8th International Conference on Bacteriology and Infectious Diseases

Can bacteria produce electricity? The depletion of fossil fuel reserves, global warming, energy security and the need for clean, cheap fuels has made developing sources of renewable energy a global research priority. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have the potential to generate renewable electricity from a vast array of carbon sources such as waste-water, agricultural by-products and industrial pollutants. MFCs are not yet commercialized but they show great promise as a method of water treatment and as power sources for environmental sensors and are the promising factors for future. The power produced by these systems is currently limited, primarily by high internal (ohmic) resistance.     The optimization of MFC systems is a highly multidisciplinary area of research and two complementary areas of work are required - firstly to design more efficient hardware for the cells by traditional engineering and secondly to understand and improve the interaction and electron transp...

  BACTERIA: THE JEWEL OF FOOD INDUSTRY Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are well known for their wide ­applications in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. But recently Lactic acid bacteria have stimulated interest for their ability to secrete extracellular polysaccharides or glucans. These glucans secreted by LAB have enormous commercial value because of their industrially useful physico-chemical properties. Dairy industry It would be impossible to make  cheese  without culture of bacteria. The cultured bacteria grow in the milk and converts the sugar lactose into lactic acid, which gives the perfect acidity and moisture to the cheese. As the cheese ripens, the cultured bacteria give it a good aroma, taste, texture. It is also responsible for the ‘holes’ present in cheeses. Choosing the right mixture of culture is essential for a high-quality cheese. In  yoghurt  and other fermented milk products, the culture of accurate bacteria is respons...

  Microbes: The Environment cleaner Anthropogenic forces like petroleum spills and the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, have caused an accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment which causes pollution. The accumulation of petroleum and its derivatives now constitutes an important environmental problem. Biocatalysts presents new ways to advance the development of bioremediation approaches. The present-day application of molecular tools to bio catalysis may progress bio prospecting research, enzyme yield recovery, and enzyme specificity. Enzymatic remediation is a valuable alternative as it can be easier to work with than whole organisms, especially in extreme environments. Furthermore, the use of free enzymes avoids the release of exotic or genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the environment. Numerous microorganisms, such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, green algae, and fungi, are capable of degrading different components of petroleum under different envi...