This book covers recent advances in cyanobacterial research. It deals with diversity, evolutionary biology, stress physiology, molecular biology of stress responses, and biotechnology of this group of prokaryotes. Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous and, undoubtedly, agriculturally microorganisms in terms of carbon and nitrogen fixation. In addition, cyanobacteria have long been used to fertilize crops and are a source of protein for humans. In parallel with the advances in cyanobacterial research in the 21st century, the development and application of innovative techniques in molecular biotechnology has widened the spectrum of commercial applications and potential exploitation of cyanobacteria. This book will be of interest to both new and experienced researchers involved in cyanobacterial molecular biology, ecology, and industrial biotechnology. This collection of chapters from experts also serves as essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students of to understand the importance of cyanobacteria in agriculture, ecology, microbial physiology, and environmental sciences.

The topic of the book is covered at the cellular, tissue, organ and organism levels and inputs from all these hierarchical levels of plant organization have been carefully integrated to get a holistic picture of growth and development in plants. The book will be useful to undergraduate, post-graduate and research students, and teachers of botany/plant sciences, plant biotechnology, agriculture and forestry.

Advances in Cyanobacterial Biology presents the novel, practical, and theoretical aspects of cyanobacteria, providing a better understanding of basic and advanced biotechnological application in the field of sustainable agriculture. Chapters have been designed to deal with the different aspects of cyanobacteria including their role in the evolution of life, cyanobacterial diversity and classification, isolation, and characterization of cyanobacteria through biochemical and molecular approaches, phylogeny and biogeography of cyanobacteria, symbiosis, Cyanobacterial photosynthesis, morphological and physiological adaptation to abiotic stresses, stress-tolerant cyanobacterium, biological nitrogen fixation. Other topics include circadian rhythms, genetics and molecular biology of abiotic stress responses, application of cyanobacteria and cyanobacterial mats in wastewater treatments, use as a source of novel stress-responsive genes for development of stress tolerance and as a source of biofuels, industrial application, as biofertilizer, cyanobacterial blooms, use in Nano-technology and nanomedicines as well as potential applications. This book will be important for academics and researchers working in cyanobacteria, cyanobacterial environmental biology, cyanobacterial agriculture and cyanobacterial molecular biologists. - Summarizes the various aspects of cyanobacterial research, from primary nitrogen fixation, to advanced nano-technology applications - Addresses both practical and theoretical aspects of the cyanobacterial application - Includes coverage of biochemical and molecular approaches for the identification, use and management of cyanobacteria

Nitrogen availability is one of the most critical factors that limits plant productivity. The largest reservoir of nitrogen is the atmosphere, but this gaseous molecular nitrogen only becomes available to plants through the biological nitrogen fixation process, which only prokaryotic cells have developed. The discovery that microbes were providing fixed nitrogen to legumes and the isolation of the first nitrogen-fixing bacteria occured at the end the 19th Century, in Louis Pasteur's time. We are now building on more than 100 years of research in this field and looking towards the 21st Century. The International Nitrogen Fixation Congress series Started more than 20 years ago. The format of this Congress is designed to gather scientists from very diverse origins, backgrounds, interests and scientific approaches and is a forum where fundamental knowledge is discussed alongside applied research. This confluence of perspectives is, we believe, extremely beneficial in raising new ideas, questions and concepts.

Collected in this special volume are 36 invited and contributed papers first presented at the Second Asian Pacific Phycological Forum held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong at the turn of the century. These papers were subsequently updated to bring to fore the latest development in algal research in the Asian Pacific Region. This volume thus provides one of the most comprehensive pictures of advances in algal research in this part of the world.

Cyanobacteria constitute the most widely distributed group of photosynthetic prokaryotes found in almost all realms of the earth and play an important role in Earth's nitrogen and carbon cycle. The gradual transformation from reducing atmosphere to oxidizing atmosphere was a turning point in the evolutionary history of the earth and made conditions for present life forms possible. Cyanobacteria: From Basic Science to Applications is the first reference volume that comprehensively discusses all aspects of cyanobacteria, including the diverse mechanisms of cyanobacteria for the advancement of cyanobacterial abilities, towards higher biofuel productivity, enhanced tolerance to environmental stress and bioactive compounds and potential for biofertilizers. - Describes cyanobacterial diversity, stress biology, and biotechnological aspects of cyanobacteria - Explores the global importance of cyanobacteria - Provides a broad compilation of research that deals with cyanobacterial stress responses in both controlled laboratory conditions as well as in their natural environment