Fifteen leading scientists active in research on the chemistry, microbiology, enzymology, and genetics of coal biotransformation summarize knowledge of the mechanisms by which bacteria and fungi metabolize the macromolecular structure of lignite coals. They also explore the potential for developing commercially viable biotransformations of low rank coals into useful chemicals and clean-burning liquid and gaseous fuels. Microbial Transformations of Low Rank Coals reviews the types of aerobic and anaerobic microbes known to transform fuel and discusses the relative potential of aerobic versus anaerobic organisms. Biochemical mechanisms used by microorganisms to solubilize, depolymerize, liquify, and gasify coal are examined. The book also reviews the potential for using microorganisms to remove organic sulfur from coal and the potential for using genetic engineering to improve coal biotransforming microorganisms.

Mycology, the study of fungi, originated as a subdiscipline of botany and was a descrip tive discipline, largely neglected as an experimental science until the early years of this century. A seminal paper by Blakeslee in 1904 provided evidence for self incompatibility, termed "heterothallism", and stimulated interest in studies related to the control of sexual reproduction in fungi by mating-type specificities. Soon to follow was the demonstration that sexually reproducing fungi exhibit Mendelian inheritance and that it was possible to conduct formal genetic analysis with fungi. The names Burgeff, Kniep and Lindegren are all associated with this early period of fungal genetics research. These studies and the discovery of penicillin by Fleming, who shared a Nobel Prize in 1945, provided further impetus for experimental research with fungi. Thus began a period of interest in mutation induction and analysis of mutants for biochemical traits. Such fundamental research, conducted largely with Neurospora crassa, led to the one gene: one enzyme hypothesis and to a second Nobel Prize for fungal research awarded to Beadle and Tatum in 1958. Fundamental research in biochemical genetics was extended to other fungi, especially to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and by the mid-1960s fungal systems were much favored for studies in eukaryotic molecular biology and were soon able to compete with bacterial systems in the molecular arena.

An exploration of the most complex microbial ecosystems with incisive reviews of developments in soil science. It presents techniques of chemical analysis, refinements of environmental protection measures, and methods for maximizing agricultural yields. It also addresses a wide range of biochemical processes and practical applications of advanced biotechnologies.

Uncovers the Key Role Microbes Play in the Transformation of Oxidizable and Reducible MineralsMany areas of geomicrobial processes are receiving serious attention from microbiologists, specifically the role microbes play in the formation and degradation of minerals and fossil fuels and elemental cycling. Most notably, the latest research finds that

Maintaining the qualities that sent previous editions into multiple printings, this edition continues to explore the role that microbes have played in specific geological processes. The author discusses acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria, acidophilic iron- and metal sulfide-oxidation, and the geomicrobiology of bauxites. He covers geomicrobial methods, mineral formation and transformation, biodegradation or transformation of organics and inorganics, carbonates, silicates, phosphates, metal-oxides, and metal-sulfides, and practical applications of geomicrobial processes. The book includes end-of-chapter summaries, 2800 up-to-date literature citations, and a glossary.

Small Angle X-Ray and Neutron Scattering with Applications to Geomaterials provides techniques for the analysis of geomaterials, which is of great significance for humans because geomaterials are related to earthquake, resource development, underground spaces, carbon dioxide storage, and more. The book introduces the fundamental theory of small angle X-ray and neutron scattering and covers pore accessibility characterization for natural rocks from four aspects, including quantitative evaluation of pore structure heterogeneity and anisotropy, quantification of pore modification in coals due to pulverization, estimation and modeling of coal pore accessibility, and nanoscale coal deformation and alteration of porosity and pore orientation under uniaxial compression. Finally, interactions between pore structures and fluid behaviors in geomaterials are introduced, along with the connections between small-angle scattering and other techniques (NMR cytophotometry, Transmission Electron Microscopy and synchrotron radiation SAXS and nano-CT) described. - Covers both theory and applications of small angle X-ray and neutron scattering as related to geomaterials - Provides context for using the techniques described in the book in connection with other well-known techniques - Includes analysis methods of interactions between pore structures and fluid behaviors in geomaterials