2^nd Annual Conference on Microbes and Beneficial Microbes October 31-November 01, 2018 San Francisco, California, USA

Beneficial Microbes in Fermented and Functional Foods explores recent advances and progress made in developing fermented and functional foods using molecular biology techniques. The interaction between the different microfloras present in fermented food products, development of starter cultures to improve the nutritional and sensory quality of fermented foods, and factors and processes affecting the safety of various fermented foods. The text then covers application of microbes present in fermented foods and used as functional foods - probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics. It explains the different bacteria and strains used as probiotics, their interaction with the other intestinal flora in the host, the health benefits conferred by them, and risks associated with their consumption.

Microbial technology, the research team aims to increase hydrocarbon recovery factor in extraction wells. The   Technology of Hydrocarbons Recovery using Microbes uses microorganisms found in oil samples that already produce metabolites like carbon dioxide, solvents and acids to increase the recovery factor. The Technology of Hydrocarbons Recovery using Microbes (IMP-RHVM) uses microorganisms found in oil samples that already produce metabolites like carbon dioxide, solvents and acids to increase the recovery factor. Where hydrocarbon extraction is performed with primary and secondary technologies (corresponding to the natural flow and water injection), about 30 percent oil is obtained; meaning that 70 percent remains in the reservoir, hence the importance of such methods. Cultivating microorganisms in the laboratory of Biotechnology and Hydrocarbons Recovery at the IMP from samples obtained from wells.

Prebiotics are food ingredients that induce the growth or activity of beneficial microorganisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi).The most common example is in the gastrointestinal tract, where prebiotics can alter the composition of organisms in the gut micro biome. In diet, prebiotics are typically non-digestible fiber compounds that pass undigested through the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract and stimulate the growth or activity of advantageous bacteria that colonize the large bowel by acting as substrate for them. They were first identified and named by Marcel Roberfroid in 1995.As a functional food component, prebiotics, like probiotics, are conceptually intermediate between foods and drugs. Depending on the jurisdiction, they typically receive an intermediate level of regulatory scrutiny, in particular of the health claims made concerning them

Agricultural microbiology is a field of study concerned with plant-associated microbes. It aims to address problems in agricultural practices usually caused by a lack of biodiversity in microbial communities. An understanding of microbial strains relevant to agricultural applications is useful in the enhancement of factors such as soil nutrients, plant-pathogen resistance, crop robustness, fertilization uptake efficiency, and more. The many symbiotic relationships between plants and microbes can ultimately be exploited for greater food production necessary to feed the expanding human populace, in addition to safer farming techniques for the sake of minimizing ecological disruption.

The gut-brain axis represents a two-way street in microbial-host communication. Several studies link the composition of the microbiota with changes in behavior and neurological diseases, such as autism, as well as influencing the levels of active neurotransmitters in the GI gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, neurotransmitters also modify bacterial “behavior”, and impact virulence in many pathogens.

Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae, typically found in freshwater and marine systems living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist individually, or in chains or groups. Depending on the species, their sizes can range from a few micrometers (µm) to a few hundred micrometers. Unlike higher plants, microalgae do not have roots, stems, or leaves. They are specially adapted to an environment dominated by viscous forces. Microalgae, capable of performing photosynthesis, are important for life on earth; they produce approximately half of the atmospheric oxygen and use simultaneously the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to grow photo auto trophically. Microalgae, together with bacteria, form the base of the food web and provide energy for all the trophic levels above them. Microalgae biomass is often measured with chlorophyll a concentrations and can provide a useful index of potential production.    

Microbial ecology is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life—Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria—as well as viruses.Microorganisms, by their omnipresence, impact the entire biosphere. Microbial life plays a primary role in regulating biogeochemical systems in virtually all of our planet's environments, including some of the most extreme, from frozen environments and acidic lakes, to hydrothermal vents at the bottom of deepest oceans, and some of the most familiar, such as the human small intestine. As a consequence of the quantitative magnitude of microbial life microbes, by virtue of their biomass alone, constitute a significant carbon sink. Aside from carbon fixation, microorganisms' key collective metabolic processes (including nitrogen fixation, methane metabolism, and sulfur metabolism) control global biogeochemical cycling. The immensity of microorganisms' production is such that, even in the total absence of eukaryotic life, these processes would likely continue unchanged.

Pharmaceutical Microbiology is an applied branch of Microbiology. It involves the study of microorganisms associated with the manufacture of pharmaceuticals e.g. minimizing the number of microorganisms in a process environment, excluding microorganisms and microbial bi products like exotoxin and endotoxin from water and other starting materials, and ensuring the finished pharmaceutical product is sterile. Other aspects of pharmaceutical microbiology include the research and development of anti –infective agents, the use of microorganisms to detect mutagenic and carcinogenic activity in prospective drugs   , and the use of microorganisms in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products like insulin and human growth hormone.

Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in man-made hives, by humans. A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produces (including beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly), to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or "bee yard." 

Marine microbiology is the study of microorganisms and non-organismic microbes that exist in saltwater environments, including the open ocean, coastal waters, estuaries, on marine surfaces and in sediments. It focuses strongly on interaction within communities of microorganisms and between these communities and macro organisms, both within the ocean and on the rest of the planet.

Plants are involved in a complex network of interactions with microorganisms; some of those are beneficial, others are detrimental, but the former are by far the largest and still widely unexplored part. The use of beneficial microorganisms in the replacement or the reduction of chemicals has been so far attested .Beneficial microorganisms such as diazotrophs bacteria, biological control agents (BCAs), plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) and fungi (PGPFs), can play a key role in this major challenge, as they fulfil important ecosystem functions for plants and soil. Moreover, modern agriculture, based on the cultivation of a very limited number of crop species and cultivars, is susceptible to epidemic diseases traditionally contrasted through the use of chemicals. With most crops, no effective fungicides are available against a lot of fungal diseases. Plant growth stimulation and crop protection may be improved by the direct application of a number of microorganisms known to act as bio-fertilizers and/or bio-protectors.

Microbial diversity considers the vast array of microorganisms the smallest forms of life which exist everywhere. The three primary groups of microorganisms are bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. Bacteria and archaea are prokaryotes with their genetic material held in a single chromosome. In eukaryotes, most of the genome is held in multiple chromosomes. Over 11,000 species of bacteria have been identified using microscopic identification of cell shape and metabolic activity, Gram-staining techniques, and genetic identification of RNA and DNA sequences. There are 500 named species of archaea, divided into two phyla: the euryarchaeota and the crenarchaeota. There are eight supergroupings of eukaryotes, all of them include single-celled organisms, and five are entirely microbial.