Analyzing Microbes
Analyzing Microbes

Author: Dilip Kumar Arora

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9783642344107

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This Springer Protocols manual is a practical guide to the application of key molecular biology techniques in microbiological research. The focus is on experimental protocols, which are presented in an easy-to-follow way, as step-by-step procedures for direct use in the laboratory. Notes on how to successfully apply the procedures are included, as well as recommendations regarding materials and suppliers. In addition to the practical protocols, important background information and representative results of experiments using the described methods are presented. Researchers in all areas applying microbial systems, such as in molecular biology, genetics, pathology, and agricultural research will find this work of great value.

Modern Tools and Techniques to Understand Microbes
Modern Tools and Techniques to Understand Microbes

Author: Ajit Varma

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-04-21

Total Pages: 459

ISBN-13: 3319491970

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This book provides essential molecular techniques and protocols for analyzing microbes that are useful for developing novel bio-chemicals, such as medicines, biofuels, and plant protection substances. The topics and techniques covered include: microbial diversity and composition; microorganisms in the food industry; mass cultivation of sebacinales; host-microbe interaction; targeted gene disruption; function-based metagenomics to reveal the rhizosphere microbiome; mycotoxin biosynthetic pathways; legume-rhizobium symbioses; multidrug transporters of yeast; drug-resistant bacteria; the fungal endophyte piriformospora indica; medicinal plants; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; biosurfactants in microbial enhanced oil recovery; and biocontrol of the soybean cyst nematode with root endophytic fungi; as well as microbe-mediated drought tolerance in plants.

The New Science of Metagenomics
The New Science of Metagenomics

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-06-24

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 0309106761

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Although we can't usually see them, microbes are essential for every part of human life-indeed all life on Earth. The emerging field of metagenomics offers a new way of exploring the microbial world that will transform modern microbiology and lead to practical applications in medicine, agriculture, alternative energy, environmental remediation, and many others areas. Metagenomics allows researchers to look at the genomes of all of the microbes in an environment at once, providing a "meta" view of the whole microbial community and the complex interactions within it. It's a quantum leap beyond traditional research techniques that rely on studying-one at a time-the few microbes that can be grown in the laboratory. At the request of the National Science Foundation, five Institutes of the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy, the National Research Council organized a committee to address the current state of metagenomics and identify obstacles current researchers are facing in order to determine how to best support the field and encourage its success. The New Science of Metagenomics recommends the establishment of a "Global Metagenomics Initiative" comprising a small number of large-scale metagenomics projects as well as many medium- and small-scale projects to advance the technology and develop the standard practices needed to advance the field. The report also addresses database needs, methodological challenges, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in supporting this new field.

Microbial Forensics
Microbial Forensics

Author: Bruce Budowle

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2010-10-27

Total Pages: 753

ISBN-13: 0123820073

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Microbial Forensics is a rapidly evolving scientific discipline. In the last decade, and particularly due to the anthrax letter attacks in the United States, microbial forensics has become more formalized and has played an increasingly greater role in crime investigations. This has brought renewed interest, development and application of new technologies, and new rules of forensic and policy engagement. It has many applications ranging from biodefense, criminal investigations, providing intelligence information, making society more secure, and helping protect precious resources, particularly human life. A combination of diverse areas is investigated, including the major disciplines of biology, microbiology, medicine, chemistry, physics, statistics, population genetics, and computer science. Microbial Forensics, Second Edition is fully revised and updated and serves as a complete reference of the discipline. It describes the advances, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead, and will be integral in applying science to help solve future biocrimes. - A collection of microbiology, virology, toxicology and mycology as it relates to forensics, in one reference - New and expanded content to include statistical analysis of forensic data and legal admissibility and the standards of evidence, to name a few - Includes research information and application of that research to crime scene analysis, which will allow practitioners to understand and apply the knowledge to their practice with ease

Microbial Communities
Microbial Communities

Author: Heribert Insam

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 3642606946

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Research on decomposer communities of terrestrial ecosystems for a long time has focussed on microbial biomass and gross turnover parameters. Recently, more and more attempts are made to look beyond the biomass, and more specifically determine functions and populations on a smaller scale-in time and space. A multitude of techniques is being improved and developed. Garland and Mills (1991) triggered a series of publications on substrate utilization tests in the field of microbial ecology. Despite several promising results for different applications in different laboratories, many problems concerning the assay and the interpretation of results became evident. After individual discussions on the approach with colleagues from various laboratories we started to plan a workshop on the matter. The response on our first circular was extraordinary, and instead of a small workshop it became a meeting with almost 150 participants. The meeting was named 'Substrate use for characterization of microbial communities in terrestrial ecosystems' (SUBMECO) and was held in Innsbruck, Austria, from Oct. 16-18, 1996. The very focussed scope attracted enthusiastic advocates of the approach, and also serious critics. Some of the topics concerned improvements of current inoculation and incubation techniques, ranging from sample pre-treatment, inoculum density and incubation temperature to statistical data handling. New methods for calculating microbial diversity were proposed, as well as bootstrap methods that allow statistics with many variables on a relatively low number of replicates.

Microbiological Analysis of Food and Water
Microbiological Analysis of Food and Water

Author: N.F. Lightfoot

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1998-04-22

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0080536514

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With the help of leading Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) microbiology specialists in Europe, a complete set of guidelines on how to start and implement a quality system in a microbiological laboratory has been prepared, supported by the European Commission through the Measurement and Testing Programme. The working group included food and water microbiologists from various testing laboratories, universities and industry, as well as statisticians and QA and QC specialists in chemistry.This book contains the outcome of their work. It has been written with the express objective of using simple but accurate wording so as to be accessible to all microbiology laboratory staff. To facilitate reading, the more specialized items, in particular some statistical treatments, have been added as an annex to the book. All QA and QC tools mentioned within these guidelines have been developed and applied by the authors in their own laboratories. All aspects dealing with reference materials and interlaboratory studies have been taken in a large part from the projects conducted within the BCR and Measurement and Testing Programmes of the European Commission.With so many different quality control procedures, their introduction in a laboratory would appear to be a formidable task. The authors recognize that each laboratory manager will choose the most appropriate procedures, depending on the type and size of the laboratory in question. Accreditation bodies will not expect the introduction of all measures, only those that are appropriate for a particular laboratory.Features of this book:• Gives all quality assurance and control measures to be taken, from sampling to expression of results• Provides practical aspects of quality control to be applied both for the analyst and top management• Describes the use of reference materials for statistical control of methods and use of certified reference materials (including statistical tools).

The Individual Microbe: Single-Cell Analysis and Agent-Based Modelling
The Individual Microbe: Single-Cell Analysis and Agent-Based Modelling

Author: Johan H. J. Leveau

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 2889457494

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Recent technological advances in single-cell microbiology, using flow cytometry, microfluidics, x-ray fluorescence microprobes, and single-cell -omics, allow for the observation of individuals within populations. Simultaneously, individual-based models (or more generally agent-based models) allow for individual microbes to be simulated. Bridging these techniques forms the foundation of individual-based ecology of microbes (µIBE). µIBE has elucidated genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity that has important consequences for a number of human interests, including antibiotic or biocide resistance, the productivity and stability of industrial fermentations, the efficacy of food preservatives, and the potential of pathogens to cause disease. Individual-based models can help us to understand how these sets of traits of individual microbes influence the above. This eBook compiles all publications from a recent Research Topic in Frontiers in Microbiology. It features recent research where individual observational and/or modelling techniques are applied to gain unique insights into the ecology of microorganisms. The Research Topic “The Individual Microbe: Single-Cell Analysis and Agent-Based Modelling” arose from the 2016 @ASM conference of the same name hosted by the American Society for Microbiology at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. We are grateful to ASM for funding and hosting this conference.

Microbiomes of the Built Environment
Microbiomes of the Built Environment

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-10-06

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0309449839

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People's desire to understand the environments in which they live is a natural one. People spend most of their time in spaces and structures designed, built, and managed by humans, and it is estimated that people in developed countries now spend 90 percent of their lives indoors. As people move from homes to workplaces, traveling in cars and on transit systems, microorganisms are continually with and around them. The human-associated microbes that are shed, along with the human behaviors that affect their transport and removal, make significant contributions to the diversity of the indoor microbiome. The characteristics of "healthy" indoor environments cannot yet be defined, nor do microbial, clinical, and building researchers yet understand how to modify features of indoor environmentsâ€"such as building ventilation systems and the chemistry of building materialsâ€"in ways that would have predictable impacts on microbial communities to promote health and prevent disease. The factors that affect the environments within buildings, the ways in which building characteristics influence the composition and function of indoor microbial communities, and the ways in which these microbial communities relate to human health and well-being are extraordinarily complex and can be explored only as a dynamic, interconnected ecosystem by engaging the fields of microbial biology and ecology, chemistry, building science, and human physiology. This report reviews what is known about the intersection of these disciplines, and how new tools may facilitate advances in understanding the ecosystem of built environments, indoor microbiomes, and effects on human health and well-being. It offers a research agenda to generate the information needed so that stakeholders with an interest in understanding the impacts of built environments will be able to make more informed decisions.

The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health
The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health

Author: Food Forum

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-02-27

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 030926586X

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The Food Forum convened a public workshop on February 22-23, 2012, to explore current and emerging knowledge of the human microbiome, its role in human health, its interaction with the diet, and the translation of new research findings into tools and products that improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health: Workshop Summary summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop. Over the two day workshop, several themes covered included: The microbiome is integral to human physiology, health, and disease. The microbiome is arguably the most intimate connection that humans have with their external environment, mostly through diet. Given the emerging nature of research on the microbiome, some important methodology issues might still have to be resolved with respect to undersampling and a lack of causal and mechanistic studies. Dietary interventions intended to have an impact on host biology via their impact on the microbiome are being developed, and the market for these products is seeing tremendous success. However, the current regulatory framework poses challenges to industry interest and investment.