This book reviews state of the art regarding strategies for generating and improving microbial strains designed for utilizing renewable raw materials.

This book provides an up-to-date overview of the biological functions of melanins, their biotechnological production, and their industrial applications.The melanins form a group of polymeric pigments found in most organisms. These natural products are generated by the oxidation of phenolic and indolic molecules yielding melanins, which include eumelanin, pheomelanin, pyomelanin, and the allomelanins. These pigments have diverse biological functions, including photoprotection, thermoregulation, antioxidation, virulence, and metal ion sequestration. Melanins have physicochemical properties that...