ENVIRONMENTAL & AGRICULTURE MICROBIOLOGY

Paper Code: 
DMBL 801
Credits: 
04
Contact Hours: 
60
Objective: 

Course Outcomes (COs):

Course Outcomes

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies

Upon completion of the course the learner will:

CO97:  Understand and know various aspects of environment, its composition and interactions between organisms.

CO 98: Acquaint with role of microbes in solid and liquid waste management

CO 99: To be aware of Biodegradation and Bioremediation and the importance of Microbes in Bioleaching and oil recovery.

CO 100: Acquaint with the knowledge on basic and applied aspects of microbial inoculants production and their impact on crop production

CO 101: Contrast and compare various plant diseases

CO 102: Analyse biological control agents for protection of plant health

Class lectures

Seminars

Tutorials

Group discussions and Workshops

Question preparation

 

Class test, Semester end examinations, Quiz, Solving problems in tutorials, Assignments, Presentation, Individual and group projects

 

 

10.00
Unit I: 
Environment: Basic concepts and Biogeochemical Cycles

Microbial population of air, water and soil. Population interaction: Neutralism, Commensalism, Synergism, Mutualism, Competition, Ammensalism, Parasitism, and Predation. Carbon Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle, Sulphur Cycle, Phosphorus Cycle, Iron cycle

 

 

12.00
Unit II: 
Waste Disposal and Treatment Techniques

Liquid waste: Sources & testing. Stages of Liquid waste treatment. Aerobic process – activated sludge, oxidation ditches, and trickling filters.Anaerobic Process – anaerobic digestion, anaerobic filters, up flow anaerobic sludge.Solid Wastes: Sources and management (Sanitary landfills, incineration, composting, vermiculture, methane production).

 

 

12.00
Unit III: 
Biodegradation and Bioremediation

Biodegradation of Xenobiotics. Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification. Bioremediation: Ex situ and In situ approach. Bioleaching of metals, Microbial enhanced oil recovery.

 

12.00
Unit IV: 
Biofertilizers

Plant growth promoting bacteria, biofertilizers – symbiotic (Bradyrhizobium, Rhizobium, Frankia), Non Symbiotic (Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Mycorrhizae, MHBs, Phosphate solubilizers, algae), Novel combination of microbes as biofertilizers

14.00
Unit V: 
Plant Diseases and Biological Control

Mode of entry of pathogens, Transmission modes, Symptoms of plant diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Plant diseases - groundnut rust, Citrus canker and tomato leaf curl. Principles of plant disease control. Biocontrol mechanisms and ways, Microorganisms used as biocontrol agents against Microbial pathogens, Insects, Weeds.

 

ESSENTIAL READINGS: 
  • Plant, Gene and crop Biotechnology, M.J. Chrispeel and D.E. Sadava ASPB 2003.
  • Albajes, R; Gullino, ML; Van Lanteren, JC and Elad, Y. 2000. Integrated Pest and Disease Management in Greenhouse Crops. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Microbial Ecology- Fundamentals and applications. Ronald. M. Atlas, Richard Bartha. Pearson Education. 2005.
  • Introduction to soil Microbiology – M Alexander.  Published by John Wiley & Sons, 1977.
  • Agricultural Microbiology – G. Rangaswami and Bagyaraj Publisher, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2007.Mehrotra, RS.
  • Plant Pathology. Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi. 3. Soil microorganism and plant growth – N.S. Subbarao. Oxford& lBH Publishing Co. New Delhi.
  • Biofertilizers in Agriculture – N.S. Subbarao. Oxford & lBH Publishing Co. New Delhi.

 

REFERENCES: 

SUGGESTED READINGS:

  • Bilgrami and Verma. Physiology of Fungi. Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
  • Environmental Biotechnology – Basic concepts and applications, Indu Shekhar Thakur, I K International publications. 2006
  • Dube, HC. 1990. An Introduction to Fungi. Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., Delhi.
  • Agrios GN. (2006). Plant Pathology.5th edition. Academic press, San Diego,
  • Maier RM, Pepper IL and Gerba CP. (2009).Environmental Microbiology. 2nd edition, Academic Press
  • Barton LL & Northup DE (2011). Microbial Ecology. 1st edition, Wiley Blackwell, USA
  • Coyne MS. (2001). Soil Microbiology: An Exploratory Approach. Delmar Thomson Learning.
  • Mahendra K. Rai (2005). Hand Book of Microbial Biofertilizers, The Haworth Press, Inc.New York.
  • Reddy, S.M. et. al. (2002). Bioinoculants for Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Scientific Publishers.
  • Saleem F and Shakoori AR (2012) Development of Bioinsecticide, Lap Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH KG

 

e RESOURCES:

 

JOURNALS:

•    Journal of Environmental Biotechnology

  • Applied Environmental Biotechnology

•   Agricultural Microbiology

  • Journals in Agricultural and Biological Sciences.

 

 

 

 

 

Academic Year: