There is growing awareness that important environmental transformations are catalysed, mediated and influenced by microorganisms, and geomicrobiology can be defined as the influence of microorganisms on geologic processes. This is probably the most rapidly growing area of microbiology at present, combining environmental and molecular microbiology together with significant areas of mineralogy, geochemistry and hydrology. This volume focuses on the function of microorganisms in the environment and their influence on 'global' processes. It will include state-of-the art approaches to visualisation, culture and identification, community interactions and gene transfer, and diversity studies in relation to key processes. This overview for researchers and graduate students will represent environmental microbiology in its broadest sense and help to promote exciting collaborations between microbiologists and those in complementary physical and chemical disciplines.
The microbial world is astonishingly diverse, but the true extent of prokaryote diversity, encompassing the spectrum of variability among bacteria, remains unknown. Current research efforts focus on u
Microbial chemical signals, or pheremones, have been found to mediate the regulation of diverse metabolic reactions and processes such as antibiotic production, pathogenesis, sexual conjugation, sporulation and differentiation. Their study has the potential to secure advances in our ability to control microbial processes to our benefit. This volume presents information at the forefront of knowledge in this exciting field and includes contributions on a range of organisms (both prokaryote and eukaryote, unicellular and multi-cellular) and signalling molecules. As such it will provide an invaluable resource for professional microbiologists and an excellent reference text for advanced students.
This volume considers the transport of molecules, large and small, across the membranes of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial cells. A diverse range of related phenomena are covered, but the unifying themes are the signal peptides that target proteins to particular destinations, and the role of chaperonins. Topics covered include: secretion of proteins out of the bacterial cell by Type I, II and III mechanisms, including the newly recognised bacterial signal recognition pathway in Type II; passage across internal membranes of eukaryotic proteins, whether destined for secretion or en route to internal organelles such as chloroplasts and peroxisomes; how bacteria obtain the energy required for solute uptake, the role of phosphorylation, and evolutionary relationships of some of the proteins involved; and efflux pumps for toxic substances in bacterial, animal and plant cells.
The study of biofilm considers the close association of micro-organisms with each other at interfaces and the consequent physiological adaptation to the proximity of other cells and surfaces. As such it is relevant to a variety of disciplines, including medicine, dentistry, bioremediation, biofouling, water technology, engineering and food science. Although the habitats studied, and their associated cellular communities, differ widely, some common elements exist such as method of attachment, coadhesion, regulation of biofilm phenotype and biofilm architecture. This book aims to distil the common principles of biofilm physiology and growth for all interested disciplines. It will appeal to the specialist biofilm researcher as well as to students wishing to introduce themselves to the topic.
Viruses continually evolve and adapt, posing new threats to health. This book discusses the ecology of viruses with particular emphasis on the emergence of devastating haemorrhagic disease, and reviews the molecular and cell biological basis of the pathogenesis of several virus diseases. An introduction is given to the mathematical analysis of recurrent epidemic virus disease, such as measles. Neurological and psychological disease is discussed in relation to the pathological mechanisms that may underlie prion disease (such as new variant CJD) and to the possible virus involvement in human psychiatric illness. Virus infections that have come to prominence recently (HIV, bunyaviruses, morbilliviruses and caliciviruses) or that remain a threat (influenza and hepatitis viruses) are discussed. There are also chapters on new and potential niches for virus infections in the immunocompromised, and the problem of the emergence of antiviral drug resistance in viruses for which therapies exist.
Virus and prion diseases remain a major public health threat, in both developed and developing countries. The worldwide HIV pandemic is but one example of a newly emerged virus disease; other potential threats come from exotic viruses such as SARS, Ebola and Hantaan viruses. Older human viruses such as influenza, papilloma, herpes and the hepatitis viruses still cause major health problems. Furthermore, as well as causing acute infections, some viruses may also establish persistent infections which can lead to the development of chronic diseases, including cancer. This symposium book covers central factors that influence the pathogenicity of virus and prion infections. Topics range from innate and adaptive immune responses and virus evasion of host defences to details of selected virus∆host interactions, including those involving dengue virus, HIV, influenza viruses, coronaviruses, hepatitis C virus, herpesviruses, papillomaviruses, African swine fever virus and poxviruses.
Several billion people are at daily risk of life threatening vector-borne diseases such as malaria, trypanosomiasis and dengue. This volume describes the way in which the causal pathogens of such diseases interact with the vectors that transmit them. It details the elegant biological adaptations that have enabled pathogens to live with their vectors and, in some circumstances, to control them. This knowledge has led to novel preventative strategies in the form of antibiotics and new vaccines which are targeted not at the pathogen itself but at its specific vector.
DNA sequencing has provided a wealth of information on the genetic material stored in bacterial genomes. The use of DNA arrays and proteomics will transform the scale of our ability to describe the patterns of gene expression as bacteria respond to their environments. However, the ability to control bacteria in a clinical context or exploit them in industrial or environmental contexts also depends on understanding the regulatory mechanisms which connect input experience to output response at the genetic level. This book deals with our current knowledge of the circuits and networks that govern bacterial gene expression - from the single gene to the whole genome - and which provide the framework for explaining the data from the post genomics revolution.
Microbes have co-evolved with other organisms for eons, to the extent that some are so acquainted with host cell biology that they subvert key cellular processes with unrivalled precision. This volume
In the fifty years since the inception of the Society for General Microbiology the study of pathogenic microbes and the development of methods for their control have been a focus of attention for many microbiologists. This volume reviews the immense progress which has been made during the past half-century, opening with the text of Sir Alexander Fleming's 1946 Linacre Lecture Chemotherapy: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, and then drawing together contributions which consider the development of key antimicrobial compounds, both naturally occurring and synthetic, active against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Broader issues of antimicrobial production, screening, improvement, and resistance are also considered. Topics such as why epidemics still occur and the need for new antibiotics highlight the fact that, despite the advances, the fight against infection continues unabated.
An understanding of the relationship between a pathogen and its host is essential for the development of effective disease control measures. This volume focuses on interactions at the molecular level, specifically between the proteins of the infectious agent and the host that has been invaded. Both viral and bacterial systems are considered, with specific examples illustrating the rapid advances being made in defining the molecular mechanisms underlying infection.
