Kevin L. Gaston (Bristol, UK) presents a new book on Small DNA Tumour Viruses In this timely book leading scientists from around the world review current hot-topics in this area providing a fascinating overview of the molecular biology of these viruses and their interactions with the host. Topics covered include: HPV infections and the production of HPV virion stocks; viral oncoproteins and their functions; the replication and maintenance of viral genomes; virus induced alterations in cellular miRNAs; viral deregulation of DNA damage read more ...

The Many Faces of the Flavivirus Non-structural Glycoprotein NS1 from David Muller and Paul R Young writing in Molecular Virology and Control of Flaviviruses : The Flavivirus non-structural protein, NS1 is an enigmatic protein whose structure and mechanistic function has remained elusive since it was first identified in 1970 as a viral antigen circulating in the sera of dengue infected patients. All Flavivirus NS1 genes share a high degree of homology, encoding a 352 amino acid polypeptide that has a molecular weight of between 46 and 55 kDa read more ...

The molecular biology of tospoviruses and resistance strategies from Richard Kormelink writing in Bunyaviridae : Molecular and Cellular Biology : Within the family of Bunyaviridae tospoviruses represent the genus of plant-pathogenic viruses. Viruses of this genus are only transmitted by thrips in a propagative manner. Their host range includes economically important agricultural and horticultural crops but also ornamentals. The type species of the tospoviruses is To mato spo tted wilt virus (TSWV), from which the siglum to-spo has been read more ...

The Organisation of Transcription and Translation from Peter Lewis and Xiao Yang writing in Bacillus : Cellular and Molecular Biology (Second edition) : The traditional view of transcription and translation within the cell was that of a very closely coupled process where translating ribosomes assembled on the nascent transcript as it was produced by transcribing RNA polymerase. Whilst this close physical coupling is undoubtedly important, it seems clear now that a number of other events are significant with respect to the physical read more ...

The Two Component System BvrR/BvrS: A Master Regulator of Brucella Virulence from Ignacio López-Goñi writing in Brucella : Molecular Microbiology and Genomics : Recent results from proteomic and transcriptomic analyses show that the two component system BvrR/BvrS of Brucella is an global regulator capable of interacting with other regulators, by controlling the synthesis of components of the cell envelope and outer membrane, metabolism of carbon and nitrogen, and of other genes related to the virulence of the bacteria. In this read more ...

The Brucella Genomic Islands from Marcos Mancilla writing in Brucella : Molecular Microbiology and Genomics : The genomic islands (GIs) are DNA sequences of several kilobases (kb) that contain genes conferring adaptive advantages to the host bacteria. Despite the enclosed intracellular lifestyle, the sequence analysis of Brucella has revealed the presence of various GIs scattered through its genome, a fact that strongly suggests the acquisition of DNA by horizontal transfer events. In addition, the analysis of the genetic content of these read more ...

Toxins Acting on Intracellular Targets: Only Foes or Also Friends? from Teresa Frisan, Riccardo Guidi, Lina Guerra writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Bacteria possess an arsenal of virulence factors that allow them to colonize, invade and replicate within hostile niches, such as immunocompetent individuals. Bacterial toxins are among the most sophisticated virulence factors. They are highly specific for their target. Specificity is defined at the level of the target cell (presence of the receptor) and at read more ...

Toxins Damaging Cellular Membranes: Paradigms and Molecular Features from Joseph E. Alouf writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : The repertoire of the bacterial cytolytic pore-forming protein toxins (PTFs) comprises ca. 86 identified members produced by both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. The essential functional feature of these cytolysins is their capacity to provoke the formation of hydrophilic pores in the cytoplasmic membranes of target eukaryotic cells. This process results from the binding of the read more ...

Vectors of Flaviviruses and Strategies for Control from Lee-Ching Ng and Indra Vythilingam writing in Molecular Virology and Control of Flaviviruses : Recent worsening of global dengue situation, geographical spread of the West Nile virus to the United States and the unexpected emergence of the Zika virus on the Yap island in the Pacific, have placed mosquito-borne flaviviruses in the limelight. Vector control remains as a key measure for prevention and control of these diseases. Mosquito borne flaviviruses are vectored by an array of read more ...

What Have We Learned From Brucella Proteomics? from Esteban Chaves-Olarte, Caterina Guzmán-Verri, Eustache Paramithiotis, and Edgardo Moreno writing in Brucella : Molecular Microbiology and Genomics : Members of the genus Brucella infect and cause disease in a wide variety of mammals, including humans. Despite this host diversity, the clinical and pathological manifestations of brucellosis seem to be conserved within certain range, being the reproductive tract the main target of infection. The pathogenesis of brucellosis is dependent read more ...

from Naveed Ahmed Khan and Hany M. Elsheikha writing in Essentials of Veterinary Parasitology : This chapter discusses Acanthamoeba granulomatous encephalitis, amoebiasis, babesiosis, Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis, balantidiasis (also known as balantidiosis), besnoitiosis, blastocystosis, coccidiosis, cryptosporidiosis, cyclosporiasis, cytauxzoonosis, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, giardiosis, leishmaniasis, neosporiosis, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, rhinosporidiosis, sarcosporidiosis, theilerioses, mediterranean coast fever, read more ...

from Heinz Sager and Hany M. Elsheikha writing in Essentials of Veterinary Parasitology : This chapter discusses cuterebriasis, gastrophilus infestation, flea infestation, flies, louse infestation (pediculosis), midges, mosquitoes, oestrus ovis infestation (sheep nasal flies), warble flies (heel fly, hypodermosis). Further reading: Essentials of Veterinary read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Essentials of Veterinary Parasitology : "This book covers the wide array of veterinary parasitic infections with clarity and serves as an easy reference for basic information ... This book accomplishes just what the authors set out to do. It covers a multitude of parasitic diseases in brief detail and engages readers by describing clinical signs and their relevance. It is not designed to completely review all permutations of life cycle or to identify all the intracellular interactions that occur during parasitic read more ...

from Heinz Sager and Hany M. Elsheikha writing in Essentials of Veterinary Parasitology : Mites are ectoparasites of a wide range of birds, domesticated and wild animal species. Some have a zoonotic significance. Mites are members of the phylum Arthropoda. Demodex spp and Psorobia spp are host specific, and these species will not cross-infest other hosts. However mange mites ( Chorioptes spp, Psoropte s spp and Sarcoptes spp) are no host specific and can cross-infest a large number of hosts. Mites live on the host continuously and infest read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization: The Essential Guide : "The information is wholesome and appears to target both students and scientists knowledgeable in molecular applications. The comprehensive and comprehendible content indeed qualifies the text as an essential guide to the development, optimization and toubleshooting of PCR assays." from Christopher J. McIver writing in Aus. J. Med. Sci. (2011) 32: read more ...

from Mingjun Huang, Kathe Stauber, Atul Agarwal, Milind Deshpande and Avinash Phadke writing in Hepatitis C: Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development : Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious global health problem because of its high prevalence, chronic nature and significant morbidity of the resulting diseases. The current standard of care (peginterferon α-2a/b and ribavirin combination) is limited by numerous side-effects and suboptimal efficacy in genotype-1 HCV-infected patients underscoring the unmet medical need for new read more ...

Denitrification in Legume-associated Endosymbiotic Bacteria from Cristina Sánchez, Eulogio J. Bedmar and María J. Delgado writing in Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : Rhizobia are soil, Gram-negative bacteria with the unique ability to establish a N 2 -fixing symbiosis on legume roots and on the stems of some aquatic legumes. During this interaction bacteroids, as rhizobia are called in the symbiotic state, are contained in intracellular compartments within a specialized organ, the nodule, where they fix N 2 . read more ...

Current Strategies for Antibacterial Vaccine Development from Robert G.K. Donald and Annaliesa S. Anderson writing in Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms : Prophylactic anti-bacterial vaccines have been responsible for a drastic reduction in global bacterial diseases. Older vaccines made from attenuated whole cells or lysates have been largely replaced by less reactogenic acellular vaccines made with purified components, including capsular polysaccharides and their conjugates to protein carriers, read more ...

from Satoru Fukiya , Tohru Suzuki, Yasunobu Kano and Atsushi Yokota writing in Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria: Current Progress in Advanced Research : Bifidobacteria are one of the beneficial intestinal bacteria that exert health-promoting effects in humans. As evidence for their beneficial effects has accumulated, the scientific and commercial importance of bifidobacteria is increasing. In contrast, the mechanisms of the beneficial effects of these bacteria have not been well-clarified primarily because the development of gene read more ...

from Hany M. Elsheikha and Gerald C. Coles writing in Essentials of Veterinary Parasitology : Most animals will carry a few parasites in/on their body and this is normal if kept under control. But, if the infection becomes overwhelming the animal's health will suffer and irreversible damage could result. Indeed, parasite infections continue to be one of the most economically important constraints in raising livestock worldwide, a significant health and welfare issue in companion animals, and an important source of zoonotic infections in read more ...

Concluding remarks from Alexander Plyusnin and Richard M. Elliott writing in Bunyaviridae : Molecular and Cellular Biology : The preceding chapters in this book have revealed the breadth and diversity of viruses classified within the family Bunyaviridae . Although unified by common characteristics such as tripartite single stranded RNA genome, virion composed of four structural proteins and cytoplasmic site of replication, bunyaviruses show major differences in biological behaviour and replication strategy. The level of understanding of read more ...

Concepts in Histone Acetyltransferase Biology from Anne K. Voss and Tim Thomas writing in Epigenetics: A Reference Manual : A histone (H3-H4) 2 tetramer flanked by two H2A-H2B heterodimers form the core protein structure, around which DNA is wrapped. DNA and the histone octamer together form the smallest chromatin particle, the nucleosome. How intimately the DNA associates with the core histones and how tightly the nucleosomes are packed with each other is determined by a key post-translational modification of the histone proteins, namely read more ...

Comparative Genomics and Phylogenomics of Brucella from Bruno W. Sobral and Alice R. Wattam writing in Brucella : Molecular Microbiology and Genomics : Brucella species are characterized by extremely high levels of nucleotide similarity and yet vary in microbial and disease phenotypes, as well as in pathogenicity and host preference. These variations initially resulted in classification of six species; B. abortus, B. canis, B. melitensis, B. neotomae, B. ovis and B. suis . The lack of sequence diversity has inhibited molecular studies, but read more ...

The new book on Metagenomics edited by Diana Marco will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

from Yupeng He, Liangjun Lu and Akhteruzzaman Molla writing in Hepatitis C: Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development : Clinical virology studies are integral to the antiviral drug development and approval process by providing critical information and guidance to allow optimal trial designs, timely treatment decisions, and effective therapy monitoring. A main focus and high priority of clinical virology research is to monitor and characterize the development of viral drug resistance in drug-treated patients. Numerous viral titer, subtype, read more ...

from Ben X. Wang, Ramtin Rahbar and Eleanor N. Fish writing in Viruses and Interferon: Current Research : In this chapter, the clinical uses of interferons (IFNs), predominantly the IFN-αs, will be reviewed in the context of virus infections and neoplasias. The last 30 years have seen an accumulation of clinical studies evaluating the potential safety and efficacy of IFN treatment for acute and chronic virus infections, most notably hepatitis C virus. Moreover, given the pleiotropic effects of type I IFNs in terms of their read more ...