Microbial Ecology of Wastewater Treatment Plants

Microbial Ecology of Wastewater Treatment Plants presents different methods and techniques used in microbial ecology to study the interactions and evolution of microbial populations in WWTPs, particularly the new molecular tools developed in the last decades. These molecular biology-based methods (e.g. studies of DNA, RNA and proteins) provide a high resolution of information compared to traditional ways of studying microbial wastewater populations, such as microscopic examination and culture-based methods. In addition, this book addresses the ability of microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants.

1. Structure and function of microbial communities2. Microbial community genetics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics3. Microbial interaction4. Microbial communication5. Microbial ecology6. Microbial population biology7. Biogeochemical processes (C, N, P, S-cycles)8. Microbial life in extreme environments9. Evolutionary processes of microbial communities10. Biofilm formation and surface microbes11. Metabolic flux analysis and stable isotope probing (DNA, RNA and protein)12. Microbiome biology of environmental habitats13. Microbial treatment14. Microbial pollution: pathogenic microorganisms in the environment (water/soil/air/food); microbial metabolism and environmental pollution (e.g., microbial toxin)15. Microbiological monitoring: testing methods and monitoring techniques development16. Microbial Degradation of Xenobiotics17. Microbiological Wastewater Treatment18. Genetics and Physiology of Anaerobic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Microorganisms19. Bioremediation - The Natural Solution20. Molecular Ecology and Genetic Diversity of Marine Microorganisms

Dr. Maulin P. Shah is Chief Scientist and Head of the Industrial Waste Water Research Lab, Division of Applied and Environmental Microbiology Lab at Enviro Technology Ltd., Ankleshwar, Gujarat, India. His work focuses on the impact of industrial pollution on the microbial diversity of wastewater following cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent analysis. His major work involves isolation, screening, identification, and genetically engineering high-impact microbes for the degradation of hazardous materials. His research interests include biological wastewater treatment, environmental microbiology, biodegradation, bioremediation, and phytoremediation of environmental pollutants from industrial wastewaters.

Susana Rodríguez-Couto (female) got her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry (Industrial Chemistry) from the University of Santiago de Compostela in 1992 and her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1999 from the University of Vigo, obtaining the maximal grade (magna cum laude) and, in addition, she was awarded with the Extraordinary Prize for Doctoral Thesis in Chemistry. She worked as an Associate Professor and an Isidro Parga Pondal Senior Researcher at the University of Vigo (2000-2004), as a Ramón y Cajal Senior Researcher at Rovira i Virgili University (2004-2008) and as an Ikerbasque Research Professor (2009-2019). She has also worked as an Invited Researcher at the Institute from Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology (Austria) and at the Department of Biological Engineering, University of Minho (Portugal). In 2008, she received the I3 Professor from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education to the recognition of an outstanding research activity. In March 2021 she is joining LUT School of Engineering Science at Mikkeli, Finland, as a Full Professor in biological water treatment. She has published more than 140 articles in highly reputed international journals (h index 42). She is editor of several journals (3Biotech, Frontiers)