Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development (eBook)

Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to their immense range of habitats, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. However, besides their major basic positive role in the cycling of minerals, organic matter and mobilizing insoluble nutrients, fungi have other beneficial impacts: they are considered good sources of food and active agents for a number of industrial processes involving fermentation mechanisms as in the bread, wine and beer industry. A number of fungi also produce biologically important metabolites such as enzymes, vitamins, antibiotics and several products of important pharmaceutical use; still others are involved in the production of single cell proteins. The economic value of these marked positive activities has been estimated as approximating to trillions of US dollars. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Since ancient Egyptians mentioned in their medical prescriptions how they can use green molds in curing wounds as the obvious historical uses of penicillin, fungi can be grown with relative ease, making production at scale viable. The search for fungal biodiversity, and the construction of a living fungi collection, both have incredible economic potential in locating organisms with novel industrial uses that will lead to novel products. Fungi have provided the world with penicillin, lovastatin, and other globally significant medicines, and they remain an untapped resource with enormous industrial potential.

Volume 1 of Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development provides an overview to understanding fungal diversity from diverse habitats 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.

Prof. Ahmed M. Abdel-Azeem is currently working as an academic staff member for the Botany 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 70 research paper journals, 27 book chapters in the books published by international publishers, and 5 books.

Dr. 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 65 publications in different reputed international, national journals and publishers with h-index 24, i10-index 46, and 1724 citations (Google Scholar- on 11/11/2020). She is the editors of 02 books in Elsevier, 03 in CRC Press, Taylor & Francis and 09 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. 

Dr. Zeba Usmani is currently working as a Research Scientist in Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). She completed her doctorate at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-ISM), Dhanbad, India. Her research focuses from doctorate include bio-based remediation of heavy metals from fly-ash for conversion into useful fertilizer, and uptake of heavy metals into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. To her credit she has published many papers in peer-reviewed journals with impact factors, good few book chapters for publication houses of Elsevier and Springer, and a monologue for the Ministry of Environment and Forests. She is a reviewer for multiple research paper across multiple journals. Her RG Score is 22.78 with 23 peer-reviewed articles in well-reputed journals and 7 book chapters. She is a member of the Society for Bioinformatics and Biological Sciences (SBBS).