Thursday 4 July 2013

Preface

Microorganisms are the oldest inhabitants of the planet earth. They have been here since approximately 3.6 billion years. Due to the relative ease of handling them in lab, they have been the model for understanding many fundamental cellular processes.

This paper will take the students into the exciting and amazing world of microbes. Salient features of bacteria, archeae, fungi, algae, viruses, and protozoa will be discussed, besides their application in food, pharmaceuticals, and bioremediation.