Soil Microflora

EDITOR'S: Rajan Kumar Gupta, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Vyas
PUBLISHER: Daya Publishing House
ISBN: 9788170355977
YEAR: 2009
PAGES: 393
SIZE: 18.5 X 25 X 2 cms.
BINDING: Hard
LANGUAGE: English

ABOUT THE BOOK: When we are standing on the ground, we are really standing on roof - top of other world. Soil might look "dirt" but it is far more interesting; living in the soil or plant roots, bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, algae, lichens, protozoan, nematodes etc. These exist in great diversity among various microorganisms and even within a group of microorganisms, depending on the habitat and environmental factors.
Soils are formed from a stew of geological ingredients or parent material (rock and mineral), water and billions of organisms. The interaction between climate, parent material, organisms landscape, and time affect all major ecosystem processes which leads to development of soil properties that are unique to the soil type and climate.
It has been proposed that a microbe should be considered as a new state symbol in the company of state animals, the state bird, state flower, state fish and state insect. The state microbe will be a living symbol of an organism that reflect the culture and heritage of people and will contribute mightily to the state's economy.
The present volume is compendium of wide ranging modem topics on soil microbiology. It is an assemblage of the up-to-date information of rapid advances and developments taking place in the field of soil microbiology. The book is a unique compilation of 30 Chapters which discuss exhaustive studies on algae, fungi, lichens, mycorrhizae, bacteria, virus and other microorganisms. This book will be a milestone in the field of soil microbiology, because it will open a new vista in the field of soil microbiology and its applied aspects.
The authors have done a tremendous job of synthesizing all the recent and up-to-date information. The present book aimed to emphasise on diverse aspects of soil microflora. The various information incorporated in the book by authors who are internationally acknowledged experts in the field of .microbiology and are the eminent scientists of the Country, they have made sincere efforts to make their papers as recent and comprehensive as possible.
The book has been framed with the intention of providing a suffident depth of the subject to satisfy the needs at a level which will be comprehensive and interesting. The book will be useful to the students, teachers, scientists and researchers from the different branches of soil microbiology.
It is hoped that the book will fully meet the objectives of catering the needs of the students and researchers in the fields of Botany, Microbiology, Soil Science, Agricultural Science and Forestry of all Indian Universities.

ABOUT THE EDITOR'S:

1. Dr. Rajan Kumar Gupta (b. 1963) obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree from Banaras Hindu University and worked on Ecophysiology of Antarctic Cyanobacteria for his Ph.D. degree with Prof. A.K. Kashyap, HOD, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Since past twenty years he has been working on various aspects of Antarctic microflora.
Dr. Gupta was deputed by Govt. of India for his participation as Biological Scientist in Antarctica twice. He has participated in XIth and XIVth Indian Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica during 1991-92 and 1994-95. He has visited several countries like Mauritius, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Belgium and South Africa for presentation of his work in the field of algal microflora. Dr. Gupta has worked on various aspects of cyanobacteria i.e. morphology, ecology and nitrogen fixation, biotechnological applications and published more then 40 technical papers in various National and overseas Journals and more then 18 chapters in various books. Dr. Gupta has published three Botany Practical Books one book on Paryavaran Adhyan (Environmental Studies) and two reference (research) books entitled "Glimpses of Cyanobacteria" and "Advances in Applied Phycology". Two students have been awarded the D.Phil degree and many are working under his supervision for their D.Phil degree of HNB Garhwal University. He has worked on Use of Cyanobacteria as Biofertilizer in Antarctica as well as in Foot Hills of Garhwal Himalaya and is presently working on a project on Cyanobacteria of Paddy fields of Dehradun District of Himalaya. Dr. Gupta is member of a number of organizations in India and abroad. He is the Fellow of the Society for Environment and Ecoplanning and International Botanical Society and Chaired various sessions in the conferences in India and abroad. Presently Dr. Gupta is teaching Microbiology and Biotechnology in the Department of Botany, Govt. P.G. College, Rishikesh - 249 201 (Dehradun), Uttarakhand, India.

2. Dr. Mukesh Kumar (b. 1963) obtained his M.Sc. and M. Phil. degrees in Botany, and M.Ed. in Education from Meerut University, Meerut-250005 (now C.C.S. University, Meerut). He took his doctorate degree on Polyhouse Technology from H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar - 246174 (Uttarakhand). Presently he is working as Reader at the Department of Botany, Sahu Jain Post-Graduate College, Najibabad -246763 (Bijnor) U.P. Dr. Kumar is well known for his researches in the fields of Polyhouse Technology and Cyanobacteria. He is a member/ fellow of several National and International research organizations. Working on various aspects of Cyanobacteria i.e distributional pattern, population dynamics and dominance of different genera, he has explored the biodiversity of Cyanophycean Flora of the Sub-Himalayan Belt of Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand state of India. He has accomplished a couple of Research Projects in the field of his specialization i.e Polyhouse Technology and Cyanobacterial Diversity sponsored by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. He has to his credit presented his original research findings on the platform of plant scientists in several conferences/seminars and workshops. He has published more than 21 technical papers to various journals and chapters in several reputed books. The great success of his previous book entitled "Glimpses of Cyanobacteria" has inspired him to work more on the architects of the earth-the cyanobacteria.
Four research scholars have already been awarded their Ph.D degrees and others are currently working under his supervision. Presently he is actively engaged in the studies on Ganga water pollution with particular reference to the quality of soil, water and phytoplankton growth in and around the stream along with the impact of tourism on various parameters.

3. Dr. Deepak Vyas (b. 1964) M.Sc., Ph.D. (B.H.U., Varanasi) is Senior Lecturer in Department of Botany, Dr. H.S. Gaur University, Sagar (M.P.). He has 10 years of teaching and 21 years of Research Experience. Nine students have obtained their Ph.D. degree under his guidance and six students are working for their Ph.D. Dr. Vyas has published more than 70 papers in Journals of National and International repute. He was recipient of International Award on Ozone Depletion Theory. Dr. Vyas has organized various National Seminar, Conferences and Workshops successfully. He is an expert in the Hydrogen Production by Microalgae and presently involve in fungal (VAM) research.

CONTENTS:
Foreword
Preface
List of Contributors

1. Soil Microflora: A General Aspect
    Mukesh Kwnar, Anjali Khare and Rajan Kumar Gupta

2. Distribution of Cyanobacteria in Coastal Sandy Soils and Alumina Mine Waste Soils of Orissa
    S.P. Adhikary and Pramila Tripathy

3. Significance of Soil Microorganisms in Sustainable Agriculture
    Shalini Singh, Rachana Srivastava and Y. V. Singh

4. Impact of Herbicides on Cyanobacterial Flora of Rice Fields
    Mihir Kumar Das

5. Mycorrhizae: Benefits and Practical Applications in Forest Management
    K.P. Singh, P. Srinivas and Bijendra Kumar

6. Role of Earthworms in Soil Biology and Crop Production
    Y.V. Singh, Shalini Singh and Rachana Srivastava

7. Diversity of Soil Lichens in India
    RoshniKhare, D.K. Upreti, SanjeevaNayaka andR.K. Gupta

8. Bacterial and Fungal Diversity in Alkali Affected Soil
    Kaushal Pratap Singh, Dheeraj Mohan and Seema Bhadauria

9. Frankia-Actinorhizal Symbiosis: An Overview
    Amrita Srivastava, Anju Singh, Satya Shila Singh and Arun Kumar Mishra

10. Cyanobacterial Surfactants Enhance the Fertility and Stability of Tropical Soils
    Usha Pandey

11. Soil Denitrifying Bacteria and Environmental Factors Regulating Denitrification in Soil
    Paromita Ghosh

12. Molecular Mechanism of Nitrogen Fixation in Rhizobium
    Ravi Rajhans and Rajan Kumar Gupta

13. Role of Soil Microorganisms in Nutrition and Health of Higher Plants
    Dheeraj Mohan, Preetesh Kumari, Kaushal Pratap Singh and Anuradha Chauhan

14. Soil Microflora and their Impact on Soil Health
    Narendra Kumar, Pawan Kumar and Surendra Singh

15. Soil Microbes and their Importance
    Anjana K. Vala and Anita Suresh Kumar

16. Freeze Recovery and Nitrogenase Activity in Antarctic Cyanobacterium Nostoc commune
    Rajan Kumar Gupta and Mukesh Kumar

17. Seasonal Variation in Root Colonization and Rhizosphere Soil Spore Population of Mycorrhiza Species in Various Plants Growing in Alkali Soil
    Kaushal Pratap Singh, Dheeraj Mohan, Rekha Yadav, Seema Bhadauria and Chatar Singh

18. Nitrogen Fixing Soil Microflora
    Yashveer Singh

19. Agrobacteriwn: A Natural Genetic Engineer
    Ashutosh Bahuguna, Madhuri K. Lily and Koushalya Dangwal

20. Association of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizas with Ornamental Plant Petunia
    Deepak Vyas, Deepali Bilthare, Pramod Kumar Richhariya and Rajan Kumar Gupta

21. Cyanobacterial Biodiversity in the Soils of Kumaon Region
    Anjali Khare, Mukesh Kumar and Promod Kumar

22. Ecological Diversities in Soil Microorganisms
    P.B. Tiwary

23. Biocontrol of Leaf Rot of Pan Caused by Phytophthora parasitica var. Piperina by Native Fungal Species
    Deepak Vyas, Rajesh Yadav and Raj an Kumar Gupta

24. Azotobacter: Recent Advances
    Sangeeta Paul and Bishwajeet Paul

25. Prospects and Potential of Azolla-Anabaena System
    G. Abraham, Sudheer Saxena and Dolly Wattal Dhar

26. Ecological and Biotechnological Relevance of Cyanobacteria
    Kaushal Kishore Choudhary

27. Use otAzolla as Cheap and Sustainable Source of Feed and Other Utilities for Future
    G. Abraham, Raghubir Shah and Dolly Wattal Dhar

28. Soil Micro-diversity and its Importance in Agriculture
    G.K. Sharma

29. Soil Microflora of Rohilkhand Division
    Iqbal Habib and U.K. Chaturvedi

30. Role of Cyanobacteria in Amelioration of Soil
    Pranita Jaiswal

Index