Significance and Contribution of Microbial Biodiversity to Various Biotechnological and Industrial Sectors

In today’s world, microbial diversity is a great boon, especially in the fields of biotechnology and industry as microbes play vital roles. To be more specific, microbes drive the functioning of the entire ecosystem right from the food industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, farming, bioremediation, and enzyme production to many more. However, although the microbial population has been dominating other species dating back to periodic eras, the ability of microbes has not been completely analysed and seems to have come into focus only in the last decade or so. Even now, certain microbial resources and their importance remain untapped due to our current laboratory conditions that are incapable of culturing and utilising more than 99% of microbes. Thus, there is a need to address these issues and take necessary measures to utilise microbes to the core. This chapter discusses microbial diversity, its importance, and its role in both the biotechnological and industrial sectors. Moreover, it also includes a discussion on the recent technologies that have been implemented to bridge the gaps that exist in microbial use towards productivity.