Maria S. Poptsova presents a new book on Genome Analysis: Current Procedures and Applications In this book, an impressive array of expert authors highlight and review current advances in genome analysis. This volume provides an invaluable, up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the methods currently employed for next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis, highlights their problems and limitations, demonstrates the applications and indicates the developing trends in various fields of genome research. The first part of the book is devoted read more ...

Molecular Evolution of Murine Cytomegalovirus Genomes from Alec J. Redwood, Geoffrey R. Shellam and Lee M. Smith writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Cytomegaloviruses have co-evolved with their hosts since the mammalian radiation. The MCMV genome appears to be highly conserved and unlike the HCMV genome contains no large-scale deletions and rearrangements following serial in vitro passage. The genome of MCMV is both highly conserved and highly variable. The central regions of the genome, containing the read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Microbial Ecological Theory: Current Perspectives : "well-written essays to explore a number of microbial ecological theories from population genetic and evolution theory to microbial biogeography ... The academic content of this volume is robust and the questions posted are thought-provoking ... definitely a useful reference book for scientists" from Diane Purchase (Middlesex University, UK) writing in Microbiology Today read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Bacterial Spores: Current Research and Applications : "well-written and edited chapters on bacterial sporulation, with most chapters being relatively short, but comprehensive ... This is an imaginatively edited book with up-to-date references and a sensible index. It is suitable both for the specialist and general reader." from Brian Henderson (University College London, Eastman Dental Institute, UK) writing in Microbiology Today read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Foodborne and Waterborne Bacterial Pathogens: Epidemiology, Evolution and Molecular Biology : "there is a wealth of detailed, up-to-date information on the epidemiology, pathogenesis and molecular biology of these pathogens written by experts in the field. This book would very useful to those studying gastrointestinal bacterial pathogens or food and water microbiology at postgraduate level and as a reference for specialists working in this area." from Kathie Grant (Health Protection Agency, UK) writing in read more ...

Molecular Basis of Cytomegalovirus Host Species Specificity from Wolfram Brune writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are highly species-specific as they replicate almost exclusively in cells of their natural host species. However, the molecular basis of species specificity remains poorly understood. In cells of a foreign host a post-penetration block to viral gene expression and genome replication appears to restrict viral replication and spread. In some cases, infected cells of read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Rhabdoviruses: Molecular Taxonomy, Evolution, Genomics, Ecology, Host-Vector Interactions, Cytopathology and Control : "provides an up-to-date, if rather dry, account of this family of viruses covering all six genera and six isolates awaiting official classification. For each virus there is a keen focus on evolution, phylogenetics, epidemiology and methods for limiting morbidity and mortality ... of particular interest to those individuals who are intimately involved with these viruses and those who are joining read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Two-Component Systems in Bacteria : "... well-written reviews by highly regarded researchers, starting with how TCSs are classified and organised, and current understanding of structural knowledge, and moving on to novel aspects of signal transduction mechanisms, TCS function and gene regulation ... This book is an excellent choice for graduate-level education and researchers in the field and would be a useful addition to any research group, department or university library in a research-active institution or read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Microorganisms : "This book is a valuable source of ideas, facts and references ... I will be recommending that our library buys copies to be accessed by students ranging from enthusiastic first-year undergraduates taking my Genetics course to PhD students researching topics for a dissertation ... the text is clear with good subheadings and is easy to dip into." from Chris Thomas (University of Birmingham, UK) writing in Microbiology Today read more ...

Microbial Populations in Oral Biofilms from Michael F. Cole, Katherine A. Wirth and George H. Bowden writing in Oral Microbial Ecology: Current Research and New Perspectives : In this review we consider the biology of the viridans streptococci in the human oropharynx with a particular focus on the pioneer bacterium Streptococcus mitis . We show that, although this species is a constant component of the human oral cavity, each person harbors a unique and diverse population of stains that appear not to be shared within a family and, read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria: Current Progress in Advanced Research : "the chapters are generally organized and written very clearly ... this is a well-organized book on a topic of interest to an evergrowing group of researchers worldwide. It will be of interest to both industry and academic researchers in this fıeld and of particular interest to graduate students." from Dan O'Sullivan (University of Minnesota, USA) writing in ASM read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis : "... a comprehensive suite that provides both breadth and depth ... provides a rich resource for the researcher, student, and educator ... an important reference book that provides a current overview of the biochemical underpinnings of the major features of the N cycle, while also providing some topical examples of the details of the N cycle in several environments, including plant symbiosis, the terrestrial environment, and the human microbiome. It is has read more ...

Microbial Community Interactions of the Cariogenic Organism Streptococcus mutans from Saswat Sourav Mohapatra and Indranil Biswas writing in Oral Microbial Ecology: Current Research and New Perspectives : The human oral cavity is estimated to host more than 700 bacterial species formed into distinct biofilm communities, of which more than 50% are yet to be cultured in the laboratory. Though oral streptococci constitute two thirds of the total commensals, only a fraction known as mutans streptococci are involved in producing dental caries. read more ...

Mechanisms and Functions of RNA Editing in Physarum polycephalum from Jonatha M. Gott writing in RNA Editing: Current Research and Future Trends : Mitochondrial RNAs in the acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum are subject to the widest range of editing events observed thus far. Mitochondrial RNAs differ from the mitochondrial genome at over 1300 sites, and both coding (mRNAs) and non-coding RNAs (rRNAs and tRNAs) are affected. At least three distinct editing mechanisms are needed to account for the different forms of editing observed read more ...

Manipulating CMV Genomes by BAC Mutagenesis: Strategies and Applications from Zsolt Ruzsics, Eva M. Borst, Jens B. Bosse, Wolfram Brune and Martin Messerle writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Cloning of a CMV genome as a BAC was reported for the first time more than a decade ago, and since then this approach has virtually opened the avenue for unrestricted mutagenesis of CMVs. This review gives an overview of recent developments in BAC-based mutagenesis techniques and their application to specific read more ...

Major Immediate-Early Enhancer and Its Gene Products from Jeffery L. Meier and Mark F. Stinski writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : CMV major immediate-early (MIE) gene expression activates the viral replicative cycle in both acute and reactivation infections and is greatly restricted in latent infection. Specific signaling cascades, transcriptional regulatory hierarchies, and cis -regulatory codes govern the initiation efficacy, magnitude, and sustainability of MIE gene transcription. The MIE read more ...

Magnetosomes from Mathieu Bennet, Teresa Perez-Gonzalez, Dean Wood and Damien Faivre writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications : Magnetotactic bacteria are microorganisms that form chains of magnetic nanoparticles. This process represents one of the most advanced examples of biological self-assembly at the nano- and micrometre scale. In fact, the nanoparticle size and morphology, together with the arrangement are controlled at the genetic level. The resulting hierarchical structure bestowing its magnetic read more ...

Liposome-Nanoparticle Assemblies from Matthew R. Preiss, Anju Gupta and Geoffrey D. Bothun writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications : Liposome-nanoparticle assemblies (LNAs) combine the demonstrated potential of clinically approved nanoparticles and liposomes to achieve multiple therapeutic and diagnostic objectives. Efficient and effective biomedical application requires assemblies to be stable, biocompatible, and bioavailable, while enhancing the properties of encapsulates. LNAs have been demonstrated to read more ...

Invasion of Host Red Blood Cells by Malaria Parasites from Amy Kristine Bei and Manoj Theodore Duraisingh writing in Malaria Parasites: Comparative Genomics, Evolution and Molecular Biology : The first challenge faced by the invasive merozoite form of the Plasmodium parasite when released into the bloodstream is to invade and establish itself within a host erythrocyte. Following hepatic schizont rupture, merozoites are released into the circulation and must successfully locate, bind to, and invade an erythrocyte lest they are cleared by the read more ...

Introduction to the Real-time PCR from David Rodríguez-Lázaro and Marta Hernández writing in Real-Time PCR in Food Science: Current Technology and Applications : Food safety and quality control programs are increasingly applied throughout the production food chain in order to guarantee added value products as well as to minimize the risk of infection for the consumer. The development of real-time PCR has represented one of the most significant advances in food diagnostics as it provides rapid, reliable and quantitative read more ...

Intracellular Sorting and Trafficking of Cytomegalovirus Proteins during Permissive Infection from Anamaris M. Colberg-Poley and Chad D. Williamson writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : As with most DNA viruses, which require nuclear and cytoplasmic phases of virion maturation, proper and coordinated trafficking of viral proteins is crucial for the CMV lifecycle. Trafficking of CMV proteins enables jumpstarting its infection, partly determines whether lytic or latent infection is established, promotes read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications : "... survey (of) some of the most striking and successful approaches to producing biogenic nanodevices ... consider(s) not only living organisms as manufacturers, but also applying the processes for the in vitro self-assembly of isolated biomolecules" from Ref. Res. Book News (February 2013) read more ...

Internal Amplification Controls in Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Methods for Pathogen Detection from Nigel Cook, Gabriel A de Ridder, Martin D'Agostino and Maureen B Taylor writing in Real-Time PCR in Food Science: Current Technology and Applications : Assays based on nucleic acid amplification are highly efficient, but they can be affected by the presence of matrix-derived substances which can interfere or prevent the reaction from performing correctly. Careful sample treatment must be applied/used to remove these inhibitory read more ...

Innate Immunity to Cytomegalovirus in the Murine Model from Silvia Vidal, Astrid Krmpotić, Michal Pyzik and Stipan Jonjić writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Cells of the innate immune system, including macrophages, DCs and NK cells play an important role in the control of viral infection before the induction of a specific immune response, of which generation they are also crucial. The infection of mice with MCMV as a model of HCMV infection has been particularly informative in elucidating read more ...

Immunoregulatory Cytokine Networks Discovered and Characterized during Murine Cytomegalovirus Infections from Marc Dalod and Christine A. Biron writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : In addition to mediating early defense during primary infection, innate immunity delivers immunoregulatory functions to shape innate and adaptive immunity. Basic knowledge on the mechanisms inducing innate cytokine responses and the consequences for orchestrating downstream immunity is being advanced at a dramatic rate. read more ...

Immune Surveillance of Cytomegalovirus Latency and Reactivation in Murine Models: Link to 'Memory Inflation' from Christof K. Seckert, Marion Grieβl, Julia K. Büttner, Kirsten Freitag and Niels A.W. Lemmermann and Mary A. Hummel, Xue-Feng Liu and Michael I. Abecassis and Ana Angulo and Martin Messerle and Charles H. Cook and Matthias J. Reddehase writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease with cytopathogenic viral replication and multiple organ involvement is typically read more ...

The new book on Bacterial Gene Regulation and Transcriptional Networks edited by M. Madan Babu will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 read more ...

Identification of RNA Editing Sites: a Survey of the Past, Present, and Future from Meng How Tan and Jin Billy Li writing in RNA Editing: Current Research and Future Trends : RNA editing is a post-transcriptional mechanism whereby genomically encoded information is altered at the level of the transcript. We describe in this review how RNA editing sites can be identified. The pace of discovery in the past few decades was dependent on the sequencing technologies available at a particular time. At the beginning when DNA sequencing had just been read more ...

Humanized Mouse Models of Cytomegalovirus Pathogenesis and Latency from M. Shane Smith, Daniel N. Streblow, Patrizia Caposio, and Jay A. Nelson writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : The generation of mice engrafted with human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) has allowed, for the first time, the study of human specific viruses in an in vivo setting. These humanized mouse models have been developed and improved over the past 30 years. It is now possible to achieve high levels of human cell engraftment read more ...

Excerpt from a book review of Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends : "it is very timely that we should have a book dedicated to the subject area ... it provides an in-depth analysis of the state of the union and some vision of where the field is heading ... explore(s) the limits and pitfalls of modern metagenomics ... covers a wide range of areas in which metagenomics has made an impact and provides the reader with sufficient scope to see how this approach can be used. It should show any reader that the method is highly read more ...

Human Cytomegalovirus Metabolomics from Joshua D. Rabinowitz and Thomas Shenk writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Metabolic changes at the whole organism and cellular levels have been described for many diseases, and the alterations often underlie disease progression. Known metabolites can be quantified by using liquid chromatography to fractionate a complex mixture of compounds with analysis of the output by mass spectrometry. This approach has been applied to quantify steady state levels of read more ...

Host Genetic Models in Cytomegalovirus Immunology from Chris A. Benedict, Karine Crozat, Mariapia Degli-Esposti and Marc Dalod writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention : Mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) was first isolated more than half a century ago (Smith, 1954). Subsequent studies of MCMV in its natural host have yielded enormous information regarding the cellular and molecular immune mechanisms that regulate the various phases of this lifelong β-herpesvirus infection. As the techniques and tools for read more ...