Bacterial Chemotaxis from Kathryn A. Scott, Elizabeth E. Jefferys, Benjamin A. Hall, Mark A. J. Roberts and Judith P. Armitage writing in Bacterial Regulatory Networks : Chemotaxis is the process by which bacteria migrate towards environments that are favourable for growth. Changes in the concentration of attractants or repellents are detected by receptors, which are usually transmembrane proteins. These receptors transduce the signal to the interior of the cell where a two-component system ultimately leads to changes in motile behaviour. read more ...

Bacterial Chemotaxis: Rising Complexity from Diana Clausznitzer, Judith P. Armitage and Robert G. Endres writing in Systems Microbiology: Current Topics and Applications : Bacterial chemotaxis is a paradigm for biological sensing and information transmission. The chemotaxis signal-transduction pathway allows cells to sense chemicals in their surroundings in order to regulate flagellated rotary motors, thus allowing them to swim towards nutrients and away from toxins. Importantly, cells are able to sense with remarkably high sensitivity over read more ...

Bacterial N -linked Glycosylation Systems: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives from J. Cuccui, R.H. Langdon, M.G. Moule and Brendan W. Wren writing in Bacterial Glycomics: Current Research, Technology and Applications : Once thought to be restricted to eukaryotes and archaea, N -linked glycosylation has now been discovered in prokarytoes. Over the past decade, our understanding of bacterial N -linked glycosylations systems and their abundance has been expanding. This type of protein modification was first demonstrated in Campylobacter read more ...

Application of Bacterial Glycosyltransferases in the Synthesis of Bioactive Glycans from Warren Wakarchuk writing in Bacterial Glycomics: Current Research, Technology and Applications : It is now accepted that complex glycans play major roles in biology, such as the development of the embryo, the function of the immune system, microbial and viral pathogenesis and cellular communication, to name just a few. The many faceted roles that glycans play in biology makes them a challenge to understand on functional level, and the complexity of the read more ...

Anaerobic Regulatory Networks in Bacteria from Petra Tielen, Max Schobert, Elisabeth Hartig and Dieter Jahn writing in Bacterial Regulatory Networks : Survival and growth during periods of low oxygen tension are essential for the successful colonization of natural habitats by bacteria. For the coordination of the necessary biochemical adaption processes upon oxygen deprivation bacteria employ a fine tuned interplay of various regulatory proteins and sRNAs. The iron sulfur cluster containing oxygen sensor Fnr and its multiple variants are read more ...

An Invisible Workforce: Biofilms in the Soil from Mette Burmølle, Annelise Kjøller and Søren J. Sørensen writing in Microbial Biofilms: Current Research and Applications : Biofilms in soil are composed of multiple species microbial consortia attached to soil particles and biotic surfaces including roots, fungal hyphae and decomposing organic material. The bacteria present in these biofilms gain several advantages including protection from predation, desiccation and exposure to antibacterial substances, and read more ...

An Introduction to the Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) from Stephen A Bustin, Sara Zaccara and Tania Nolan writing in Quantitative Real-time PCR in Applied Microbiology : The real-time fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has become the benchmark technology for the detection of nucleic acids in every area of microbiology, biomedical research, biotechnology and in forensic applications. Unlike conventional (legacy) PCR, which is a qualitative end-point assay, qPCR allows accurate quantification of read more ...

Alterations in Cellular miRNAs Induced by Human Papillomaviruses from Amy S. Gardiner, Abigail I. Wald and Saleem A. Khan writing in Small DNA Tumour Viruses : In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to play important roles in the regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells. MiRNAs regulate many processes, including cell cycle progression, cell differentiation and organogenesis. Human cells encode approximately 1,000 miRNAs, and their expression has been shown to be altered in a variety of human cancers. Human read more ...

Adenoviruses and Gene Therapy: The Role of the Immune System from Laura White and G. Eric Blair writing in Small DNA Tumour Viruses : Adenovirus (Ad)-based vectors have been frequently used as gene therapy vectors due to their ability to infect a wide range of dividing and non-dividing cells, their efficient growth to high titres in complementing cell lines and ease of genome manipulation. However, the transition of Ad vectors from in vitro studies to clinical application has been limited by sub-optimal efficacy and robust inflammatory read more ...

Adaptations to Environmental Changes: Stress Response Mechanisms Among Vibrio Species from W. Brian Whitaker and E. Fidelma Boyd writing in Stress Response in Microbiology : Members of the genus Vibrio are Gram-negative ubiquitous marine bacteria. They can be isolated directly from the water column but are perhaps most known for their association with eukaryotic organisms. In their association with eukaryotic hosts, be it pathogenic or symbiotic, these bacteria must respond to a variety of stress conditions present within the host read more ...

The new book on Small DNA Tumour Viruses edited by Kevin Gaston will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

Toxoplasma gondii : Without Stress There Is No Life from Maria J. Figueras, Sergio O. Angel, Verónica M. Cóceres and Maria L. Alomar writing in Stress Response in Microbiology : Toxoplasma gondii is an important pathogen of human and domestic animals. It has a complex life cycle which includes the transition from one host to another, being only exposed to the environment during one stage, as highly resistant oocysts. Interestingly, in the intermediate host (non-feline mammalians and birds) the parasite presents an asexual cycle read more ...

Sulfolobus Systems Biology: Cool Hot Design for Metabolic Pathways from Theresa Kouril, Alexey Kolodkin, Melanie Zaparty, Ralf Steuer, Peter Ruoff, Hans V. Westerhoff, Jacky Snoep, Bettina Siebers and the SulfoSYS consortium writing in Systems Microbiology: Current Topics and Applications : Life at high temperature challenges the stability of macromolecules and cellular components, but also the stability of metabolites, which has received little attention. For the cell, the thermal instability of metabolites means it has to deal with the read more ...

Streptomyces Sporulation from Julia P. Swiercz and Marie A. Elliot writing in Bacterial Spores: Current Research and Applications : Streptomyces are soil-dwelling Gram positive bacteria with a complex, multicellular life cycle. The latter stages of their life cycle are defined by the metamorphosis of multi-genomic aerial hyphae into chains of unigenomic exospores. Here, we discuss the classical studies that established a solid genetic understanding of aerial development and sporulation, and highlight important new advances in the areas of read more ...

σ S -controlling Networks in Escherichia coli from Eberhard Klauck and Regine Hengge writing in Bacterial Regulatory Networks : The σ S (RpoS) sigma subunit is the master regulator of the general stress response in Escherichia coli , which controls the expression of more than 500 genes during entry into stationary phase or upon exposure to many different stress conditions. σ S is present at very low levels only in rapidly growing cells, but multiple stress signals are integrated in a way that results in strong σ S read more ...

Host Defense Peptides from Olga M. Pena, John D. F. Hale and Robert E.W. Hancock writing in Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms : The increasing problem of resistance to antimicrobial agents, combined with the limited development of novel agents to treat infectious diseases is a serious threat to human morbidity and mortality around the world. Among the available strategies available to create new therapeutic agents is the enhancement of the multifunctional properties of the natural anti-infectives, read more ...

from William P. Halford and Bryan M. Gebhardt writing in Viruses and Interferon: Current Research : Herpes simplex virus (HSV) establishes latent infections as a consequence of a non-cytolytic immune response that represses HSV replication, but fails to destroy neurons that harbor HSV's genetic material. It has become increasingly evident that, in both mice and men, the host interferon system plays a critical role in tipping HSV's latency-replication balance in favor of latency. HSV can resist interferon-induced repression provided that read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Anaerobic Parasitic Protozoa: Genomics and Molecular Biology : "the academic standards of the text are excellent ... This book represents a useful resource for those conducting research specifically in the area of genomics, metabolomics and gene expression in any of the discussed anaerobic protozoa. It is well written, well referenced and very up to date in its content ... the text has achieved its goal of providing a single comprehensive review of current research in the field of anaerobic genomics and molecular read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends : "presents state-of-the art information on the methods and their limitations, and has examples of actual applications ... (if you are) contemplating adopting, or even already using, metagenomic and next-generation sequencing technologies, this work should be consulted when designing work programmes or interpreting the mass of generated data." from IMA Fungus (2011) 2: read more ...

Host Responses During Mild and Severe Dengue from Mark Schreiber, Joel Leong, and Martin Hibberd writing in Molecular Virology and Control of Flaviviruses : Dengue fever is an acute viral infection that can produce a wide spectrum of disease outcomes in patients, ranging from mild or even asymptomatic fever to severe manifestations including hemorrhagic fever and shock. With the incidence of the severe forms increasing in most tropical countries as well as an overall increase in dengue incidence, dengue fever is becoming a significant burden read more ...

Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus from Peter L. Collins writing in The Biology of Paramyxoviruses : Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a ubiquitous pathogen that infects essentially everyone worldwide during infancy and early childhood and is a leading cause of pediatric hospitalization for respiratory disease. RSV also is a frequent cause of less severe disease in healthy adults and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly and in severely immunosuppressed individuals. RSV is an enveloped nonsegmented negative read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends "This book provides a sound introduction to metagenomics, followed by 14 chapters that highlight its application in studying the functions, ecology and diversity of both culturable and non-culturable micro-organisms in a given environment ... This is definitely a valuable reference book for scientists who intend to apply metagenomics in their research." from Diane Purchase (Middlesex University, UK) writing in Microbiol. Today read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : "The scope of the book is nicely balanced ... very refreshingly, describes aspects relevant to all of the classical stages of the N cycle in several individual chapters ... (the book) is relevant to all of us studying some aspect of the N cycle and is strongly recommended as a core reference that should be owned by every research group working in this area." from Graeme Nicol (University of Aberdeen, UK) writing in Microbiol. Today (2011) 38: read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria: Current Progress in Advanced Research : "This interesting book is dominated by Japanese and French contributors, but maintains an excellent standard in English usage, with the occasional unusual phrasing somehow adding to its readability ... there are interesting contributions on metabolism ... A chapter on the regulatory framework for health claims concerning probiotic supplements in Japan and Europe is very timely ... other topics in this compact and excellent book are read more ...

from Wittwer CT and Farrar JS (2011) in PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization In contrast to hydrolysis probes, the fluorescence from hybridization probes is reversible and depends only on probe hybridization. The first hybridization probes used in real-time PCR were dual hybridization probes consisting of two oligonucleotides, one labeled at the 3'-end the other at the 5'-end. Upon hybridization to their complementary sequences and fluorescent excitation, FRET increases. Signal generation with dual hybridization probes requires annealing of read more ...

from Anna-Irini Koukkou and Elpiniki Vandera writing in Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research : Hydrocarbons are the major representatives of non-metal pollutants found in many contaminated soils by natural or industrial and social activities. Their removal from polluted environmental niches depends to a great extent on microbial degradation, which can also be applied on several technological applications. The extended microbial diversity in soil has served as a rich source for the isolation of efficient PAH-degrading read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms : "This book offers new ideas for solving the current resistance problems ... This is a good review of the current state of this area of science ... explores the many new targets that are available for antibacterial research, providing a valuable resource for scientists working on a solution to the lack of antibacterial agents." from Rebecca T. Horvat (University of Kansas, USA) writing in read more ...

from Wittwer CT and Farrar JS (2011) in PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization In 1991, Holland and colleagues at the Cetus Corporation used the 5' to 3' exonuclease activity of Taq polymerase to detect amplification products post-PCR. An oligonucleotide probe complementary to the PCR product was used with a non-extendable 3'-end and a radioactively labeled 5'-end. During amplification the polymerase degraded the probe, releasing the radioactive label as smaller fragments of the probe. However, a post-PCR radiograph was required in order to read more ...

Hyperthermophiles: Metabolic Diversity and Biotechnological Applications from Kazem Kashefi writing in Extremophiles: Microbiology and Biotechnology : The isolation and characterization of novel hyperthermophilic, microorganisms from modern hot environments have greatly increased our understanding of how microbes can live and thrive in such inhospitable environments. The finding that microorganisms have the ability to grow at these high temperature has implications for delimiting when and where life might have evolved on a hot, early Earth; read more ...

Identification and Characterisation of Glycosylation in Bacterial Proteins from Nichollas E. Scott, Stuart J. Cordwell, John F. Kelly and Susan M. Twine writing in Bacterial Glycomics: Current Research, Technology and Applications : There are increasing numbers of reports of bacterial glycosylation in pathogenic bacteria, with well-characterized bacterial glycoproteins including pilins, flagellin and other surface-associated proteins. However, the discovery of bacterial glycoproteins can be challenging due to the diversity of glycans read more ...

January 2012 Full details of all these conferences at microbiologyconference.com January 11 - 11, 2012: Climate Change and Imported Food. London, UK January 13 - 14, 2012: Innovation in Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI). Sitges, Spain January 15 - 20, 2012: Drug Discovery for Protozoan Parasites. Santa Fe, NM, USA January 15 - 20, 2012: Fungal Pathogens: From Basic Biology to Drug . Santa Fe, NM, USA January 20 - 20, 2012: Exploiting bacteriophages for bioscience, biotechnology and medicine. London, UK January 20 - 22, 2012: read more ...

from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment Applications Immunological methods are based on the specific recognition between antibodies and antigens, and the high affinity that is characteristic of this recognition reaction. Consequently, many different immunoassay methods have become available for both quantitative and qualitative analysis of pathogenic bacteria in water. These include immunocapture of cells or antigens by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA or EIA), or detection of targeted cells by immunofluorescence read more ...