The front cover and the inset on the right show a confocal laser scanning micrograph of cells of cyanobacteria (yellow) that developed in a calcium carbonate biofilm (green) in a western Australian soda lake. Cyanobacterial are phototrophic prokaryotes, many of which thrive in the highly alkaline and saline waters of soda lakes. They are also oxygenic prototroph and their photosynthetic process is coupled to oxygen production, as in green plants. Cyanobacteria, however, inhabited Earth billions of years before green plans, and the photosynthetic activities of these microscopic organism produced the oxygen needed for the evolution of higher life forms. From a more personal point of view, had cyanobacteria never appeared, you would not be reading these words—Earth’s biology would never have made it past the bacterial stage!
Cyanobacteria are only one of the many groups of microorganisms the reader will come to know in the eleventh edition of Brock Biology of Microorganisms. A always, the book is anchored in the principles of evolution and diversity. From these foundations, and with up-to-the-minute coverage, Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 11/e explores the many facets of microbiology today, including general microbiology and cell biology, molecular biology and genetics, microbial diversity and genomics, metabolic diversity and microbial ecology, Moreover, the reader will find the learning resources in Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 11/e to be superbly organized, tightly liked, and pedagogically robust. Thus, both students and instructors alike will benefit from this exciting learning tool. Welcome to the field of microbiology in the twenty-first century—you’re going to like what you see!
Unit I Principles of Microbiology
Unit II Evolutionary Microbiology and Microbial Deversity
Unit III Metabolic Diversity and Microbial Ecology
Unit IV Immunology, Pathogencity, and Host Responses
Unit V Microbial Diseases
Unit VI Microorganisms as Tools for Industry and Research