Bacterial Nitrogen Cycling in the Human Body from James W. B. Moir writing in Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : Surfaces of the human body exposed to the environment are heavily colonised by bacteria. The bacteria that live in these environments are frequently exposed to anoxia and to nitric oxide which is generated by the host. Dealing with these two environmental factors often involves implementing nitrogen cycle processes to (i) maintain growth and survival by respiration in the absence of oxygen, and (ii) detoxify the read more ...

Bacterial Handling of Host Nutrients: the Iron Paradigm from Klaus Hantke writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Pathogenic bacteria must compete with their host for iron. The host lowers serum iron levels during inflammation and binds iron with high affinity to transferrin and lactoferrin, thereby limiting iron availability for the pathogens. Under such iron-limiting conditions, many pathogens, like their non-pathogenic relatives, secrete iron chelators, called siderophores, which mobilize even traces of iron read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Molecular Phylogeny of Microorganisms : "written by international experts ... All papers are concisely written and the literature is extensively reviewed, with many papers published in the last two years before the book was printed ... the editors have done well to concentrate on important basic topics that are essential for the understanding of new upcoming reports ... I strongly recommend the book for the private book case of scientists ... and to the university libraries" from Christian Wilhelm (University of read more ...

Bacterial genealogy: not dead from Robert L. Dorit and Margaret A. Riley writing in Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends : The importance of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in bacterial evolution has led many bacteriologists to question the very existence of bacterial species. If gene transfer is as rampant as comparative genomic and metagenomic studies suggest, how could bacterial species survive such genomic fluidity? Indeed, some go so far as to propose the metagenome as the appropriate unit of evolutionary distinction. The read more ...

Bacterial Evasion of Host Defences from writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Further reading: Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular read more ...

Bacterial Escape from the Complement System from Marta Biedzka-Sarek and Mikael Skurnik writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Bacterial infections represent a global health problem. To establish infection bacteria need to defeat the action of the non-specific immune system machinery. Its essential component, activated immediately upon pathogen entry, is the complement system. Complement activation (through the classical, the lectin, and the alternative pathways) tags microbes for destruction by phagocytic read more ...

from J.L. García , Iria Uhía, Esther García and Beatriz Galán writing in Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research : Cholesterol is a steroid highly abundant in the environment that plays a major role in the global carbon cycle. Many synthetic steroidic compounds like some sexual hormones frequently appear in municipal and industrial wastewaters, acting as environmental pollutants with strong metabolic activities negatively affecting the ecosystems. Since these compounds are common carbon sources read more ...

The Portuguese Society for Microbiology and the Portuguese Society for Biotechnology announce the National Congress MicroBiotec11, scheduled to take place in Braga, 1-3 December 2011. Further read more ...

Bacterial Adhesion to the Cell Surface and Extracellular Matrix of Host Tissues from writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Further reading: Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular read more ...

Bacteria-Induced Host Cell Death from Scott D. Kobayashi, Kevin M. Rigby and Frank R. DeLeo writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : The interaction of bacteria with host cells largely dictates the outcome of infection. Whether following a breach in the epithelium or by dissemination from colonized tissues, bacteria interact directly with immune and non-immune host cells. Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that bacteria implement multiple strategies to circumvent destruction or avoid detection by the host. read more ...

Assembly of Respiratory Proteins of the Nitrogen Cycle from Shilpa Bali and Stuart J. Ferguson writing in Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : The respiratory reactions of the nitrogen cycle are those of denitrification, the successive reductions of nitrate, nitrite, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide to nitrogen gas, and those of nitrification, oxidation of ammonium first to nitrite and then to nitrate. These reactions are catalysed by enzymes containing one or more of the cofactors, heme (non-covalent as in b -type hemes, or read more ...

Gavin Lear and Gillian D. Lewis (Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand and University of Auckland, New Zealand, respectively) present a new book on Microbial Biofilms: Current Research and Applications In this book, leading scientists provide an up-to-date review of the latest scientific research on these fascinating microbial communities and predict future trends and growth areas in biofilm-related research. Under the expert guidance of the editors Gavin Lear and Gillian Lewis, authors from around the world have contributed critical read more ...

Approaches to the Study of Bacterial Pathogenesis from writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Further reading: Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular read more ...

Book review of Viruses and Interferon: Current Research : "Dr. Mossman has convinced many of the leaders in this field of research to contribute to this book ... has done an excellent job of putting together a series of thorough reviews that focus on a specific topic and are well written. This book will be of value to those individuals who want a source of focused information on how the innate interferon response to viral infection has evolved and how the attacking viruses have similarly developed mechanisms to evade the interferon response." read more ...

I am pleased to provide the following excerpt from a book review of Iron Uptake and Homeostasis in Microorganisms : "Internationally recognized experts wrote the articles of this book on iron uptake systems and their regulation in Gram positive and Gram-negative bacteria ... The articles describe the current state of research and are very well written and illustrated. They are equally interesting for the specialist as for those who just want to get an overview. The illustrations are instructive and can be used directly for teaching. The book read more ...

Antibody Therapeutics Against Flaviviruses from Michael S. Diamond, Theodore C. Pierson, and John T. Roehrig writing in Molecular Virology and Control of Flaviviruses : Flaviviruses are a group of small RNA enveloped viruses that cause severe disease in humans worldwide. Recent advances in the structural biology of the flavivirus envelope proteins and virion have catalyzed rapid progress toward understanding how the most potently inhibitory antibodies neutralize infection. These insights have identified factors that modulate the potency of read more ...

Christopher W. Reid, Susan M. Twine, and Anne N. Reid present a new book on Bacterial Glycomics: Current Research, Technology and Applications Written by a team of acknowledged experts, this book provides an up-to-date overview of our current understanding of bacterial glycomes, describes the main analytical methods in use and discusses recent and novel applications. The book is divided into three sections. The first section includes overviews of microbial glyconjugates, lipopolysaccharide, capsular polysaccharide, lipoarabinomannan read more ...

Antibodies for Antibacterials from Bret R. Sellman and C. Ken Stover writing in Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms : Prior to the use of antibiotics, antibody (or serum) therapy was used with some success to treat bacterial infections. Antibiotics almost completely replaced the use of antibody therapies for bacterial disease with few exceptions. Based upon the information available at the time, this was an obvious progression given the broader spectrum activity of antibiotics. Antibiotics revolutionized read more ...

Answering the Call to Arms: Introduction and Overview from Alita A. Miller and Paul F. Miller writing in Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms : A global public health crisis due to antibiotic resistance may be imminent. Several organizations are working to mitigate the lack of new, effective drugs either in development or in the clinic by proposing strategies for re-investment in antibacterial research. Although it is imperative that regulatory issues be resolved and strategic policies be put in place, it is read more ...

I am pleased to provide the following excerpt from a book review of Salmonella : From Genome to Function : "recommended reading for all scientists working on bacterial genomics, molecular biology and bacterial molecular and cellular pathogenesis." from Food Sci. Technol. Abstr. (2011) read more ...

I am pleased to provide the following excerpt from a book review of Vaccine Design: Innovative Approaches and Novel Strategies : "Subject treatment is thorough and extensive references are included, as well as high-quality illustrations." from Reference and Research Book News (April read more ...

I am pleased to provide the following excerpt from a book review of Essentials of Veterinary Parasitology : "an original review of the main general parasitological issues ... The mechanisms of parasite establishment in the host at cellular and population levels are admirably summarized according to the many factors involved, depending on host, parasite and environment. In addition, the basics of host immune defences are nicely reviewed" from Domenico Otranto (University of Bari, Italy) writing in Parasites and Vectors (2011) 4: read more ...

Advances and Applications of Diagnostic Microbiology in Changing Antibacterial Discovery from Audrey N. Schuetz and Yi-Wei Tang writing in Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms : Despite the rising numbers of multidrug resistant pathogens, and their continuously emerging resistance patterns, few novel antibacterial agents have been approved or released recently. In order to combat this problem, efforts are being made to extend the utility of existing antibiotics as long as possible, while attempting to read more ...

A Community cyberinfrastructure resource for metagenomics research: CAMERA 2.0 from Jing Chen, Shulei Sun, Weizhong Li and John C. Wooley writing in Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends : The sustained deluge of complex experimental data in metagenomics opens extraordinary opportunities for this new science, but also requires an advanced, cyberinfrastructure-based knowledge resource that provides a platform for rigorous analysis of the data sets and in turn, of the microbial communities. In response, we established the read more ...

The new book on Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria edited by Sonomoto and Yokota will be available for purchase this month (May 2011) Suggested reading: Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria: Current Progress in Advanced Research Bifidobacteria: Genomics and Molecular read more ...

5-methylcytosine As a Modification in RNA from Jeffrey E. Squires and Thomas Preiss writing in Epigenetics: A Reference Manual : A wealth of nucleobase and ribose modifications have been identified in multiple types of RNA including tRNAs, rRNAs, mRNAs, and small regulatory RNAs. Among them, 5-methylcytosine (m 5 C) has been detected in rRNAs, tRNAs, and early reports have indicated its presence in mRNAs. Well established as an epigenetic mark in DNA, the prevalence and function of m 5 C in RNA is either incompletely explored (tRNA, rRNA) or read more ...

Escherichia coli host engineering for efficient metagenomic enzyme discovery from Reia Hosokawa-Okamoto and Kentaro Miyazaki writing in Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends : Enzymes are environmentally friendly biocatalysts that are widely used in modern life, e.g., in food processing, laundry detergent, and production of medicinal compounds. An increasing demand to shift focus from petrochemicals to biotechnology-based industries has expanded the use of enzymes. To date, most industrially relevant enzymes are of microbial read more ...

Bunyaviridae infections and their diagnostics: Hantavirus, nairovirus, orthobunyavirus, and phlebovirus genera from Antti Vaheri and Olli Vapalahti writing in Bunyaviridae : Molecular and Cellular Biology : The large family of Bunyaviridae , comprising more than 300 viruses, includes four genera which have important human and animal pathogens, many of which are of global public health importance. Hantaviruses are carried by rodents and insectivores, nairoviruses by ticks, orthobunyaviruses by mosquitoes, and phleboviruses by phlebotomous read more ...

Brucella Quorum Sensing: Much More Than Sensing Quorum from Matthieu Terwagne, Sophie Uzureau, and Jean-Jacques Letesson writing in Brucella : Molecular Microbiology and Genomics : Quorum sensing is a regulatory system that allows bacteria to coordinate gene expression according to the local population density. Recently, we demonstrated that the virulence of the facultative intracellular bacteria Brucella depends on quorum sensing. Similar to other Gram negative bacteria, Brucella quorum sensing utilizes the production and detection of read more ...

from Brad O. Buckman, Karl Kossen, John B. Nicholas and Scott D. Seiwert writing in Hepatitis C: Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development : Progress is rapidly being made to improve the standard of care for chronic hepatitis C (HCV), which currently requires long durations of weekly pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) injections in combination with twice daily orally administered ribavirin (RBV). More effective future treatments are likely to include direct acting antiviral agents (DAAs). Several small, orally active non-covalent peptidomimetic read more ...

from Menashe Elazar and Jeffrey S. Glenn writing in Hepatitis C: Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development : Hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural protein 4B (NS4B) is emerging as a major target for antiviral intervention. NS4Bs crucial role in different aspects of HCVs life cycle and newly identified functions of this protein enabled development of specific assays that were utilized for high-throughput small molecule screens, which in turn lead to identification of small molecules inhibitors of NS4B functions and HCV replication some of read more ...

IIgnacio López-Goñi and David O'Callaghan (Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona (Navarra), Spain; Université de Montpellier, Nimes, France, respectively) present a new book on Brucella: Molecular Microbiology and Genomics Written by highly acclaimed Brucella scientists, this book comprehensively reviews the most important advances in the field. Opening chapters focus on genetic diversity within Brucella, covering both classical and new species. Particular emphasis is given to how comparative genomics has led to advances in molecular diagnostics, read more ...

from Pilar Najarro, Neil Mathews and Stuart Cockerill writing in Hepatitis C: Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development : The HCV NS5A protein plays critical roles in the life cycle of the virus and has been associated with a multitude of host-pathogen events associated with NS5A. As part of the replication complex, it is essential for RNA replication. In addition, its propensity to engage in many protein-protein interactions enables this protein to facilitate the assembly of viral particles and to counteract the host immune response. read more ...

from Martijn Fenaux and Hongmei Mo writing in Hepatitis C: Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development : The inhibitors of HCV NS5B polymerase consist of 2 classes: nucleoside inhibitors and non-nucleoside inhibitors. In contrast to the nucleoside inhibitors which bind to the active Site of the polymerase, the HCV non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors binds to one of the four allosteric binding Sites within the NS5B polymerase including: Site 1 (Thumb I) for JTK-109, Site II (Thumb II) for PF-868554, VCH-759, VCH-916 and VCH-222, Site III (Palm read more ...