Fungi are an essential, fascinating and biotechnologically useful group of organisms with an incredible biotechnological potential for industrial exploitation. Knowledge of the world's fungal diversity and its use is still incomplete and fragmented. There are many opportunities to accelerate the process of filling knowledge gaps in these areas. The worldwide interest of the current era is to increase the tendency to use natural substances instead of synthetic ones. The increasing urge in society for natural ingredients has compelled biotechnologists to explore novel bioresources which can be exploited in industrial sector. Fungi, due to their unique attributes and broad range of their biological activities hold great promises for their application in biotechnology and industry. Fungi are an efficient source of antioxidants, enzymes, pigments, and many other secondary metabolites. The large scale production of fungal pigments and their utility provides natural coloration without creating harmful effects on entering the environment, a safer alternative use to synthetic colorants. The fungal enzymes can be exploited in wide range of industries such as food, detergent, paper, and also for removal toxic waste. This book will serve as valuable source of information as well as will provide new directions to researchers to conduct novel research in field of mycology.
Volume 2 of "Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development" provides an overview to understanding bioprospecting of fungal biomolecules and their industrial application for future sustainability. It encompasses current advanced knowledge of fungal communities and their potential biotechnological applications in industry and allied sectors. The book will be useful to scientists, researchers, and students of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, and environmental biology.
Ahmed M. Abdel-Azeem is currently working as an academic staff member for the Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, and as a mycologist with a particular interest in the ecology, taxonomy, biology, and conservation of fungi, especially on the members of the phylum Ascomycota. His research includes isolation, identification, and taxonomic assessments of these fungi with particular emphasis on those which produce bioactive materials from different ecological habitats. He is the editor in chief of Microbial Biosystems Journal (MBJ) and a reviewer of more than seven international journals. He has published more than 75 research paper journals, 40 book chapters in the books published by international publishers, and 9 books.
Ajar Nath Yadav is a Dean Postgraduate Studies (Officiating) & Assistant Controller of Examinations at Eternal University, Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, India. He has 8 years of teaching experience asan Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) and 12 years of research experiences in the field of Microbial Biotechnology, Microbial Diversity, and Plant-Microbe-Interactions. Dr. Yadav has 251 publications, with ah-index of 56, i10-index of 152, and 9100 citations (Google Scholar- on 07/07/2020). Dr. Yadav is editor of 21 Springer-Nature, 05 CRC Press Taylor & Francis, 03 Elsevier, and 1 Wiley-Blackwell book. Dr. Yadav is Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Applied Biology and Biotechnology and Editor/Associate Editor for Annals of Microbiology (Springer-Nature), BMC Microbiology (Springer-Nature), and Current Microbiology (Springer-Nature). He has lifetime membership of the Association of Microbiologists in India, and Indian Science Congress Council, India.
Neelam Yadav is currently working on microbial diversity from diverse sources and their biotechnological applications in agriculture and allied sectors. She obtained her post-graduation degree from Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, Uttar Pradesh, India. In her credit 79 publications in different reputed international, national journals and publishers with h-index 31, i10-index 52, and 2559 citations (Google Scholar- on 07/07/2020). She is the editors of 03 books in Elsevier, 05 in CRC Press, Taylor & Francis and 11 in Springer Nature. She is editor/associate editor/reviewer of different international and national journals. She has the lifetime membership of the Association of Microbiologists in India, Indian Science Congress Council, India, and National Academy of Sciences, India.
Minaxi Sharma is currently working as Senior Research Scientist at ERA Chair VALORTECH, Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU), Tartu, Estonia. Her research at EMU is focused on the processing technologies of various food raw materials/products to produce bioactive components; development of advanced technologies for increasing nutritional value of various food products, including different encapsulation methods, technologies improving final product texture, sensory properties and nutritive value, and ensuring stability of these ingredients during manufacturing etc. Dr. Sharma has 11 years of extensive teaching and research experience in the area of applications of antimicrobial nanoencapsulation of plant essential oils in dairy foods, probiotic-Indian dairy products, development of functional foods using micro/nano-colloidal delivery systems of potential plant bioactive components and food waste valorization for the extraction of valuable plant-bioactive nutrients. She has published 38 research/review papers in reputed Journals, 8 book chapters in the books published by international publishers, and 1 book in Springer Nature. She has a few upcoming books in the current year with reputed publishing houses of CRC Press, Wiley and Springer.
