A simple agar plating method for the description of microbial communities is described. This method is based on the quantification of the numbers of bacterial colonies in 6-7 age-based classes as they appear on agar media over a period of 6-10 days. The method can be used to quantify microbial communities in different habitats (roots and soil) and can be related to the ecophysiology of the microbial communities present. Significant differences in distribution patterns were found in time and depth on the roots. In general, as roots matured, the microbial communities changed from one dominated by r-strategists to one that was more distributed towards K-strategists. The soil had the greatest percentage of organisms that could be characterized as K-strategists. The method was also used to compare microbial communities on wheat roots and in soil in both the field and in microcosms in the glasshouse. In general, the method enabled differentiation between r- and K-strategists in environmental samples, something that could not be done using an ecophysiological index (a modification of the Shannon diversity index) or total bacterial numbers alone.

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Highly efficient macroalgae based chemical factories and environmental protection have been comprehensively studied for the first time to displace fossil resources to mitigate climate change impact.

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Planet Earth is under severe stress from several inter-linked factors mainly associated with rising global population, linear resource consumption, security of resources, unsurmountable waste generation, and social inequality, which unabated will lead to an unsustainable 21st Century. The traditional way products are designed promotes a linear economy that discards recoverable resources and creates negative environmental and social impacts. Here, we suggest multi-disciplinary approaches encompassing chemistry, process engineering and sustainability science, and sustainable solutions in “game changer” challenges in three intersecting arenas of food: Sustainable diet, valorisation of unavoidable food supply chain wastes, and circularity of food value chain systems aligning with the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. In the arena of sustainable diet, comprehensive life cycle assessment using the global life cycle inventory datasets and recommended daily servings is conducted to rank food choices, covering all food groups from fresh fruits/vegetables, lentils/pulses and grains to livestock, with regard to health and the environment, to emphasise the essence of plant-based diet, especially plant-based sources of protein, for holistic systemic sustainability and stability of the earth system. In the arena of unavoidable food supply chain wastes, economically feasible and synergistically (energy and material) integrated innovative biorefinery systems are suggested to transform unavoidable food waste into functional and platform chemical productions alongside energy vectors: Fuel or combined heat and power generation. In the arena of circularity of food value chain systems, novel materials and methods for plant-based protein functionalisation for food/nutraceutical applications are investigated using regenerative bio-surfactants from unavoidable food waste. This circular economy or industrial symbiosis example thus combines the other two arenas, i.e., plant-based protein sourcing and unavoidable food waste valorisation. The multi-disciplinary analysis here will eventually impact on policies for dietary change, but also contribute knowledge needed by industry and policy makers and raise awareness amongst the population at large for making a better approach to the circular economy of food.

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A survey has been made of the range and activity of the organic products of soil microorganisms which have a direct influence on plant growth. Microbial metabolites which effect plants indirectly by the modification of the soil environment are also reviewed. The sources of substrates for the production of metabolites in soil and the farming practices which give rise to them are considered. It is stressed that an interdisciplinary approach is needed in the manipulation of microbiological activity in soil.