The global nitrogen cycle is the one most impacted by mankind. The past decade has changed our view on many aspects of the microbial biogeochemical cycles including the global nitrogen cycle, which is mainly due to tremendous advances in methods, techniques & approaches. Many novel processes & the molecular inventory & organisms that facilitate them have been discovered only within the last 5 to 10 years, & the process is in progress. This volume provides state-of-the-art updates on methods & protocols dealing with the detection, isolation & characterization of macromolecules & their hosting organisms that