The new book on Brucella edited by Ignacio López-Goñi and David O'Callaghan will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

Molecular biology of orthobunyaviruses from Richard M. Elliott and Gjon Blakqori writing in Bunyaviridae : Molecular and Cellular Biology : The Orthobunyavirus genus comprises over 170 named viruses, including the prototype of the Bunyaviridae family, Bunyamwera virus, as well medically significant viruses such as La Crosse and Oropouche viruses, and pathogens of veterinary importance like Akabane and Cache Valley viruses. In this chapter we review the molecular characteristics of orthobunyavirus genomes and encoded proteins, and details of read more ...

Molecular biology of phleboviruses from Michèle Bouloy writing in Bunyaviridae : Molecular and Cellular Biology : Phleboviruses are emerging pathogens in many countries of the world. Rift Valley fever virus which in the past, was responsible for dramatic zoonosis only in Africa, has spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen in 2000 and other phleboviruses such as Toscana virus or sandfly fever viruses Sicilian or Naples are now widely circulating in the Mediterranean basin. Like all bunyaviruses, phleboviruses are trisegmented negative read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Alphaherpesviruses: Molecular Virology : "The book comprises a series of excellent chapters, which cover all aspects of the biology of human alphaherpesviruses. The chapters are written by internationally recognized experts and document in great detail the current state of knowledge of specific areas of research. This work of impressive quality is edited by Sandra K. Weller, one of the outstanding scientists in the area of herpes virus replication ... Overall, the book is a valuable resource and highly read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Due to advances in areas such as genomics and biotechnology, powerful methodologies have been developed to detect both specific pathogens and indicator organisms. Because many microorganisms are not easily cultured or can enter a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state, the current methods focus on immunological or genetic characteristics to detect the presence of specific waterborne pathogenic microorganisms. Not only do these methods increase the rapidity of analysis, but read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Detection of pathogenic organisms provides information as to the safety and public health risks associated with a given water supply; however, it often does little to define the potential sources of the contamination. Generally, because different enteric pathogens are present in the intestines of different animals, the identification of a contamination event as being either of human or animal source would provide information as to the types of pathogens that may be read more ...

from Yuki Kasai writing in Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research : Bioremediation is a cost-effective technique for treatment of polluted environments and it involves usage of microorganisms for pollutant degradation. It can be defined as natural attenuation (intrinsic bioremediation), biostimulation (introduction of nutrients and chemicals to stimulate indigenous microorganisms), and bioaugmentation (inoculation with exogenous microorganisms). When carrying out bioremediation, special attention should be paid to its read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Developments, particularly in the fields of genomics and biotechnology in the last few years, have resulted in a wide range of molecular tools, principally based on the detection of nucleic acid material and its amplification. They offer a novel, more sensitive and specific way of detecting microorganisms. They can also identify organisms that would not be detected with current culture techniques and can be used to track new pathogenic entities, including variants of read more ...

Multicellularity and Social Behaviour in Bacillus subtilis from José Eduardo González-Pastor writing in Bacillus : Cellular and Molecular Biology (Second edition) : Most of the knowledge about Bacillus subtilis derives from studies of laboratory strains growing as planktonic cultures, in which all the individual cells are considered identical. Recently, the study of a natural and undomesticated isolate has revealed that B. subtilis cells display multicellular and social features that were lost in the laboratory strains, which read more ...

Mumps from Steven Rubin and Corinne Vandermeulen writing in The Biology of Paramyxoviruses : Mumps is a contagious infectious disease caused by mumps virus, a Rubulavirus of the Paramyxoviridae family. Mumps outbreaks were common in the prevaccine era, with nearly everyone having been exposed by adolescence based on the presence of virus-specific antibody. The hallmark of infection is the painful enlargement of the parotid gland, and although perceived as a benign childhood disease, mumps was the leading cause of aseptic meningitis and read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Anaerobic Parasitic Protozoa: Genomics and Molecular Biology : "Overall, the book is an excellent effort to distill the available basic knowledge on these medically important parasites. It will be highly useful to experts and active researchers, and to parasitology students. To general readers, the volume will provide a glimpse into the novel features of these parasites, which make them fascinating subjects of study." from Sudha Bhattacharya (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India) writing in The Quarterly read more ...

Murine Models of Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance from Jennifer E. Cropley and Catherine M. Suter writing in Epigenetics: A Reference Manual : Epigenetic states are faithfully inherited through mitotic cell division, but are generally cleared and reset on passage through the mammalian germline. But this clearing of epigenetic marks is not always complete, leading to transgenerational inheritance of epigenotype. Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance has been demonstrated in several organisms, including mammals, and has been most read more ...

The new book on Molecular Virology and Control of Flaviviruses edited by Pei-Yong Shi will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

Nairovirus molecular biology and interaction with host cells from Natalia Frias-Staheli, Rafael A. Medina and Anne Bridgen writing in Bunyaviridae : Molecular and Cellular Biology : A decade ago nairoviruses were the least understood members of the Bunyaviridae family. Today this situation is totally different, with huge advances having been made in the field. These have been in three major areas: (1) sequencing complete genomes, as well as conserved regions of additional viruses, thus allowing phylogenetic analysis, (2) understanding the read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Nanocantilevers, which are typically made of silicon, silicon nitride or silicon oxide, require only minute changes in compressive or tensile surface stress on either their upper surface or lower surface to cause measurable deflection of the cantilever, and are capable of converting biomolecular recognition reactions into micromechanical motion. Consequently, nanocantilevers offer an opportunity for the development of highly sensitive, miniature and label-free detection read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Quantum dots Quantum dots (QDs) are colloidal, luminescent inorganic nanocrystals with unique photochemical properties, which include high quantum yields, large extinction coefficients, pronounced photostability, as well as broad absorption spectra coupled to narrow size-tunable photoluminescent emission spectra. A typical QD has a diameter of 2-8 nm and is usually composed of a core consisting of a semiconductor material, such as CdSe, enclosed in a shell of another read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Advances in nanotechnology and nanosciences are having a significant impact on the field of diagnostics, where a number of nanoparticle-based assays have been introduced for biomolecular detection. The promise of increasing sensitivity and speed, and reduced cost and labour makes nanodiagnostics an appealing alternative to current molecular diagnostic techniques. New synthesis, fabrication and characterization methods for nanomaterials, which have dimensions that range from read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Nanowires have been explored as signal transduction motifs in the electrical detection of DNA, proteins and microbial pathogens. Nanowire sensors operate on the basis that the change in chemical potential accompanying a target binding event can act as a field-effect gate upon the nanowire, thereby changing its conductance. The ideal nanowire sensor is a lightly doped, high-aspect ratio, single-crystal nanowire with a diameter between 10 and 20 nm. Recently, detailed read more ...

New and Emerging Paramyxoviruses from Danielle E. Anderson and Lin-Fa Wang writing in The Biology of Paramyxoviruses : The family Paramyxoviridae is composed of a diverse group of viruses and is divided into two subfamilies, Paramyxovirinae and Pneumovirinae . This chapter will limit the discussion to viruses in Paramyxovirinae only. There are currently 40 virus species classified within this subfamily, but several remain unclassified at the genus level. In the past few decades, paramyxoviruses have emerged from terrestrial, volant and read more ...

August 19 - 24, 2012 14th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, ISME14 Copenhagen, Denmark Further information Based on the theme: The power of the small. Confirmed plenary presenters are Martin Ackermann, Nicole Dubilier, Janet Jansson, Víctor de Lorenzo, Minik Rosing, Michael Wagner and Liping Zhao. Suggested reading: | Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends | Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research | Environmental Microbiology read more ...

November 12 - 16, 2011 1st National Clinical Microbiology Congress Antalya, Turkey Further information Organized by the Turkish Clinical Microbiology Specialty Society with cooperation with the Turkish Microbiology Society. Focus on the highlighting issues related to both the management and routine laboratory practices and on the training in the Medical (Clinical) Microbiology Specialty. We will also discuss the developments related to microbiology. Another major topic of the congress will be the antimicrobial resistance problem and its read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : "a snapshot of the current understanding of the nitrogen cycle in bacteria" from Ref. Res. Book News (August read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of The Biology of Paramyxoviruses : "an up-to-date reference on a diverse family of viruses" from Ref. Res. Book News (August read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Helicobacter pylori : "a convenient and up-to-date presentation" from Ref. Res. Book News (August read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Insect Virology : "this volume benefits from a huge leap forward in our understanding of the role of RNA silencing in insect virology. In addition, it contains a plethora of sequence data (references) that suggest previously unknown phylogenetic relationships among insect viruses and their families. These two aspects make the volume especially worthwhile to me" from Loy Volkman (University of California, Berkeley) writing in The Society for Invertebrate Pathology Newsletter (November read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria: Current Progress in Advanced Research : "the individual contributions ... are predominantly of high scientific quality and timeliness ... chapters are highly readable, informative and well suited as a starting point for further literature searches." from Knut J. Heller (Kiel) writing in Biospektrum (2011) 17: read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Salmonella : From Genome to Function : "The consistently well-written articles cover a wide and exciting range of topics" from Thio M. Fuchs (Munich) writing in Biospektrum (2011) 17: read more ...

Newcastle Disease and Related Avian Paramyxoviruses from Siba K. Samal writing in The Biology of Paramyxoviruses : Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most important diseases of poultry worldwide. Virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infections may have flock mortality rates up to 100%. The economic impact is not only due to loss of birds, but also due to trade restrictions and embargoes placed on areas and countries where the outbreaks have occurred. In many developing countries ND is endemic and the disease has the greatest impact on read more ...

Next-generation sequencing approaches to metagenomics from John Walshaw, Graham J. Etherington and Dan MacLean writing in Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends : Next-generation sequencing approaches enable us to gather many more times sequence data than was possible a few years ago. Next-generation sequencers from the main vendors, Illumina, 454 and ABI SOLiD are distinct and varied technologies with unique approaches to sequencing that produce sequence reads with different strengths and weaknesses. We describe these read more ...

The new book on Bacterial Pathogenesis edited by Camille Locht and Michel Simonet will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

Nitric Oxide Metabolism: Physiology and Regulatory Mechanisms from Stephen Spiro writing in Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesised in bacteria as a product of the reduction of nitrite or the oxidation of arginine. NO is growth inhibitory, due to its ability to inhibit respiratory oxidases and [Fe-S] cluster containing dehydratases. NO also reacts with oxygen and biologically relevant oxygen radicals (such as superoxide) to generate a number of other toxic reactive nitrogen species. NO read more ...

Nitrous Oxide Production in the Terrestrial Environment from Elizabeth M. Baggs and Laurent Philippot writing in Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : Terrestrial ecosystems are a major source of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), with soils accounting for ~70% of the atmospheric loading of this greenhouse gas. Here we provide a synthesis of current understanding of the environmental regulation of N 2 O production and reduction through different microbial pathways, presenting examples of where measured emissions have been related to read more ...

from Lyudmila Boyanova writing in Helicobacter pylori : As standard regimens for the eradication of H. pylori infection often fail owing to antibiotic resistance or low patient compliance, there is an increasing need for new drugs such as non-antibiotic agents (NAAs) or optimised treatment regimens. Anti- H. pylori activity has been detected in vitro by many NAAs such as lactobacilli, Saccharomyces boulardii , lactoferrin, green tea, garlic, propolis, broccoli, resveratrol, plant oils etc. Many NAAs have been active against both antibiotic read more ...

Non-Coding RNA: an Overview from Alka Saxena and Piero Carninci writing in Epigenetics: A Reference Manual : In the past decade, we have become acquainted with an entire new world of fine regulatory control within cells governed by non-coding RNAs. Although we have not completely explored this world, we know from a few well studied examples that not only gene dosage but protein function also, is fine tuned by non-coding RNAs. It appears that proper cell function is largely dependent on non-coding RNAs, many of which were invisible to us read more ...

Nonpilus (Non-Fimbrial) Adhesins from Amanda J. Sheets and Joseph W. St. Geme III writing in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms : Adherence to a biological surface allows bacteria to persist and spread within the host and represents an essential early step in the pathogenesis of most bacterial diseases. Bacteria produce a variety of pilus and non-pilus adhesive structures that mediate specific adherence to host tissues. Among non-pilus adhesive structures, most can be classified according to the mechanism of secretion read more ...