Conference Rationale and General Purpose
The rationale of the conference is to establish a permanent scientific discussion frame focusing on Microbial Diversity, a central issue in modern microbiology, and capable of attracting microbiologists and scientists from Europe and the World with a particular attention to the Mediterranean Basin. The scheme of the conference, that will be repeated at threee years intervals, is to delve into specific facets of microbial diversity in order to contribute to the improvement of the research and applications of this essential global resource that is at the basis of the development of modern bioeconomies. The Microbial Diversity conference aims to bring together agricultural, food and environmental microbiologists and other agri-food and environmental professionals studying or exploiting microbial diversity. It represents an occasion for presenting novel findings, discussing future trends, directions and global challenges in the field of microbial diversity and its role in maintaining functional all ecosystems.

Conference Objectives
The first initiative of the Microbial Diversity conference will deal with the concept of stress and the response of microbial diversity for adaptation, the role of diversity in counteracting environmental stresses, the mode of adaptation adopted by microbial communities in agricultural settings, in food matrices and products, and in pristine and polluted environments. It is expected to receive lectures and presentations that will dissect the state of the art of the relationship between microbial diversity, stress exposure and adaptation in any kind of environment and will highlight the potential application of microbial diversity concepts for facing the stress challenges.