New Horizons in Biotechnology

The practice of biotechnology, though different in style, scale and substance in globalizing science for development involves all countries. Investment in biotechnology in the industrialised, the developing, and the least developed countries, is now amongst the widely accepted avenues being used for economie development. The simple utilization of kefir technology, the detoxification of injurious chemical pesticides e.g. parathion, the genetic tailoring of new crops, and the production of a first of a kind of biopharmaceuticals illustrate the global scope and content of biotechnology research endeavour and effort. In the developing and least developed nations, and in which the 9 most populous countries· are encountered, problems concerning management of the environment, food security, conservation of human health resources and capacity­ building are important factors that influence the path to sustainable development. Long-term use of biotechnology in the agricultural, food, energy and health sectors is expected to yield a windfall of economic, environmental and social benefits. Already the prototypes of new medicines and of prescription fruit vaccines are available. Gene­ based agriculture and medieine is increasingly being adopted and accepted. Emerging trends and practices are reflected in the designing of more efficient bioprocesses, and in new research in enzyme and fermentation technology, in the bioconversion of agro­ industrial residues into bio-utility products, in animal healthcare, and in the bioremediation and medical biotechnologies. Indeed, with each new day, new horizons in biotechnology beckon.

Section 1: Industrial Biotechnology.- 1 Industrial production of enzymes for the feed industry.- 2 Biochemical engineering of solid-state fermentation.- 3 Phytase production under solid-state fermentation.- 4 Valorization of moroccan olive cake using solid-state fermentation.- 5 Growth kinetics and esterase/lipase production by thermophilic fungi grown in solid-state fermentation on olive cake.- 6 Growth of Trichoderma reesei on static and dynamic solid substrate fermentation under electromagnetic fields.- 7 Production of enzyme and protein hydrolysate from fish processing waste.- 8 New potentialities of uses of coffee industry residues in Brazil.- 9 Screening of edible mushrooms for polyphenol degradation and tannase production from coffee pulp and coffee husk.- 10 Biocatalysis in non-conventional media by entrapment of the enzyme in water-restricted microenvironment.- 11 Organic solvent resistant lipase produced by thermoresistant bacteria.- 12 Prebleaching of kraft pulps with xylanase enzyme for paper manufacture.- 13 Titration biosensors for biotechnological process control.- 14 Enhanced loading and stability of urease covalently attached to polypyrrole microspheres for application to urea biosensor.- 15 True and apparent yields and maintenance coefficient and their significance on fermentation kinetics.- 16 Bioprocessing engineering considerations in the production of secondary metabolites by plant cell suspension cultures.- 17 Genetic manipulation of filamentous fungi.- 18 Molecular biology and biochemistry of lipoxygenases and related pathways.- Section 2: Environmental Biotechnology.- 19 Bioremediation and biobeneficiation of metals.- 20 Developments in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR).- 21 Role of membrane bioreactors in environmental engineering applications.- 22 Application of bio-hydrolizer for the treatment of urea bearing wastewater.- 23 Biosorption and elution of Cr(VI): A detoxification strategy.- 24 Detoxification of pollutants from municipal wastewater using organic soil as a biofilter.- 25 Biochemical removal of nitrogen from industrial effluents: A full scale plant performance and stability.- 26 Kinetics of dissolution of the carbonate minerals of phosphate ores by dilute acetic acid solutions in the presence of carbonic anhydrase II from bovine erythrocytes.- Section 3: Food Biotechnology & Health Care.- 27 New trends in kefir yeast technology.- 28 Formation of kefir granules and their efficiency in whey fermentation.- 29 Isolation and identification of lactic acid bacteria from mature coffee cherries: potential application in coffee husk ensiling.- 30 Lactic acid fermented products as vehicles for probiotics.- 31 Development of a new beverage with probiotic activity.- 32 Genetic engineering of fatty acid composition of Indian mustard oil.- 33 Pleurotus ostreatus volatile aroma compounds identified from fruit-body and from mycelium grown in submerged and solid-state cultures.- 34 Standardization of ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) and indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) techniques for canine cutaneous Leishmaniasis.- 35 Leishmania species in two regions of Parana, Brazil: Biochemical characterization by isoenzyme electrophoresis.- Section 4: Agricultural Biotechnology.- 36 Inoculants for silage in subtropical climate.- 37 Production of a biocompost by solid-state fermentation against coffee nematodes.- 38 Cadmium and nicotine correlation in reference to tobacco plant varieties and to sludge/soil applied ratios.- 39 Applicability of fly ash is sound for rhizosphere, biomass yield, enhanced banana productivity and sustainable eco-system.- 40 Impacts on vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi diversity associated with degradation of soils in humid tropical forests.- Authors index.