Istio is an open-source service mesh that provides a way to control, secure, and observe how microservices interact in distributed, containerized applications. Coursera's Istio catalogue teaches you about the fundamentals and advanced functionalities of Istio. You'll learn to effectively manage, connect, and secure your microservices using Istio, control traffic with intelligent routing and load balancing, and implement authentication, authorization, and encryption for your microservices. Empower yourself in the world of microservices by mastering Istio's role in service discovery, distributed tracing, monitoring, and fault injection.