Abstract
This introductory chapter provides a brief historical perspective on the field microbial ecology and its aims. After dispelling the misconception that “extreme” environments represent just a small portion of the biosphere, the discussion highlights the importance of understanding the function and ecological roles of microbial communities in every environment and concludes by putting the current knowledge in the context of potential new discoveries of enzymes and activities with applications in industry, medicine and biotechnology.
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Chénard, C., Lauro, F.M. (2017). Introduction. In: Chénard, C., Lauro, F. (eds) Microbial Ecology of Extreme Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51686-8_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51686-8_1
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