Bacterial biopolymers are a competitive new area of research, having potential application in agriculture, petroleum exploration, and use as biodegradable plastics. This new volume provides comprehensive coverage of bacterial biopolymers. The book elucidates on the main classes of bacterial biopolymers--polysaccharides and polyesters or polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)--along with their definition, classification, detection, extraction, characterization, fermentation process, structure and properties, their applications and uses, functions, and more.
The chapters discuss
- Detection, extraction, and characterization of bacterial biopolymers
- Molecular identification of bacterial isolates
- The fermentation process
- Structure and properties of PHAs
- Biochemical characterization of the PHA-producing bacterial strains
- Applications of PHA
- Biopolymer-producing bacteria and the genes
- In vitro biodegradation study of PHA film by soil microorganisms
- PHAs for enhancing the stability of colloidal silver nanoparticles (SNP)
This volume is an important source of information on the concerned bacteria, the biochemical characteristics of biopolymers, and their potential use. The author hopes that scholars will be encouraged to take up meaningful research in the area; that teachers will find the book to be helpful in conveying the intricacies of bacterial biopolymers and their possible production and use; and that the procedures described in the book will help research workers to derive sought-for results.
About the Author: Bolin Kumar Konwar, PhD, was Dean, School of Science and Technology and Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University (Central) India. He also headed the ONGC-sponsored Centre for Petroleum Biotechnology, DBT (Govt of India)-sponsored MSc biotechnology program, and the Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (BIF). He was formerly the Vice Chancellor at Nagaland University (Central), Nagaland, India, and also served at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, from 1984-1995, as Lecturer, Assistant Professor and Associate in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics. He was Senior Scientist and Head of Botany and Biotechnology at the Tocklai Experimental Station, Tea Research Association, Jorhat, Assam, India, from 1995-2002. He carried out research projects of national importance as the principal investigator and supervised many students on research projects, with 15 students earning PhDs to date. He and his research group so far deposited 11 gene (DNA) sequences in gene banks, and his research group has published over 200 research papers in international journals, seminars, and conference proceedings, and have presented over 90 research papers at seminars and conferences in India and abroad. Dr. Konwar has published more than 300 articles on popular science, environment, biotechnology, history, national integration, higher education, research needs, etc., in various Assamese magazines and newspapers, as well as more than 40 scientific articles in national English magazines in addition to five books, three booklets, and 21 book chapters. Other books by Dr. Konwar are Lipase: An Industrial Enzyme through Metagenomics and Bacterial Biosurfactants: Isolation, Purification, Characterization, and Industrial Applications (Apple Academic Press); Prospects of Microbe and Medicinal Plant Resources; Medicinal Plant Repertoire: A Perspective of Biogeographical Gateway of India; Joimati-Gadapani: Ek Amar Dampatya Premgatha; and Deshapremi Pariyal: Barbaruah Barphukan(in Assamese). Dr. Konwar earned a DIC in Microbiology and PhD in Plant Biotechnology at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London.
