For microbiology and environmental microbiology courses, this leading textbook builds on the academic success of the previous edition by including a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of environmental microbiology as a discipline that has grown in scope and interest in recent years. From environmental science and microbial ecology to topics in molecular genetics, this edition relates environmental microbiology to the work of a variety of life science, ecology, and environmental science investigators. The authors and editors have taken the care to highlight links between environmental microbiology and topics important to our changing world such as bioterrorism and national security with sections on practical issues such as bioremediation, waterborne pathogens, microbial risk assessment, and environmental biotechnology. WHY ADOPT THIS EDITION? New chapters on: Urban Environmental Microbiology Bacterial Communities in Natural Ecosystems Global Change and Microbial Infectious Disease Microorganisms and Bioterrorism Extreme Environments (emphasizing the ecology of these environments) Aquatic Environments (now devoted to its own chapter- was combined with Extreme Environments) Updates to Methodologies: Nucleic Acid -Based Methods: microarrays, phyloarrays, real-time PCR, metagomics, and comparative genomics Physiological Methods: stable isotope fingerprinting and functional genomics and proteomics-based approaches Microscopic Techniques: FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization) and atomic force microscopy Cultural Methods: new approaches to enhanced cultivation of environmental bacteria Environmental Sample Collection and Processing: added section on air sampling