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THIS REVIEW of micro-organisms provides a background for 

 " the understanding of microbial processes. It was prepared at 

 the Northern Regional Research Laboratory, where investigations 

 are being conducted on the industrial utilization of cereal grains 

 and oilseeds by fermentation. The ARS\(Agricultural Research 

 Service) Culture Collection, maintained there, is one of the world's 

 most complete collections of industrially important bacteria, 

 molds, actinomycetes, and yeasts. It serves as a source of authen- 

 tic micro-organisms for the fermentative production of organic 

 acids, vitamins, antibiotics, enzymes, feeds, beverages, and foods. 

 This publication is directed to technical people who have no 

 microbiological training, to administrative personnel in companies 

 concerned with microbiological and fermentative processes, to 

 teachers, and to college-level science students with no micro- 

 biological background. It is being issued to answer the many 

 requests for information on micro-organisms received from such 

 individuals each year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



