This book provides an unique overview on bacterial genetics, bacterial genome projects and gene technology and its applications in biological and biomedical research and medicine. The author guides the reader up the front in research within the different fields of bacterial genetics, based mainly on results received with Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
Concerted efforts to study starvation and survival of nondifferentiating vegeta tive heterotrophic bacteria have been made with various degrees of intensity, in different bacteria and contexts, over more than the last 30 years. As with bacterial growth in natural ecosystem conditions, these research efforts have been intermittent, with rather long periods of limited or no production in between. While several important and well-received reviews and proceedings on the topic of this monograph have been published during the last three to four decades, the last few years have seen a marked increase in reviews on starvation survival in non-spore-forming bacteria. This increase reflects a realization that the biology of bacteria in natural conditions is generally not that of logarithmic growth and that we have very limited information on the physiology of the energy-and nutrient-limited phases of the life cyde of the bacterial cello The growing interest in nongrowing bacteria also sterns from the more recent advances on the molecular basis of the starvation-induced nongrowing bacterial cello The identification of starvation-specific gene and protein re sponders in Escherichia coli as weIl as other bacterial species has provided molecular handles for our attempts to decipher the "differentiation-like" responses and programs that nondifferentiating bacteria exhibit on nutrient limited growth arrest. Severallaboratories have contributed greatly to the progress made in life after-log research.
This open access book offers the first comprehensive account of the pan-genome concept and its manifold implications. The realization that the genetic repertoire of a biological species always encompasses more than the genome of each individual is one of the earliest examples of big data in biology that opened biology to the unbounded. The study of genetic variation observed within a species challenges existing views and has profound consequences for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underpinning bacterial biology and evolution. The underlying rationale extends well beyond the initial prokaryotic focus to all kingdoms of life and evolves into similar concepts for metagenomes, phenomes and epigenomes. The book’s respective chapters address a range of topics, from the serendipitous emergence of the pan-genome concept and its impacts on the fields of microbiology, vaccinology and antimicrobial resistance, to the study of microbial communities, bioinformatic applications and mathematical models that tie in with complex systems and economic theory. Given its scope, the book will appeal to a broad readership interested in population dynamics, evolutionary biology and genomics.
This book describes the structures and functions of active protein filaments, found in bacteria and archaea, and now known to perform crucial roles in cell division and intra-cellular motility, as well as being essential for controlling cell shape and growth. These roles are possible because the cytoskeletal and cytomotive filaments provide long range order from small subunits. Studies of these filaments are therefore of central importance to understanding prokaryotic cell biology. The wide variation in subunit and polymer structure and its relationship with the range of functions also provide important insights into cell evolution, including the emergence of eukaryotic cells. Individual chapters, written by leading researchers, review the great advances made in the past 20-25 years, and still ongoing, to discover the architectures, dynamics and roles of filaments found in relevant model organisms. Others describe one of the families of dynamic filaments found in many species. The most common types of filament are deeply related to eukaryotic cytoskeletal proteins, notably actin and tubulin that polymerise and depolymerise under the control of nucleotide hydrolysis. Related systems are found to perform a variety of roles, depending on the organisms. Surprisingly, prokaryotes all lack the molecular motors associated with eukaryotic F-actin and microtubules. Archaea, but not bacteria, also have active filaments related to the eukaryotic ESCRT system. Non-dynamic fibres, including intermediate filament-like structures, are known to occur in some bacteria.. Details of known filament structures are discussed and related to what has been established about their molecular mechanisms, including current controversies. The final chapter covers the use of some of these dynamic filaments in Systems Biology research. The level of information in all chapters is suitable both for active researchers and for advanced students in courses involving bacterial or archaeal physiology, molecular microbiology, structural cell biology, molecular motility or evolution. Chapter 3 of this book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.
This book and its companion, Volume I, concentrate on new procedures--especially those based on the new molecular methodology--developed within the past decade. This volume deals with the new genetic and immunological tools applied to the diagnosis of mycoplasma infections of humans, animals, plants, insects, and all cultures. Volume I outlines the approaches, techniques, and procedures applied to cell and molecular biology studies of mycoplasmas. - Diagnostic genetic probes - Immunological tools - Antibiotic sensitivity testing - Diagnosis of specific diseases - Experimental infections - Diagnosis of mycoplasma infections of cell cultures
Explore the remarkable discoveries in the rapidly expanding field of plasmid biology Plasmids are integral to biological research as models for innumerable mechanisms of living cells, as tools for creating the most diverse therapies, and as crucial helpers for understanding the dissemination of microbial populations. Their role in virulence and antibiotic resistance, together with the generalization of "omics" disciplines, has recently ignited a new wave of interest in plasmids. This comprehensive book contains a series of expertly written chapters focused on plasmid biology, mechanistic details of plasmid function, and the increased utilization of plasmids in biotechnology and pharmacology that has occurred in the past decade. Plasmids: Biology and Impact in Biotechnology and Discovery serves as an invaluable reference for researchers in the wide range of fields and disciplines that utilize plasmids and can also be used as a textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in biotechnology and molecular biology.
Presents an integrated view of the expression of bacterial genetic information, genome architecture and function, and bacterial physiology and pathogenesis This book blends information from the very latest research on bacterial chromosome and nucleoid architecture, whole-genome analysis, cell signaling, and gene expression control with well-known gene regulation paradigms from model organisms (including pathogens) to give readers a picture of how information flows from the environment to the gene, modulating its expression and influencing the competitive fitness of the microbe. Structure and Function of the Bacterial Genome explores the governance of the expression of the genes that make a bacterium what it is, and updates the basics of gene expression control with information about transcription promoter structure and function, the role of DNA as a regulatory factor (in addition to its role as a carrier of genetic information), small RNAs, RNAs that sense chemical signals, ribosomes and translation, posttranslational modification of proteins, and protein secretion. It looks at the forces driving the conservation and the evolution of the dynamic genome and offers chapters that cover DNA replication, DNA repair, plasmid biology, recombination, transposition, the roles of repetitive DNA sequences, horizontal gene transfer, the defense of the genome by CRISPR-Cas, restriction enzymes, Argonaute proteins and BREX systems. The book finishes with a chapter that gives an integrated overview of genome structure and function. Blends knowledge of gene regulatory mechanisms with a consideration of nucleoid structure and dynamics Offers a 'DNA-centric' approach to considering transcription control Views horizontal gene transfer from a gene regulation perspective Assesses the opportunities and limitations of designing synthetic microbes or rewiring existing ones Structure and Function of the Bacterial Genome is an ideal book for graduate and undergraduate students studying microbial cell biology, bacterial pathogenesis, gene regulation, and molecular microbiology. It will also appeal to principal investigators conducting research on these and related topics and researchers in synthetic biology and other arms of biotechnology.
Fundamental Bacterial Genetics presents a conciseintroduction to microbial genetics. The text focuses on onebacterial species, Escherichia coli, but draws examples fromother microbial systems at appropriate points to support thefundamental concepts of molecular genetics. A solid balance ofconcepts, techniques and applications makes this book anaccessible, essential introduction to the theory and practice offundamental microbial genetics. FYI boxes - feature key experiments that lead to what we nowknow, biographies of key scientists, comparisons with other speciesand more. Study questions - at the end of each chapter, review and teststudents' knowledge of key chapter concepts. Key references - included both at chapter end and in a fullreference list at the end of the book. Full Chapter on Genomics, Bioinformatics and Proteomics -includes coverage of functional genomics and microarrays. Dedicated website – animations, study resources, webresearch questions and illustrations downloadable for powerpointfiles provide students and instructors with an enhanced,interactive experience.
