Application of versatile capacity in microorganisms is one of the indispensable elements in current biotechnology. The Laboratory of Applied Microbiology specializes not only in fundamental research to understand the genetics and molecular biology of microorganisms but also in practical studies on their chemical properties which are promising for industrial and environmental applications. Our achievements cover a wide-range of biotechnology from identification of specific gene functions to the discovery of effective control in metabolic pathways, which include the development of a bacterial cell factory of rare inositol stereoisomers and the application of unique enzymes in degrading peculiar organic nitrogen compounds.