Providing comprehensive discussions of the physical and chemical properties, manufacture, and industrial uses of biosurfactants, this reference offers first-hand accounts of biosurfactant research of leading biotechnology laboratories. It introduces promising possible uses of biosurfactants in medicine, in environmental control, and for marine organisms. In contributions of more than 30 leading international experts, the text reviews the biosynthetic mechanisms for surfactants and their precursor molecules; explicates the biophysics of microbial surfactants and examines the production of immobilized biocatalysts, lipopeptides, and rhamnolipids. It also presents information on the economics of biosurfactants.

Part 1 Production: Biosynthetic Mechanisms of Low Molecular Weight Surfactants and Their Precursor Molecules, Rolf K. Hommel and Colin Ratledge; Production of Biosurfactants, Jitendra D. Desai and Anjana J. Desai; Prospects and Limits for the Production of Biosurfactants Using Immobilized Biocatalysts, Martin Siemann and Fritz Wagner; Lipopeptide Production by Bacillus licheniformis, Katharina Jenny, V. Deltrieu, and 0. Kappeli; Integrated Process for Continuous Rhamnolipid Biosynthesis, Thomas Gruber et al; Production, Properties, and Practical Applications of Fungal Polysaccharides, Walter Steiner, Dietmar Haltrich, and Robert M. Lafferty; Bioconversion of Oils and Sugars to Glycolipids, Siegmund Lang and Fritz Wagner; Part 2 Properties: Genetics of Surface-Active Compounds, Jakob Reiser et al; Biological Activities of Biosurfactants, Siegmund Lang and Fritz Wagner; The Biophysics of Microbial Surfactants: Growth on Insoluble Substrates, Donald F Gerson; Surface Properties and Function of Alveolar and Airway Surfactant, Samuel Schurch, Marianne Geiser, and Peter Gehr; Microbial Lipopolysaccharides, Lina Cloutier and Naim Kosaric; Part 3 Applications: Factors Influencing the Economics of Biosurfactants, Catherine N. Mulligan and Bernard F Gibbs; Biosurfactants for Cosmetics; Vaclav Klekner and Naim Kosaric; Biosurfactants from Marine Microorganisms, Siegmund Lang and Fritz Wagner; Biosurfactants in Food Applications, Joran Velikonja and Naim Kosaric; Biosurfactants for Environmental Control, Reinhard Muller-Hurtig et al.;