《微生物与环境:前景与挑战(英文版)》：A group of microbiologists from China, Germany, and additional European countries met in Beijing in September 2007 and held a conference entitled "Microbes and the Environment". The purpose of this conference was to evaluate how microbes (a) shape the planet and (b) might be harnessed to solve environmental problems. This book provides an overview of many of the contributions made during this conference.

We gratefully acknowledge sponsors that provided support for this conference, including the China-Germany Scientific Center Ia center jointly funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and National Natural Science Foudation of China (NSFC)], the Chinese Society for Microbiology, the Institute of Microbiology at Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Bayreuth.We are likewise indebted to Yuan Li and Chengying Jiang for excellent assistance in formatting this monograph, as well as overseeing many organizationalmatters during the conference.

Lastly, we extend a special thanks to the contributing authors of this monograph and hope that it will provide an impetus for the next joint effort to evaluate the environmental importance of microorganisms.