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The interaction of microorganisms with geological activities results in processes influencing development of the Earth's geo- and biospheres. In assessing these microbial functions, scientists have explored short- and longterm geological changes attributed to microorganisms and developed new approaches to evaluate the physiology of microbes including microbial interaction with the geological environment. As the field of geomicrobiology developed, it has become highly interdisciplinary and Geomicrobiology: Molecular and Environmental Perspective provides a review of the recent developments in a cross section of topics including origin of life, microbial-mineral interactions and microbial processes functioning in marine as well as terrestrial environments.
A major component of this book addresses molecular techniques to evaluate microbial evolution and assess relationships of microbes in complex, natural communities. Recent developments in so-called 'omics' technologies, including (meta)genomics and (meta)proteomics, and isotope labeling methods allow new insights into the function of microbial community members and their possible geological impact. While Geomicrobiology: Molecular and Environmental Perspective summarizes current knowledge in various areas, it also reveals unresolved questions that require future investigations. Information in these chapters enhances our fundamental knowledge of geomicrobiology that contributes to the exploitation of microbial functions in mineral and environmental biotechnology applications. It is our hope that this book will stimulate interest in the general field of geomicrobiology and encourage others to explore microbial processes as applied to the Earth.
1. Chemoautotrophic origin of life: the Iron-Sulfur World Hypothesis; Günter Wächtershäuser
2. Evolution of metabolic pathways and evolution of genomes; Giovanni Emiliani, Marco Fondi, Pietro Liò, and Renato Fani
3. Novel cultivation strategies for environmentally important microorganisms; Jörg Overmann
4. Environmental proteomics: Studying structure and function of microbial communities; Thomas Schneider and Kathrin Riedel
5. Analysis of microbial communities by functional gene arrays; Jizhong Zhou, Zhili He, and Joy D. Van Nostrand
6. Probing identity and physiology of uncultured microorganisms with isotope labeling techniques; Alexander Loy and Michael Pester
7. The geomicrobiology of arsenic; Rhesa N. Ledbetter and Timothy S. Magnuson
8. Bioinformatics and genomics of iron- and sulfur-oxidizing acidophiles; Violaine Bonnefoy
9. The geomicrobiology of catastrophe: a comparison of microbial colonization in post-volcanic and impact environments; Charles S. Cockell
10. Microbial diversity of cave ecosystems; Annette S. Engel
11. Statistical evaluation of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences in relation to travertine mineral precipitation and water chemistry at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, USA; Hector Garcia Martin, John Veysey, George T. Bonheyo, Nigel Goldenfeld and Bruce W. Fouke
12. Compositional, physiological and metabolic variability in microbial communities associated with geochemically diverse, deep-sea hydrothermal vent fluids; Ken Takai and Kentaro Nakamura
13. The molecular geomicrobiology of bacterial manganese(II) oxidation; Bradley M. Tebo, Kati Geszvain and Sung-Woo Lee
14. Role of microorganisms in banded iron formations; Inga Koehler, Kurt Konhauser and Andreas Kappler
15. Synergistic roles of microorganisms in mineral precipitates associated with deep sea methane seeps; Huifang Xu
16. Bacterial degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls; Martina Mackova, Ondrej Uhlik, Petra Lovecka, Jitka Viktorova, Martina Novakova, Katerina Demnerova, Michel Sylvestre and Tomas Macek
17. Role of clay and organic matter in the biodegradation of organics in soil; Laura E. McAllister and Kirk T. Semple
18. Electrodes as electron acceptors, and the bacteria who love them; Daniel R. Bond
19. The biogeochemistry of biomining; Barrie D. Johnson
