Beyond being the most important natural compound source, actinomycetes are the origin of up to two-thirds of all clinically used antibiotics. Currently, new antimicrobials are urgently needed, as infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens are on the rise. In the identification of new antibiotics, many scientists are currently investigating biosynthetic aspects of antibiotic production in actinomycetes. Since the emergence of next-generation sequencing technologies, the field of antibiotics research has experienced a remarkable revival. These bacteria have the potential to produce more antibiotics than previously thought possible. Some antibiotics are produced in standard media, while others require the presence of a specific signaling molecule in the medium. Others, however, are only produced when the native regulation of the biosynthesis gene cluster is overruled. This book covers topics in the field of antibiotic-producing actinomycetes. The following tops are addressed: - Approaches to access novel antibiotic producers for novel natural compounds - Omics and genome mining approaches for the discovery of novel natural compounds - Analyses and genetic engineering of antibiotic biosynthesis - Regulation of the secondary metabolism in actinomycetes

This book presents an introductory overview of Actinobacteria with three main divisions: taxonomic principles, bioprospecting, and agriculture and industrial utility, which covers isolation, cultivation methods, and identification of Actinobacteria and production and biotechnological potential of antibacterial compounds and enzymes from Actinobacteria. Moreover, this book also provides a comprehensive account on plant growth-promoting (PGP) and pollutant degrading ability of Actinobacteria and the exploitation of Actinobacteria as ecofriendly nanofactories for biosynthesis of nanoparticles, such as gold and silver. This book will be beneficial for the graduate students, teachers, researchers, biotechnologists, and other professionals, who are interested to fortify and expand their knowledge about Actinobacteria in the field of Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biomedical Science, Plant Science, Agriculture, Plant pathology, Environmental Science, etc.

In this book, the latest tools available for functional metagenomics research are described.This research enables scientists to directly access the genomes from diverse microbial genomes at one time and study these “metagenomes”. Using the modern tools of genome sequencing and cloning, researchers have now been able to harness this astounding metagenomic diversity to understand and exploit the diverse functions of microorganisms. Leading scientists from around the world demonstrate how these approaches have been applied in many different settings, including aquatic and terrestrial habitats, microbiomes, and many more environments. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing microbiologists with a summary of the latest functional metagenomics literature on all specific habitats.

This is an insiders account of 50 years of genetic studies of the soil-inhabiting microbes that produce most of the antibiotics used to treat infections, as well as anti-cancer, anti-parasitic and immunosuppressant drugs. The book begins by describing how these microbes the actinomycetes were discovered in the latter part of the nineteenth century, but remained a Cinderella group until, in the 1940s, they shot to prominence with the discovery of streptomycin, the first effective treatment for tuberculosis and only the second antibiotic, after penicillin, to become a medical marvel. There followed a massive effort over several decades to find further treatments for infectious diseases and cancer, tempered by the rise of antibiotic resistance consequent on antibiotic misuse and over-use. The book goes on to describe the discovery of gene exchange in the actinomycetes in the context of the rise of microbial genetics in the mid-20th century, leading to determination of the complete DNA sequence of a model member of the group at the turn of the millennium. There follow chapters in which the intricate molecular machinery that adapts the organisms metabolism and development to life in the soil, including antibiotic production, is illuminated by the DNA blueprint. Then come an up-to-the minute account of the use of genetic engineering to make novel, hybrid, antibiotics, and a topical description of techniques to learn the roles of the thousands of genes in a genome sequence, throwing a powerful light on the biology of the organisms and their harnessing for increasing antibiotic productivity. In the final chapter we return to the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, the first actinomycetes to be discovered, and how methodology, in part derived from the study of the streptomycetes, is being applied to understand and control these still deadly pathogens.

The actinomycetes are a group of bacteria well known as producers of antibiotics. With the advent of molecular biology they have become important to biotechnologists in the search for new antibiotics, vitamins, enzyme inhibitors, etc. They also play an important role in the biodegradation of wastes, and their wide (natural) distribution in soil, composts, water and elsewhere in the environment makes them important to the agricultural and waste industries. This research book presents a broad view of the current interest in actinomycetes, ranging from isolation/screening of actinomycetes, discovery of new antibiotics, a substantial contribution on genetic manipulation to actinomycetes in agriculture, forestry, and the threat of actinomycetes as pollutants in the environment.The chapters, which have been written by experts, are intended to provide a balanced view of the opportunities and problems in an expanding field of interest.

This book provides an account of the biogenic synthesis of nanomaterials by using different microorganisms. The chapters are focused on the biosynthesis of various metal and metal oxide nanosized materials by using bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, and algae, including mechanisms of microbial synthesis. Other chapters summarize recent developments of microbial-based nanostructures for the management of food-borne pathogens, plant pathogenic fungi, as nutrients, and biomedical applications. Microorganisms are discussed not only as biofactories for the synthesis of nanomaterials but also as removal agents of toxic metals from the environment. Exposure sources and ecotoxicity of microbially synthesized nanoparticles are also discussed.

Rampant industrialization has caused high levels of contamination by various toxic chemicals in our water bodies, which is a matter of concern in terms of ecosystems, as well as human and animal health. Polluted wastewater can contaminate drinking water and is also is a causal factor for bio-magnification of heavy metals into our food cycle. In the last decade, several methodologies have been adopted to clean the wastewaters, and among these, microbial remediation has emerged as an effective technology. Several variants of microbial technologies have been developed for wastewater treatment and biodegradation specific to the industry, type of waste and toxicity of the chemicals. This book describes the recent advances in microbial degradation and microbial remediation of various xenobiotic compounds in soil and wastewater. It also explains various modern microbial technologies for biodegradation and wastewater treatment. It covers various microbial technologies for wastewater treatment, biodegradation, bioremediation and solid waste management. Gathering contributions from leading international it focuses on the status quo in industrial wastewater treatment and its biodegradation. The book is intended for researchers in the field of industrial wastewater, students of environmental sciences and practitioners in water pollution abatement.

A fresh examination of the past successes of natural products as medicines and their new future from both conventional and new technologies. High-performance liquid chromatography profiling, combinatorial synthesis, genomics, proteomics, DNA shuffling, bioinformatics, and genetic manipulation all now make it possible to rapidly evaluate the activities of extracts as well as purified components derived from microbes, plants, and marine organisms. The authors apply these methods to new natural product drug discoveries, to microbial diversity, to specific groups of products (Chinese herbal drugs, antitumor drugs from microbes and plants, terpenoids, and arsenic compounds), and to specific sources (the sea, rainforest, and endophytes). These new opportunities show how research and development trends in the pharmaceutical industry can advance to include both synthetic compounds and natural products, and how this paradigm shift can be more productive and efficacious.

This book provides in-depth information about the ecology, diversity and applications of Actinomycetes. The book is divided into two major parts. The first part discusses the diversity, chemical biology and ecology of Actinomycetes. It also covers the discovery of natural products from soil, endophytic and marine-derived Actinomycetes. It includes natural product discovery, chemical biology, new methods for discovering secondary metabolites, structure elucidation and biosynthetic research of natural products. The chapters in this part focus on the effects of biological and chemical elicitation at molecular level on secondary metabolism in Actinomycetes. The second part of the book discusses genomic and synthetic biology approaches in Actinomycetes drug discovery. This part includes chapters focused on the application of metabolic engineering to optimize natural product synthesis and the use of omics data in engineering of regulatory genes. It covers the advanced tools of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering including cluster assembly, CRISPR/Cas9 technologies, and chassis strain development for natural product overproduction in Actinomycetes. It describes the use of bioinformatics tools for reprogramming of biosynthetic pathways through polyketide synthase and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase engineering. These advanced genomic and molecular tools are expected to accelerate the discovery and development of new natural products from Actinomycetes with medicinal and other industrial applications. The book is useful to researchers and students in the field of microbiology, pharmaceutical sciences and drug discovery.

Biological, Biochemical, and Biomedical Aspects of Actinomycetes documents the proceedings of the V International Symposium on Actinomycetes Biology held in Oaxtepec, Morelos, Mexico, 16-19 August 1982. This volume contains 45 chapters and opens with a paper on the pathogenesis of Actinomyces israelii. Separate chapters follow on the incidence, etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of actinomycotic infections; the mechanisms by which A. viscosus can adhere to tooth surfaces; the host response to Actinomyces viscosus Ny1; the cell wall as determinant of pathogenicity in Nocardia; and medical and microbiological problems in human actinomycoses. Subsequent chapters deal with topics such as chemistry of the of the rodlet mosaic fiber portion of the Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) sheath, but also the presence of chitin in S. bambergiensis (hairy spores); lipids of mycobacteria, nocardiae, and rhodococci; genetic determination of antibiotics coded by plasmids; the morphology and ultrastructure of Pilimelia; and the ecology of streptomycete phage in soil.