Plague Treatment and Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents from Marc Galimand and Patrice Courvalin writing in Yersinia : Systems Biology and Control : For many years, Yersinia pestis was considered as uniformly susceptible to antimicrobial agents that are active against Gram-negative bacteria. In 1995, the first two multidrug-resistant strains of Y. pestis were identified in Madagascar and shown to contain self-transmissible plasmids, pIP1202 conferring resistance to all antimicrobial agents recommended for plague treatment and prophylaxis and read more ...

Population Genetics and Molecular Epidemiology of Shigella species from Kaisar Ali Talukder and Ishrat Jahan Azmi writing in Foodborne and Waterborne Bacterial Pathogens: Epidemiology, Evolution and Molecular Biology : Shigellosis, also known as acute bacillary dysentery, produces inflammatory reactions and ulceration on the intestinal epithelium followed by bloody or mucoid diarrhoea. Shigellosis is caused by any one of the four species or groups of Shigella , namely, S. dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. boydii , and S. sonnei . At least 54 read more ...

How One Cell Eats Another: Principles of Phagocytosis from Sylvain Tollis, Navin Gopaldass, Thierry Soldati and Robert G. Endres writing in Systems Microbiology: Current Topics and Applications : Phagocytosis is the fundamental cellular process by which eukaryotic cells bind and engulf particles by deforming their plasma membrane. Particle engulfment involves particle recognition by cell-surface receptors, signalling, and remodelling of the actin cytoskeleton to guide the membrane around the particle in a zipper-like fashion. The signalling read more ...

Proteome Analysis of Yersinia pestis and the Mammalian Host Response to Y. pestis Infection from Rembert Pieper and Scott N. Peterson writing in Yersinia : Systems Biology and Control : In the last few years, proteomic analyses of Y. pestis have been focused on the identification of proteins derived from in vitro cultures that sought to mimic important aspects of in vivo environments and have provided valuable insight into dynamic abundance profiles of numerous proteins and their subcellular localizations, comparing growth conditions read more ...

qPCR in Food Microbiology from Luca Cocolin and Kalliopi Rantsiou writing in Quantitative Real-time PCR in Applied Microbiology : Since its first application in food microbiology in the late '90s, quantitative PCR (qPCR) has attracted the interest of researchers, working mainly in the field of food safety, but lately also of microbiologists studying spoilage and fermentation processes. In addition to the advantages that conventional PCR offers in microbiological testing, i.e. specificity, reduced time of analysis and detection of viable but read more ...

Quantification of Microorganisms Targeting Conserved Genes in Complex Environmental Samples Using qPCR from Claudia Goyer and Catherine E. Dandie writing in Quantitative Real-time PCR in Applied Microbiology : Development of quantitative PCR (qPCR) has facilitated major advances in assessment of microbial community abundances in complex environmental samples including water, soil, sediments, compost and manure and in our understanding of factors influencing community sizes in situ. qPCR has increasingly been used in environmental studies due read more ...

Quantification of Microorganisms Using a Functional Gene Approach from Lia C.R.S. Teixeira and Etienne Yergeau writing in Quantitative Real-time PCR in Applied Microbiology : Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) represents an effective method to quantify genes or transcripts within environmental samples. For that reason, qPCR has been widely used to characterize the functional patterns of complex microbial communities. In this chapter we summarize some recent applications of different qPCR approaches targeting functional genes read more ...

Quantification Strategies in Real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) from Michael W. Pfaffl writing in Quantitative Real-time PCR in Applied Microbiology : The present chapter describes the quantification strategies used in real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR), focusing on the main elements that are essential to fulfil the MIQE guidelines. The necessity of initial proper data adjustment and background correction is discussed to allow reliable quantification. The advantages and disadvantages of the absolute and relative quantification approaches are also described. read more ...

Quantitative genetics in Neurospora from Charles Hall writing in Neurospora : Genomics and Molecular Biology : Since the 1940s, researchers have used Neurospora species in pioneering genetic analyses providing many discoveries in genetics and molecular biology. Several complex phenotypes continue to be the focus of Neurospora research, including spore germination, hyphal growth, aerial hyphae formation and asexual spore production, meiosis and sexual spore development, epigenetics and circadian rhythm. Surprisingly, unlike the many genes read more ...

The new book on Rhabdoviruses edited by Ralf G. Dietzgen and Ivan V. Kuzmin will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

Quorum Sensing in Gram Negative Bacteria: Signals, Role and Networking from Zulma R. Suárez-Moreno, Juan F. González, Giulia Devescovi and Vittorio Venturi writing in Bacterial Regulatory Networks : Bacteria regulate gene expression in a population dependent manner using a sophisticated mechanism based on the production and sensing of chemical signals, known as quorum sensing. Such synchronized response in bacterial populations constitutes a form of multicellularity and enables adaption and survival in challenging environments. read more ...

Rabies Prevention and Control: Advances and Challenges from Charles E. Rupprecht and Dennis Slate writing in Rhabdoviruses: Molecular Taxonomy, Evolution, Genomics, Ecology, Host-Vector Interactions, Cytopathology and Control : Rabies prevention and control techniques improved greatly over the 20th century. Gradual understanding of the etiology, transmission details, immunological facets, and inter-specific dynamics among mammalian reservoirs revolutionized current intervention theory and practice. Technical progress appears even more read more ...

Recent Advances in the Characterization of Animal Rhabdoviruses from Aneta Gubala writing in Rhabdoviruses: Molecular Taxonomy, Evolution, Genomics, Ecology, Host-Vector Interactions, Cytopathology and Control : Recent molecular characterization studies of taxonomically unassigned animal rhabdoviruses have uncovered a large and genetically diverse group within the family Rhabdoviridae , informally referred to as the 'dimarhabdovirus supergroup'. These viruses contain intricate genome structures, novel open reading frames (ORFs) in addition read more ...

by Lesley A. Ogilvie and Penny R. Hirsch The vast explosion of high-resolution molecular data in the past few years has provided an unprecedented glimpse into the microbial world - with tantalizing results. Thus, the time is right to delve deeper into the ever-increasing knowledge base on this unseen majority. Born out of a desire to provide further insight into this accumulating wealth of data, the book synthesizes current view points and knowledge on the topic of microbial ecological theory. We have assembled a collection of essays by a read more ...

Every living organism must cope with environmental changes that may represent stress situations, including elevated temperature, chemical stress or oxidative injury. Cells respond to stress stimuli through coordinated changes in gene expression, leading to the synthesis of specialized molecules that counteract the deleterious environmental insults. Bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms are very useful for studying the stress response and its regulation as they have developed systems to constantly monitor the changing environment. One group read more ...

Redox Responding Sensor Kinases from Jiang Wu, Vladimira Dragnea and Carl Bauer writing in Two-Component Systems in Bacteria : Sensor kinases that respond to changes in redox have been described in several bacterial systems. This review is centered on the molecular mechanism of redox sensing in a select group of sensor kinases that have been well-defined biochemically. We cover the role of oxidized ubiquinone and redox active cysteine in controlling the kinase activity of the sensor kinases RegB and ArcB of Rhodobacter capsulatus and read more ...

Regulation and Physiological Function of MAP Kinase and cAMP-PKA Pathways from Masayuki Kamei, Shinpei Banno, Masakazu Takahashi, Akihiko Ichiishi, Fumiyasu Fukumori and Makoto Fujimura writing in Neurospora : Genomics and Molecular Biology : Signal transduction pathways play important roles in growth, differentiation, and pathogenicity of filamentous fungi. Neurospora crassa uses two-component histidine kinases and G protein-coupled receptors to sense environmental changes, including osmotic and oxidative stress, chemical challenges, mating read more ...

Regulation of Gene Transcription by Light in Neurospora from Maria Olmedo, Carmen Cuger-Herreros and Luis M. Corrochano writing in Neurospora : Genomics and Molecular Biology : Fungi use light cues to acquire environmental information like day length throughout the year. Neurospora adapts its development and behaviour to the changing conditions of the environment using light as a signal for the regulation of gene transcription. Neurospora perceives light through the blue light photoreceptor WHITE COLLAR-1 (WC-1). WC-1 dimerizes with WC-2 to read more ...

The Regulation of Human Papillomavirus Gene Expression by the E2 Protein: Keeping a Finger in Every Pie from Sheila Graham and Kevin L. Gaston writing in Small DNA Tumour Viruses : The human papillomavirus (HPV) genome is around 8000 base pairs in length and it encodes only eight proteins, a limited number of protein isoforms and no known microRNAs. Despite this relative paucity of genes and gene products these viruses are highly successful. Over 120 HPV types have been identified and they are the causative agents of a wide range of endemic read more ...

Regulation of Iron Homeostasis in Bacteria from Pierre Cornelis and Simon C. Andrews writing in Bacterial Regulatory Networks : For the vast majority of bacteria, iron is an essential element that is not readily available due to the poor solubility of the oxidized Fe3+ form that prevails aerobically. Because of this, bacteria inhabiting aerobic niches often suffer deficiencies in iron supply. Pathogenic bacteria experience a particularly acute form of iron-restriction. This arises from the host's 'iron-withdrawal response' to infection, read more ...

Replication and Maintenance of Viral Genomes by Association with Host Chromatin from Koenraad Van Doorslaer, Vandana Sekhar, Jameela Khan, and Alison A. McBride writing in Small DNA Tumour Viruses : Papillomaviruses persistently infect dividing epithelial cells. This cellular environment presents papillomaviruses with the challenge of having to replicate and retain their genome in proliferating cells. Papillomaviruses have evolved to maintain their genome as an extra-chromosomal element. The viral E2 protein binds to the viral genome and read more ...

RNA-mediated Regulation of Virulence Gene Expression: Another Layer of Complexity from Efthimia Lioliou, Cédric Romilly, Thomas Geissmann, François Vandenesch and Pascale Romby writing in Bacterial Regulatory Networks : Many pathogenic bacteria cause serious diseases in humans, animals, and plants. Due to the appearance of resistance to multiple antibiotics, it has become important to fully understand the regulatory networks that lead to the production of virulence factors that help the bacteria combat the host defense read more ...

RT-qPCR for Validating Microbial Microarray Data from Dan Tulpan, Michelle Davey and Mark Laflamme writing in Quantitative Real-time PCR in Applied Microbiology : The ability of DNA microarray technology to identify and quantify microbial entities and genes of interest in various environments, such as soil, water, air, compost, and blood, propelled biological, environmental and clinical research into the post-genomic era. Nevertheless, as it is valid for any new technology, errors may occur at different stages along the experimental process. read more ...

Nicholas S. Jakubovics and Robert J. Palmer Jr. present a new book on Oral Microbial Ecology: Current Research and New Perspectives Expert authors from around the world provide an update on recent developments in the burgeoning field of oral microbial ecology. The focus of the book is on the most topical areas in oral microbiology and the volume is a major new work in the field. The chapters are arranged into five sections: microbial populations in oral biofilms, the structure of oral biofilms, communication and sensing within biofilms, read more ...

Salmonellae: Taxonomy, Genomics and Antimicrobial Resistance from Mahbubur Rahman writing in Foodborne and Waterborne Bacterial Pathogens: Epidemiology, Evolution and Molecular Biology : The genus Salmonella has three species namely Salmonella enterica, Salmonella bongori and Salmonella subterranean . The type species S. enterica is further classified into six subspecies: enterica (subsp. I), arizonae (subsp. IIIa), diarizonae (subsp. IIIb), houtenae (subsp. IV), indica (subsp. VI), and salamae (subsp. II). Salmonella strains belong to over read more ...

Species-time Relationships for Bacteria from Anna Oliver, Andrew K. Lilley and Christopher J. van der Gast writing in Microbial Ecological Theory: Current Perspectives : The identification of spatial patterns and their relationships to ecological events is an important specialization within ecology which is now branching into the microbial world. In spatial ecology, the detection of patterns at a given spatial scale can be used to explain ecological mechanisms and processes. Furthermore, through the application of spatial statistical read more ...