Microbial Diversity for Biotechnology

The aim of this special issue is to emphasize on the ecology of microorganisms, the most diverse and abundant group of organisms on Earth, and to infer on biotechnological applications. Even though we live in a microbially dominated planet only the past decade the study of the microbial diversity has entered a period of considerable importance to science in general, industry, protection of the environment, and public policy making. Environmental microbes are immensely diverse and have numerous metabolic activities and products that could have industrial applications. This treasured reservoir is largely unexploited since more than 99% of environmental microbes cannot be cultured under current laboratory conditions, leaving their potential largely unused. Understanding the unculturable fraction of Earth's microbiome is essential to understand the evolution, sustainability of life on Earth, and the development of various industrial products that have potential applications across all major industries.