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This book describes the state-of-the-art concerning the ‘marine microbiome’ and its uses in biotechnology. The first part discusses the diversity and ecology of marine microorganisms and viruses, including all three domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. It discusses whether marine microorganisms exist and, if so, why they might be unique. The second part presents selected marine habitats, their inhabitants and how they influence biogeochemical cycles, while the third discusses the utilization of marine microbial resources, including legal aspects, dissemination, and public awareness. The marine microbiome is the total of microorganisms and viruses in the ocean and seas and in any connected environment, including the seafloor and marine animals and plants. The diversity of microbial life remains unquantified and largely unknown, and could represent a hidden treasure for human society. Accordingly, this book is also intended to connect academics and industry, providing essential information for microbiologists from both fields.
Tidal flats are widely distributed worldwide, occupying at least 127,921 km2, of which 70% are located in coastal areas of Asia, and North and South America. As a confluence of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, tidal flat is dually influenced by these two ecosystems and becomes one of the most productive ecosystems. Rhythmic changes of environmental factors (e.g., salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, illumination intensity, ocean current, etc.) and frequent disturbances of human behaviour enhance organic matter as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur compounds in tidal flats. Furthermore, tidal flats have various important ecosystem functions, including climate regulation, shoreline stabilization, carbon fixation, pollutant degradation, etc.
This book aims at providing a brief but broad overview of biosignatures. The topics addressed range from prebiotic signatures in extraterrestrial materials to the signatures characterising extant life as well as fossilised life, biosignatures related to space, and space flight instrumentation to detect biosignatures either in situ or from orbit. The book ends with philosophical reflections on the implications of life elsewhere. In the 15 chapters written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, it provides both detailed explanations on the nature of biosignatures as well as useful case studies showing how they are used and identified in ancient rocks, for example. One case study addresses the controversial finding of traces of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars. The book will be of interest not only to astrobiologists but also to terrestrial paleontologists as well as any reader interested in the prospects of finding a second example of life on another planet.
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), life sciences have incited novel areas of studies that revolutionize the health sector. They are the studies of structural bioinformatics, pharmacogenomics, and metabolomics. The structural bioinformatics field is the very foundation of drug design research, as it provides insight into the molecular simulations and interactions between the biomolecules and the drug candidates. Secondly, pharmacogenomics is the starting point of any efforts in developing personalized medicine. Lastly, metabolomics provides instrumentation to elicit biomarkers for various diseases and health conditions. These studies have enabled current accelerated effort in COVID-19 research, as well as other communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Using a number of outstanding examples, this text introduces readers to the immense variety of marine natural compounds, the methodologies to characterize them and the approaches to explore their industrial potential. Care is also taken to discuss the function and ecological context of the compounds. Carefully produced and easy to read, this book serves students and professionals wishing to familiarize themselves with the field, and is ideally suited as a course book for both industry to academia.