Encyclopedia of Microbiology

Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Fifth Edition, provides a complete, up-to-date resource for scientists, students and professionals seeking to connect and elucidate the many contemporary issues involving the microbial world. Microbes are the most abundant and diverse form of life on Earth. They maintain the planet’s atmosphere, drive essential processes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and have formed intimate relationships with all plants and animals. Recent technological advances provide new windows into the world of microbes and the complex communities in which they live. As a result, we have begun to appreciate the contributions of microbes to human and environmental health. The primary goal of Encyclopedia of Microbiology is to provide overviews of the microbiological concepts and approaches that are needed to understand the impact of microbes on human health, biotechnology, and the maintenance of a habitable planet. Numerous conceptual and methodological advances have been made in recent years, and the Covid19 pandemic focused new attention on the global power of microbes. The fifth edition covers this all with new chapters on topics such as the development of live biotherapeutic products and vaccines, including the regulatory matters that influence them, the environmental release of engineered microbes, host-associated and environmental microbiomes, single-cell and nanoscale approaches to studying microbes. In addition to gaining the conceptual framework for addressing topics in microbiology, readers of the 5th edition can benefit from up-to-date links to the primary literature and from graphical abstracts designed to be a valuable resource for teaching and learning.