety of two-way fluxes, although some elements are stored in locations or in forms that are differentially accessible to living things. Human activities have mobilized Earth elements and accelerated their cycles – for example, more than doubling the amount of reactive nitrogen that has been added to the biosphere since pre-industrial times., Reactive nitrogen is any nitrogen compound that is biologically, chemically, or radiatively active, like nitrous oxide and ammonia, but not nitrogen gas (N2).

Subsurface microbiology is a rising field in geomicrobiology, environmental microbiology and microbial ecology that focuses on the molecular detection and quantification, cultivation, biogeographic examination, and distribution of bacteria, archaea, and eukarya that permeate the subsurface biosphere. The deep biosphere includes a variety of subsurface habitats, such as terrestrial deep aquifer systems or mines, deeply buried hydrocarbon reservoirs, marine sediments and the basaltic ocean crust. The deep subsurface biosphere abounds with uncultured, only recently discovered and at best incompletely understood microbial populations. So far, microbial cells and DNA remain detectable at sediment depths of more than 1 km and life appears limited mostly by heat in the deep subsurface. 

Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses,viroids, virus-like organisms, phytoplasmas, protozoa, nematodes and parasitic plants. Not included are ectoparasites like insects, mites,vertebrate, or other pests that affect plant health by consumption of plant tissues. Plant pathology also involves the study of pathogen identification, disease etiology, disease cycles, economic impact, plant disease epidemiology, plant disease resistance, how plant diseases affect humans and animals, pathosystem genetics, and management of plant diseases.Microbiology  methods in  mycology, bacteriology, virology, nematology, applied microbiology etc.

Microbiologically-Influenced Corrosion (MIC), also known as microbial corrosion or biological corrosion, is the deterioration of metals as a result of the metabolic activity of microorganisms. There are about a dozen of bacteria known to cause microbiologically influenced corrosion of carbon steels, stainless steels, aluminium alloys and copper alloys in waters and soils with pH 4~9.These bacteria can be broadly classified as aerobic (requires oxygen to become active) or anaerobic (oxygen is toxic to the bacteria). Sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) is anaerobic and is responsible for most instances of accelerated corrosion damages to ships and offshore steel structures. Iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria are aerobic and are frequently associated with accelerated pitting attacks on stainless steels at welds.

Microbes are preferably suited for biochemical and genetics studies and have made huge contributions to these fields of science such as the demonstration that DNA is the genetic material that the gene has a simple linear structure, that the genetic code is a triplet code and that gene expression is regulated by specific genetic processes.J acques Monod and François Jacob used Escherichia coli, a type of bacteria, in order to develop the operon model of gene expression, which lay down the basis of gene expression and regulation. 

Microbial symbiosis can occur through interactions between hosts and microbial organisms that are beneficial to both parties. This symbiotic relationship, called mutualism, is constantly taking place throughout a host human or animal's body. Microflora takes such a large part in supporting the host’s immunity to harmful pathogens, that it becomes vital to the host's health

Fossil fuels like coal and oil have played a critical role in humanity’s recent history, providing a vast energy source which has fueled much of society’s development and industrialization. These fuels are still the primary source of energy for the world’s developed nations, and yet it is agreed that these traditional sources of energy cannot continue to power humanity’s growth into the future. The demand for oil production is at an all-time high, and will only increase as developing nations continue to grow. Furthermore, many experts predict that the rate of world oil production has already peaked, and that it will only decrease from now onwards as fewer and fewer oil reserves are discovered. 

This practical, applied textbook examines how infectious disease is transmitted through a population, how it is monitored, and how preventative measures are designed. Major topics include the purification of water, the treatment of wastewater, food microbiology, sexually transmitted diseases, and the methods used to survey populations.

A variety of learning tools, including historical perspectives, case studies, government internet databases, and explanatory figures, help the student to understand the critical concepts of microbiology as they are applied to improve health and prevent disease across populations.

The distribution and function of microorganisms are of crucial importance for the flow of matter in the Earth's biogeochemical cycles. Effects of microbial communities on the carbon and nitrogen cycles are particularly important for producing climate gases such as CO2, CH4, or N2O. However, the biogeochemical cycles are reversely impacted by global climate change, for example by increasing temperature, increasing CO2 concentration, or changing soil humidity. However microbes may respond differently, by accelerating or by alleviating, human-caused climate change.

Aero-Microbiology is the study of living animate microbes that are quiescent in the air. These microbes are attributed to as bio-aerosols .There are significantly earth atmospheric microorganisms than in oceans and soils; there is still a large bounteous number that they can affect the atmosphere . Once attributed in the air column, these microbes have the scope to travel long distances with the help of air and precipitation, increasing the occurrence of widespread disease by these microbes. These aerosols are ecologically suggestive because they can be identify with disease in humans, animals and plants. Typically microbes will be dependent in clouds. They are able to execute processes that alter the chemical composition of the cloud, and may even induce condensation. 

Agricultural microbiology is a field of study concerned with plant-associated microbes. It aims to address problems in agricultural practices usually caused by a lack of biodiversity in microbial communities. An understanding of microbial strains relevant to agricultural applications is useful in the enhancement of factors such as soil nutrients, plant-pathogen resistance, crop robustness, fertilization uptake efficiency, and more. The many symbiotic relationships between plants and microbes can ultimately be exploited for greater food production necessary to feed the expanding human populace, in addition to safer farming techniques for the sake of minimizing ecological disruption.

Industrial Microbiology may be defined as the study of the large-scale and profit motivated production of microorganisms or their products for direct use, or as inputs in the manufacture of other goods. Thus yeasts may be produced for direct consumption as food for humans or as animal feed, or for use in bread-making; their product, ethanol,may also be consumed in the form of alcoholic beverages, or used in the manufacture of perfumes, pharmaceuticals, etc. Industrial microbiology is clearly a branch of biotechnology and includes the traditional and nucleic acid aspects.

Water microbiology is concerned with the microorganisms that live in water, or transferred from one habitat to another by water. Another group of microbes of concern in water microbiology are protozoa. The two protozoa of the most concern are Giardia and Cryptosporidium. They live normally in the intestinal tract of animals such as beaver and deer. Giardia and Cryptosporidium form dormant and hardy forms called cysts during their life cycles. The cyst forms are resistant to chlorine, which is the most popular form of drinking water disinfection, and can pass through the filters used in many water treatment plants. If ingested in drinking water they can cause debilitating and prolonged diarrhea in humans, and can be life threatening to those people with impaired immune.

Biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms attached to surfaces or associated with interfaces. Despite the focus of modern microbiology research on pure culture, planktonic (free-swimming) bacteria, it is now widely recognized that most bacteria found in natural, clinical, and industrial settings persist in association with surfaces. Furthermore, these microbial communities are often composed of multiple species that interact with each other and their environment. The determination of biofilm architecture, particularly the spatial arrangement of microcolonies (clusters of cells) relative to one another, has profound implications for the function of these complex communities. Numerous new experimental approaches and methodologies have been developed in order to explore metabolic interactions, phylogenetic groupings, and competition among members of the biofilm.